I brought home a nice Turbinicarpus horripilus gold spines from the CCSA (Cactus and Succulent Society of America) convention last year in San Luis Obispo, planted it in a dish garden, and then  got busy doing other things and didn’t look at it very closely as I watered it. And then it got my attention again when these pretty little flowers popped open!

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This little cactus is native to the state of Hidalgo in Mexico and is endangered due to habitat loss and over-collecting. This one was propagated from seed rather than being collected in the wild, but you don’t run across them very often, even seed-grown ones, and apparently is seldom seen in private collections, so I am glad I have one.

It lives with this Cotyledon mint truffles succulent and a cluster of Mammillaria elongata and seems happy.

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It won’t get much bigger individually, but can produce more stems from the base forming a bigger cluster of cactus. As it matures it should also get more wool at the base of the areoles where the spines come out.

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I’m perfectly happy with it just like this. Can’t wait to see if it will bloom again this year or only surprises me once a season.