Mammillaria bocasana
So sweet, so tender, puffy and white ...
…blooming all summer, easy to grow, and are producing seeds that germinate well.
Who would not want to have them? Even my grandma who never had a cactus asked for one.
Sweet, puffy ball… yeah, right!
Just at first glance, believe me.
Although there are cacti that have no spines, that are so soft that you can use them as pillow, these three are definitely not one of them. They are true evidence of how the appearance can deceive.
On each mamila (=’nipples’, tubercles), besides soft hair, there is a hooked spine. Each of them has only one intention: to hook up for something. That's all they think about. That's why they came on this world. In habitat that is the way they multiply themselves, catching up the first passer-by, who will for sure decide to get rid of that unpleasant something, leaving it on some other place.
Bad bad girls, they are. They should be called Naughty Nasty Cactus instead of Powder Puff Cactus.
In any case, I do not want to be that first passerby, so I keep them on the shelves where they cannot reach me. And I have to be careful what I wear of my clothes when I water them, so I do not get hooked on it. They are only for looking!
But apart from those little flaws they are very gentle and sweet in every respect.
😊
...
PS: A secret is that you can cuddle them, very carefully, but only in the center of it, where the hooked spines are still small.
😊
Thank you for your attention!
Some of my other cacti & other succulents stories:
OffshootBirth
How do I get so many seeds?! / Astrophytum myriostigma
Genus Rebutia
African Stars / First stapeliads flowers this spring
Faucaria/ The Throat of an Animal
Pelecyphora aseliformis
If you are interested in reading about desert plants from my own growing experience fell free to follow and enjoy!
@andrijana