Xerophyte

Habit

Solitary (unless injured) until very old age, or with few branches from ground level when old. Seedlings and immature plants often have narrowly cylindrical stems. With age, the stems broaden distally.

Description

Sclerocactus scheeriSN|788]]SN|788]] best known as Ancistrocactus scheeriSN|3503]]SN|787]] is a small fish-hook cactus with a large fleshy turnip root, neck-shaped grown together with the stem. The spines varies from yellow to brown and often prevent the flowers from opening fully. Flowering in early spring; flowers pale-green or yellow-green.

Roots

Long, fleshy, tuberlike taproots, sometimes having bulbous secondary roots horizontally oriented, sausage-shaped or otherwise strongly tuberlike, but always separated from the stem by a fragile constriction, in contrast to the short, succulent, vertical taproots of Ancistrocactus brevihamatus.

Flowers

Bright green to yellowish (rarely pink to pale reddish) with a brown midline. Flowering in February-March.

Spines

Radial spines 13-28 per areole, translucent yellowish, tips red-brown, longest spines 6 to 28 mm long; central spines 3-4 per areole; abaxial central spine tan to whitish 1 per areole, hooked terete or slightly flattened, generally whitish or light brown, 12-38 mm long; adaxial central spines (2-)3 per areole, brown to dark reddish brown, erect, straight, 19-50 mm long. Juvenile spines are all radials numerous, short, tightly appressed and pectinate.

Stem

Cylindrical to club-shaped, or spheric, up to 17cm tall, 5-8 cm in diameter.