Black Chin Cactus

Gymnocalycium eurypleurum
This specimen is planted in a 2 1/2" pot.

Coming from a small barren, inhospitable corner of North Paraguay almost up to the border to Bolivia called Cerro Leon. Always grows solitary, it is a variable low growing species especially for spination. (Some plants have minimal spination while others seem quite heavily armed). Glossy green, dull olive-green to brownish, flattish globular (mature plants may become slightly short columnar) 2 1/2" to 6" across, with a somewhat sunken apex.
Stout, awl shaped spines are glassy white to light-brown in clusters of about 7 mostly straight up to 1/2" to 1 1/2" in length, very symmetrical, and tending to curve upwards, away from the body of the cactus. No obvious central spine. The 1 or 2 central spines when they exist are the same length.
Flowers are mostly near the apex, bell-shaped, pure white or white with a hint of lilac, about 1 1/2" in length and diameter. Inner petals are white to light pink, outer petals are a light purple color with a dark purple center strip. Filaments and style are white and flowers freely throughout the Summer. As with most Gymnocalycium, it is a summer grower species that offers no cultivation difficulties.

Thelocactus hexaedrophorus

"Hexaedrophorus" comes from the Greek
"hexa" = six and "hedra" =plane, seat
and "phoros" = carrying, for the six angled tubercles.

A solitary and quite variable cactus with flattened stems from San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon and Zacatecas areas of Mexico. Many local forms are known, often formally described, that differ in stem, spine or flower morphology. Because of the large variability of the species in the whole distribution area, none of these are recognized today. Depressed or globose, bluish , olive-green, or greyish-green eventually tinged in pink or purple, 2-5" tall , 8" in diameter (eventually grows a little taller in cultivation). Spines are usually strong and variable in length depending on the plant often difficult to distinguish as centrals and radials. Flowers are silvery-white or rarely pinkish with more or less magenta midribs, up to 10 in diameter. Easy to cultivate but very slow growing. The plant in the collection is planted in a 4" pot.

Astrophytum asterias

Sea Urchin or Sand Dollar Cactus
These four plants are in a 4" pot.

The Astrophytum asterias is a popular spineless cactus. Solitary globular cactus, up to 6 inches in diameter and 6 to 8 ribs. In the wild area of Northeastern Mexico (Nuevo León, Tamaulipas) and southern Texas it is almost extinct, mostly due to habitat destruction. It decreases in size in the wild when lacking water and might be covered with dust during the dry season. The rain makes it swell and washes it, making it ready to enjoy the sunlight. Little water, subject to root rot, keep very dry in winter. Seeds germinate rapidly and some cultivars are grafted for faster growth. Can take up to 6 years to bloom in summer at irregular intervals. The 2 inch wide flowers are yellow with a red center, and sweet scented. They are followed by spineless greyish-red fruits. Plants generally start blooming when they exceed one inch in diameter.

'Super Kabuto' is a Japanese cultivar with extremely abundant flecking. The white flecking is very variable from clone to clone. Be sure to click on the link and take a look at some of these beautiful plants that are being created. You will want to add a couple to your collection, but be careful they are very expensive.

Narrow Leaf Century Plant

Agave Striata
This plant is in a 3" pot.

Hailing from the Sierra Madre Orientale mountain range in northeast Mexico. Easy to grow century plant looks quite different from the wider leaf types with its narrow, rounded, grey-green, knitting needle-like leaves that are quite stiff and delightfully painful.....Be sure to have your friends admire this plant closer. The initial rosettes will become 18" tall x 3' wide, but after the 8' tall flower stalks finish in midsummer, the rosette branches and continues to grow, eventually creating a stack of porcupine-like balls. I have read reviews of some people growing this outside in a zone 7, if kept dry. This little baby is staying in the Death Valley Shack, not putting this plant out till late Spring.

Euphorbia resinifera

Resin Spurge

Collection plant is in a 6" pot.

Native to Morocco, where it grows on the slopes of the Atlas Mountains in the surroundings of Marrakesh. It is a dense succulent shrub growing to 25" tall, forming multi-stemmed cushion-shaped clumps up to 1" wide. Stems are erect, succulent, 4 sided (almost square) that look superficially like a cactus. Light green to glaucous blue color, depending upon light. Brown, short, sharp spines in pairs on the angles of the ribs, spaced about 1/2" apart up the stem. As with all Euphorbias when a plant gets damaged it exudes a thick white milky sap known as latex. This latex (resin) is poisonous and contains some of the most potent irritants known to man.

Echinocereus pectinatus var. rigidissimus

Comb Hedgehog

The plant from the collection is planted in a 3" pot.

Discovered in the Sierra Oscura area of Chihuahua, Mexico. Now includes southwestern Arizona to Maverick County, Texas, at elevations upto 4,500 ft. Plants are usually solitary, globose to cylindrical, 2 1/2" to 12" in height and 1 1/2" to 4 1/2" in width. Body obsured by spines without a central spine and flattened against the stems. Spines are comblike in their arrangement and often interlace. The spine colors range in white, pink, red, yellowish and brownish. Flowers are borne at the sides, funnelformed, and brilliant red to magenta with white throats. In size they are about 2 1/2" long and about 2 1/2" to 3 1/2" diameter.