I bought my Melocactus salvadorensis at a Texas Association of Cactus and Succulent Societies (TACSS) seminar in Austin in 2022 and showed it to you in “My New Melocactus,” November 3, 2022. Melocactus are distinguished by the cephalium that develops in the center of the plant after it matures. When this happens, the body of the cactus stops growing, but the cephalium gets taller.This is what it looked like when I bought it.
And this is what it looks like today.
The body of the cactus has gotten greener, but look at the cephalium. Look at how much taller it is! That may not look like much to you, but in the cactus world, that is a big deal. It is blooming off and on now, those tiny pink flowers that produce elongated pink fruit, which, of course, is where its seeds are found.
I have three other melocactus, but they have not started growing their cephaliums yet. This particular variety is native to Brazil, but other varieties, like my other ones, are found in the Caribbean and other South American countries.
So this one is fun to watch through the summer as it blooms and makes fruit while I impatiently wait and watch for the other three melocactus start growing their own cephaliums. How that cephalium grows and takes shape will be something unusual to watch. Over time, that cephalium can grow several inches tall, maybe even a foot tall.
How cool is that!
If you would like to read more about these interesting cacti, you might go back and read the earlier stories I mentioned in the first paragraph.
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