Mammillaria backebergiana
Natl. Cact. Succ. J. xxi. 47, 90 in adnot. (1966).
Family
Cactaceae
Genus
Species
Mammillaria backebergiana
Author
Buchenau
Chinese genus
乳突球属
Chinese name
-
DescriptionEdit description
Habit
Plants usually solitary occasionally clumping.
Central Spines
1-3, straight, needle-like, yellowish brown to brown, 7-8 mm long.
Seeds
Brown.
Description
Mammillaria backebergianaSN|13783]]SN|9157]] is an attractive slender columnar cactus with yellowy or brownish-yellow spines and great purplish red flowers circling near the top of the plant during growing season. Two subspecies are recognized, the nominate and subsp. ernestii (Fittkau) Glass & R.A.Foster.
Similar Species
Mammillaria backebergianaSN|9157]]SN|9157]] is related and similar to Mammillaria spinosissimaSN|9157]]SN|13783]] and its allies, but its stems are more slender.
Tubercles
Short pyramidal, not angled, with latex, axils naked or with a few bristles.
Flowers
Freely produced in several rings in the crown. Purplish red, 18-20 mm long, 10-13 mm in diameter. Stigmas green.
Stem
Globose becoming cylindrical, to 30 cm high, 5-6 cm in diameter, clear green, waxy.
Radial Spines
(8-)10-12, yellowish white with brown tips, becoming darker with age, 8-10 mm long.
Fruits
Dull green above, whitish below, tinting purplish red in maturity.