Xerophyte

Habit

It is a geophyte stem succulent plant usually solitary and barely rising above ground level with a swollen underground root system.

Central Spines

Absent.

Description

Gymnocalycium pseudoragoneseiSN|11493]]SN|25918]] (Sometimes wrongly spelled “pseudoragonesi” or “pseudoragonesii”) is a geographical or morphological form of the very variable Gymnocolycium bodenbenderianum. At a first glance this taxon is easily mistaken for the more common Gymnocalycium stellatumSN|25918]]SN|11493]] ssp. obductum if not in flower.

Flowers

Near the apex, white to pale pink, 3,5 to 6 cm long. Flower tube narrow with green scales tinged brown; outer tepals pale brownish-green; inner perianth-segments linear-lanceolate, white or pinkish. Throat reddish.

Blooming Season

Blooms appear recurrently from June to autumn. It flowers quite readily as a young seedling.

Ribs

11-15 low, rounded and distinctly tuberculate.

Stem

Flat, disc-shaped, 2-3 cm tall and up to 8 cm in diameter, brownish to grey-green,

Radial Spines

3 to 7 up to 10 millimetres long, sharp, stout, but not harmful, backward curved, blackish brown, becoming grey with age.

Fruits

Blue-green, ovoid, up to 2 cm long (or longer) and up to 1 cm in diameter.