Xerophyte

Central Spines

Usually absent, occasionally 1 or 2, slender needle like straight, golden or brownish about 18-30 mm long almost straight to strongly twisted or bent.

Description

Mammillaria camptotrichaSN|14441]]SN|14441]] (Dolichothele camptotrichaSN|14447]]SN|14447]]) is a small plant that make a large, flattish clump of stems clustering from the lower part. Not only it has long slender tubercles, which are similar to those of other Dolicothele species, it also has very long twisted spines, which on mature plants, completely envelop the body, and have earned this species the name of "Birds Nest Cactus". The new growth is very attractive, the long, entwining yellowish spines soon form a mat through which the small bell-shaped flowers, white, greenish outside that arrive in late summer or early autumn. This flowers are very insignificant, because they are shorter than the tubercles, and consequently little can be seen of them, merely a pure white splash of "colour" between the tubercles.

Roots

Very large, tuberose.

Tubercles

Green, soft, flabby, cylindrical to obtuse about 2 cm long, terete often curved, not at all milky.

Flowers

Funnel-form, delicately scented, mall, white, deeply set in the tubercles, to about 1-1.8 cm long and c. 1 cm wide. The outer perianth-segments of the flowers are greenish. Inner perianth-segments white, 10 mm long, acute.

Stem

Individual stems bout 4-7 cm in diameter, up to 10 cm tall, broadly globose to club shaped, depressed, pale matt green to deep-green, this colour is very variable because if the plant is grown in strong sunlight, like many other succulents, it takes on a very reddish colour, in order to prevent damage to the chlorophyll plastids, or if it is grown in partial shade, it becomes a very pallid green, and looks very unhealthy.

Radial Spines

Usually 4-5, but varying from 2 to 11, thin, needle-like, flexible, (sometime bristly and twisted), spreading, 7 to 30 mm long, yellow, or white, sometime brown tipped, interlacing densely in full light.

Areoles

Small, circular, a little woolly at first; axils of tubercles sparsely hairy with a few bristles.