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Airocarpus
Care of Ariocarpus
ARIOCARPUS
These six species of Living Rock, or Fossil, cacti from southern Texas are endangered in the wild. The small, cone-shaped plants grow very slowly, largely underground, and have gray or brown, almost spineless tubercles. They grow in short bursts in late spring and autumn, when their white, yellow, pink, red or lavender, open faced flowers and pale fleshy berries appear.
Especially challenging to grow in cooler areas, these sun-loving cacti need careful watering during their growth period; water once in spring, occasionally in summer and thoroughly a few times in early autumn. some ground limestone in the potting mix benefits the roots.
A. fissuratus
Sought by collectors, this rare and curious species has fleshy tubercles tightly packed on its crown into flat or domed rosettes.
Wooly tufts of spines grow in the center.
Its open-faced pink/lavender flowers last for three or four days. This cactus can take 50 years to reach a diameter of 6 inches.
It is very prone to rot if over-watered.
Min. temp. 41 degrees F. (7 degrees C.)
A. trigonus
Only the rosette of long, curving, leaf-like tubercles is visible on this plant; the flat tuberous body is below the soil.
Yellow flowers and small white berries appear in a ring around the crown. A plant only 10 inches in diameter may be 100 years old.
Min. temp. 45 degrees F. (5 degrees C.)
This information taken from: The complete Book of Cacti & Succulents
by: Terry Hewitt. We highly recommend this handy publication.
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