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When thus limited, growth is firmer and the flowers are produced in much greater profusion than when a liberal amount of root space is afforded. The pots should be well drained-about one-fifth of their depth filled with drainage when intended for large, strong-growing kinds, and one-third for the smaller ones, such as Mamillarias.
And the same remark applies to many of the Mamillarias; their stems thickly beset with tubercles and spines, always regular in arrangement, and neat and attractive in appearance. The following remarks made by Dr.
A large proportion of these Mamillarias are far more interesting in the form and arrangement of their tubercles and spines than in any floral character, and it is on this account that so many which are insignificant as flowering plants are included here.
Particulars with respect to cultivation are given along with the descriptions of most of the species, but a few general principles may here be noted. With only a few exceptions, all the cultivated Mamillarias may be grown in a warm, sunny greenhouse, or they may be placed in a frame with a south aspect, during our summer, removing them into artificially heated quarters for the winter.
Spines short and slender, about twenty, arranged in a star on each tubercle, with four central ones a little longer than those which surround them; the colour of the spines is whitish, with brown tips. Native country Mexico, on high exposed hills; in this country it requires greenhouse treatment. Introduced about 1850. One of the largest and most remarkable of all garden Mamillarias.
A little bag filled with soot and tightly tied at the neck, and water, is a good method for rendering hard tap-water suitable for watering the roots of plants. In winter, Mamillarias may be kept quite dry at the roots, except in mild sunny weather, when a little water may be given.
No one who had not read up the botany of Mamillarias would suspect that this plant belonged to them, or even to the Cactus order at all. There is a good specimen of it in the Kew collection. When in flower the family resemblance is easily seen; but as this species does not flower freely, it will be known by its remarkable foliage-like tubercles, rather than as a flowering Cactus.
A warm greenhouse affords the most suitable conditions for it; but, unless it is kept in full sunshine both summer and winter, and perfectly dry during the latter season, it will not produce any flowers. As a flowering plant, it ranks amongst the very best of the Mamillarias. It is easily propagated from seeds ripened on cultivated plants.
Upon the prominent parts of these ridges are stellate tufts of long, pale brown spines, some of them nearly 2 in. long, and each tuft containing about eight spines. When young, the stems are more like some of the Mamillarias than the Cereuses.
It is one of the most beautiful of all Mamillarias; but it is, as yet, rare in collections. It requires the same treatment as M. longimamma, except that, owing to the woody nature of its rootstock, and its long, tap-like roots, it should be planted in pans instead of pots, using a compost of rough loam, mixed with lumps of broken brick or limestone. Mag. 3634, as M. Lehmanni.
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