Xerophyte

Central Spines

occasionally a central spine.

Description

Discocactus heptacanthusSN|12017]]SN|12017]] is a solitary flattened cactus that form a cephalium at maturity and blooms on warm summer nights. Its fragrant flowers are pollinated by moths. It is a very variable species which received several different controversial names, many of them are still used in the trade. Some authors still consider it a complex of several related species and subspecies while Taylor and Zappi (1991) accepts only three subspecies

Cephalium

Small, 3-4 cm tall woolly, white to dull pastel with brow or black erected bristles 3-5 cm long.

Flowers

Nocturnal, fragrant, white (or pale pink), funnel form, nocturnal, 5-7,5 cm long and 5 cm in diameter.

Blooming Season

Flowers come in profusion in summer, out of the cephalium.

Spines

Whitish, yellowish or brown becoming grey with age, more or less translucent, needle-like or flattened.

Ribs

10-22, up to 2 cm high, broken up into large, rounded tubercles, with more or less deep furrows between, sometime spiralling.

Stem

Globose or slightly depressed, light green to grey-green, 8-28 cm in diameter, 4,5-15 cm tall (without cephalium)

Radial Spines

Typically 7, but variable in number from 5 to 11, up to 1,5 cm long (or more), stout, very rough and slightly recurved.

Fruits

Usually white or pale pink.

Areoles

Round or oval, at first tomentose, approx 6-10 per rib (in plants with cephalium).