A Flower for the 4th

First thing this morning around 7am went out and watered the plants in the Death Valley Shack. Not much going on inside..........Later in the day went out to see if the flower had opened and there it was. The open flower of the Notocactus ottonis, a beautiful butter yellow. Once again the flower is very large compared to the plant. Its what will happen with a little sunshine.

Notocactus ottonis

Very excited about this flowering, this Notocactus has been in the collection for about three years now. It will be a yellow flower, hoping there will be a second color.....but most are a single color.

Notocactus ottonis is a very shiny green globular cactus, up to five to six inches tall and the same in diameter. Spines are typically recurved toward the body and can be bright cinnamon or golden brown.  It is a cactus that likes light shade. Origin of the Notocactus ottonis is South Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. 

This cacti like many cacti has many synonyms, the most common being Parodia ottonis. 

Scarlet Ball Cactus

NOTOCACTUS HASELBERGII

The Notocactus haselbergii is a solitary, fast growing, up to 4 inches high and 6 inches wide. The location of origin is Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul. This variety is actually a shade loving plant.

Notocactus is a genus of around 25 species of South-American cacti from low elevations of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Southern Brazil. It is where the land is quite dry and the daytime temperatures can get high. In collections they are grown for their spine formations, as well as for their attractive flowers. The genus name comes from the Greek for "cactus from the south". Notocactus are almost always globose, elongating as they age, some species eventually reach 3 feet. They are often solitary, rarely offsetting, or producing stolons. Their flowers are funnel or bell shaped, yellow, or occasionally red. They come in groups of 3 or 4 at several times during the year and lasting around a week.