Xerophyte

Description

Astrophytum capricorneSN|3591]]SN|3564]] subsp. senile cv. Krausii is a variety of Astrophytum senileSN|3564]]SN|3591]] with pure white spines and a yellow flower but without the typical red throat. It is a stable mutation and comes true from seeds.

Flowers

Very showy, 6-10 cm in diameter, uniformly yellow without the typical red centre.

Blooming Season

Flowers are freely produced in mid-summer from seedlings of 5 years of age.

Spines

16 to 20(-30), candid white, bristly, flexible, square in cross-section, 5 to 7(-10) cm long and pointing in all directions that often form up spirals, they are so densely nest wrapped that the body is hardly visible and looks like a dry grass bundle. The lateral ones grows horizontally sideways at first and then buckle while the others point more or less upwards. After rain they get wet and become very flabby.

Ribs

7-9 (usually 8) sharply acute.

Stem

Spherical to short cylindrical, up to 15 cm in diameter, epidermis dark green, almost naked or covered with with very few white hair-tufts. Young specimen have often numerous white dots that diminish with time.

Fruits

Indeischent or splitting open by a basal irregular pore.