Basionym: Mammillaria duwei Rogoz. & P.J.Braun 1985
Publication: Mammillaria Postscripts 6: 6 (1997)
From llifle page Chilita aurihamata
Description
Mammillaria aurihamata is a softish bodied plant that, as the name implies, has golden yellow hooked central spines, although the white radial spines tend to lighten the colour, and is particularly attractive at all times of the year. The blossoms are small, yellowish white and are followed by red fruits. It grows vigorously, offsets freely, and makes an impressive mound of heads when quite young. Mammillaria aurihamata is included by Hunt and al.(2006) within (as a synonym of) Mammillaria crinita subsp. leucantha, suggesting that there is not really a fundamental difference between the two.
Stem: Solitary, sometimes clumping at base, globose to ovate, glossy green, depressed, the base often tuberous, 60 mm high and 40 mm in diameter. With watery sap.
Roots: Fibrous.
Tubercles: In 8-13 spirals series, shining, short cylindrical, keeled ventrally, 6 mm long and 3 mm wide. Axil with a little wool, mostly naked, but with 8 white hair-like bristles up to 15 mm long.
Radial spines: (15-)24-26, 8 mm long, nearly hair-like, smooth, yellowish white to white, semi-stiff, in the upper part of the body strongly ascending, later horizontal.
Central spines: 4-5, upper three 10 mm long, the lowest hooked and to 25 mm long, all slender acicular, smooth to somewhat pubescent, whitish yellow in youth, becoming golden yellow to brownish yellow.
Flowers: Funnelform, cream yellowish or pale pinkish with reddish brown mid-veins on the outer petals,15 mm long and 12 mm wide.
Fruits: Red, clavate, small, 8 mm long and 3 mm wide.
Seeds: Brownish black, oval with lateral hilum, 1 mm in diameter often conspicuously strophiolate.
Origin and Habitat
Mammillaria aurihamata is endemic to Mexico, where it occurs in San Luis Potosi, near Real de Catorce.
Altitude range: Around 2500 meter above sea level.
Habitat and ecology: This species grows in black humus among limestone rocks, under bushes.
Cultivation and Propagation
Mammillaria aurihamata is not an easy plant to grow , more rot prone than most and more demanding regarding soil conditions.
Growth rate: It is a small growing, but easily flowering, species that will make clumps given the best conditions.
Soils: It likes very porous standard cactus mix soil.
Repotting: It will need a pot with sufficient depth to allow the tap root. Use pot with good drainage.
Watering: Water regularly in summer, but do not overwater (Rot prone), keep dry in winter. Keep Mammillaria aurihamata in very dry and ventilated place especially in winter.
Fertilization: Feed with a high potassium fertilizer in summer.
Hardiness: Reputedly sensitive to frost , but less so if kept on the dry side prior to, and during, cold weather (hardy to -5° C for short periods). However warmth throughout the year will increase the grower’s success (minimum 5° to 8°C during rest season).
Exposition: Outside bright sun, filtered sunlight or afternoon shade, inside it needs bright light, and some direct sun. Subject to sunburn if exposed to direct sun for too long. Tends to bronze in strong light, which encourages flowering and heavy wool and spine production.
Uses: It is an excellent plant for container growing. It always looks good and stays small. It look fine in a cold greenhouse and frame.
Pests & diseases: It may be attractive to a variety of insects, but plants in good condition should be nearly pest-free, particularly if they are grown in a mineral potting-mix, with good exposure and ventilation. Nonetheless, there are several pests to watch for:
- Red spiders: Red spiders may be effectively rubbed up by misting the vulnerable plants every day
- Mealy bugs: Mealy bugs easily they develop aerial into the new growth among the wool with disfiguring results, but the worst types develop underground on the roots and are invisible except by their effects.
- Scales: Scales are rarely a problem.
It is wise to treat your whole collection with a systemic insecticide twice a year in spring and autumn.
- Rot: Rot is only a minor problem with mammillaria if the plants are watered and “aired” correctly. If they are not, fungicides won’t help all that much.
Propagation: Direct sow after last frost or (rarely) cuttings. Seeds germinate in 7-14 days at 21-27° C in spring, remove the glass cover gradually as the plants develops and keep ventilated, no full sun for young plants! To make a cutting twist off a branch and permit it to dry out a couple of weeks, lay it on the soil and insert the stem end partially into the soil. Try to keep the cutting somewhat upright so that the roots are able to grow downward.
Bibliography
Major references and further lectures
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Boedeker, Zeitschrift für Kakteenkunde 3 (15) : 340 -342 (1928)
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Craig: The Mammillaria Handbook: 153 – 154
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Mitteilungsblatt des AfM: 1/91; 6 - 11
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The Journal of the Mammillaria Society, Mammillaria Society, 1980
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The National Cactus and Succulent Journal, Volume 23, National Cactus and Succulent Society, 1968
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Hunt, D., Taylor, N. and Charles, G. (compilers and editors). “The New Cactus Lexicon.” dh Books, Milborne Port, UK. 2006.
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James Cullen, Sabina G. Knees, H. Suzanne Cubey “The European Garden Flora Flowering Plants: A Manual for the Identification of Plants Cultivated in Europe, Both Out-of-Doors and Under Glass” Cambridge University Press, 11/Aug/2011
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“Supplement to Hortus, for the Five Current Years Including 1930” Macmillan, 1935
Source: Chilita aurihamata, LLIFLE - Encyclopedia of living forms, CC-BY-SA, retrieved 2026-10-25.