When I bought this little cactus probably in 2008 or so-unfortunately that was when I wasn’t keeping up with details like names and dates-it was just two little cylindrical plants about two inches long attached at the base and forming a V-shape. I had nothing like that and thought I would see what it grew up to look like.
Time passed; the little specimen did well, but as it grew and got longer, it started to curve and the crown pointed down to the ground. And it just keep going. It began to look a bit obscene-use your imagination! Other branches formed and it just keep growing.
And then one day it bloomed. Typical of mammillarias, the flowers wee in a circle or halo around the crown of the plant. Rather pretty.
As I was shopping the vendors at my first Cactus and Succulent Society convention in Tucson in 2009 I spotted one of these cactus for sale. I didn’t buy it, but I did get its name and then was told they grow on cliffs in Guerrero, Mexico, and droop down toward the ground, just like mine does.
So now fast forward to 2013. The plant continues to grow, adding arms and growing longer. In fact it was in one of those plastic pots I talked about last week; the hanger broke and was dangling when I found it one day. I did repot it in a larger pot and put it on a stand instead of re–hanging it. It is now root-bound, no doubt, but thriving just the same.
It is growing and seems happy although it has not bloomed much lately. But if you want an unusual specimen for your collection, I suggest mammillaria spinosissima v. pilcayensis.
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