Xerophyte

Note

This member of the Cactaceae family was named in honor of Frantz de Laet, a Belgian cactus dealer, who had imported many plants from Mexico through Dr. C. A. Purpus and other collectors.

Flowers

Pink to pale purple, slightly drooping with yellow centres, 5.7-10 cm long, 5.8-12.5 cm in diameter, appearing near the top of the plant. Perianth-segments pink, oblanceolate, acute to 55 mm long and 15 mm wide. Stigma-lobes about 12, green. Ovary covered with clusters of long, white, bristly spines.Flowering season. Late spring through early summer. In cultivation, some collectors report that it is difficult to coax into flower, but in mild climates it flowers easily when grown in the ground.

Spines

15 or more, reduced to white (or brownish white) hairs, and variously wavy or curled 8 to 10 cm long and a few stiff reddish bristles.

Ribs

17-24 indistinct (less than 17 in Echinocereus longisetusSN|6789]]SN|8281]]).

Stem

Low, densely clustering, 10-20(-35) cm high, 3-8 cm in diameter, completely hidden by the long, white, curled hairs.

Areoles

Closely set