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It is not easily multiplied from seeds, but is free in the production of offsets from the base of the stem. Stem about 4 in. high, naked at the base, woody and wrinkled when old. Tubercles as in M. longimamma, but with curving radial spines, like needles, often 2 in. in length, white or rose-tinted when young, almost black when old.
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.
The nearest approach to this plant is Mamillaria longimamma, in which the tubercles are 1 in. or more long, finger-shaped, and crowned with a few hair-like spines. But the Leuchtenbergia bears its flowers on the ends of the tubercles, and not from the axils, as in all others. This peculiarity leads one to infer that tubercles are modified branches, the spines representing the leaves.
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