Description
This is the nice crested form is recognizable without problems for the areoles with white pectinated spines. (But it is often confused with the very similar looking Mammillaria pectinifera forma cristata and Pelecyphora aselliformis forma cristata)
Stem: Dull green apex with short white hair; spirally-arranged tubercles
Spines: Numerous white in a comb like formation (pectinated), 1.2 mm long.
Root: Tuberose and usually bigger than the stem itself.
Flowers: One to 5 pinkish white to bright pink with darker magenta or reddish-brown mid-veins, bloom in spring.
Fruit: small green.
Origin and Habitat
Garden origin (Nursery produced cultivar)
Cultivation and Propagation
This species is not very easy to cultivate. It requires full sun and careful watering to keep the plant compact and low. It has a tap root, and watering it properly is often difficult, because it tends to crack open or rot if over-watered. For this reasons it is usually found grafted on columnar cacti.
Frost Tolerance: Hardy to -4°C for a short period.
Propagation: by vegetative propagation grafting or stem cuttings.
Bibliography
Major references and further lectures
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Edward Anderson “The Cactus family” Timber Press, Incorporated, 2001
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Nathaniel Lord Britton, Joseph Nelson Rose “Cactaceae: Descriptions and Illustrations of Plants of the Cactus Family” vol. 4 The Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington 1923
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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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David R Hunt; Nigel P Taylor; Graham Charles; International Cactaceae Systematics Group. “The New Cactus Lexicon” dh books, 2006
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Milan Zachar, Roman Staník, Alexander Lux, Igor Dráb “Rod Turbinicarpus (Gattung Turbinicarpus)” Vydavate?stvo Roman Staník, 1996
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Davide Donati, Carlo Zanovello “Knowing Understanding and Growing Turbinicarpus-Rapicactus. A trip across the mexican states of Coahuila, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Nuevo Leon, Queretaro…” Cactus Trentino Südtirol, 2005
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