Xerophyte

Habit

Usually simple or rarely basally branched.

Central Spines

Usually one (or sometime as many as 4), thick creamy white, to brownish or black, clawlike, more or less erect hooked and twisted (depending on population), up to 3 cm long.

Seeds

Purse shaped, black.

Description

Parodia culpinensisSN|5868]]SN|5873]] is one of the local or morphological forms of the variable Parodia subterraneaSN|5873]]SN|5868]] distingushed from the latter by it longer hooked central spines and larger red flowers opening in the afternoon.

Flowers

Funnel-shaped, usually red, 3-4(-5) cm wide. Pericarpel and floral tube covered with white or brown hairs and black bristles. Dried flowers remain for a long time on the plant's body after blooming.

Blooming Season

Late spring.

Ribs

11-13 spiralling, forming distinct conical tubercles.

Stem

Flattish to globose, 6-12 cm in diameter, dull green to olive green with white wool apically, thick and growing mostly underground, but the plant's stem in cultivation is usually globular or ovoidal and aerial.

Radial Spines

Up to 10, radiating, more or less flattened against the plant's body, mostly whitish or yellowish, 5-8 mm long.

Fruits

Red or green, with white hairs.

Areoles

Young areoles are filled with abundant white wool. Later they are naked.