Mammillaria hirsuta ( Boedeker )

First description: Monatschrift Kakteenkunde 29: 130, 1919

Body: Depressed globose, at older age short oblong, solitary or clumping, 20-80 mm high and 30-60 mm in diameter. Sunken apex, covered with spines.
Roots: Fibrous.
Sap: Without latex.
Tubercles: Closely set, soft, cylindrical with rounded top, 8-10 mm long and 3-4 mm in diameter, dark green.
Axils: With thin fine hairs or naked.
Radial Spines: 19-25, 4-10 mm long, hairlike to bristle like, the sidemost the longest, irregular radiating, glassy white.
Central Spines: 2-4, 5-14 mm long, fine needle like, the lowest the longest and hooked, rough, with thicker base, glassy yellow to brown or blackish brown, in newgrowth often red.
Flower: Funnel form, 14-18 mm long and wide, yellowish to pinkish.
Fruit: Ripens 4-6 months after flowering, slender club-shaped to baculiformed with flower rest, 15-30 mm long and 3-4 mm thick, brownish red.
Seed: Dark brown, cap shaped, 0,9 mm long and 0,8 mm thick; hilum basal to subbasal, selfsterile.
Habitat Substrate: Between volcanic rocks in rock cracks, in black humus in partial shade.
Geographic Distribution: Mexico; San Luis Potosi near Arroyo Pila and at the border with Zacatecas. Altitude 1900-2200 meter.


photo: HDC (M. hirsuta Rep 1546)