Did I miss the flowers?

Not really...
Because she decided not to show me any!

Frailea pumila

This is a very tricksy little thing. Even though they do bloom like any other cactus, they do not need to open the flowers to get pollinated. They can do that inside the closed bud and grow the fruit right after.
Why waste the energy on blooming, right?

And this is what happened with my one. I saw the tiny little buds rowing and was waiting for the flower, especially that it has never bloomed before, but nope. That did not happen.

Today as I took it to take some photos I think I see tiny fruits forming.

I grew this one from seed and have a few more, but they are much smaller. What I also find pretty cool about it, is that the seeds started to sprout just after 2-3 days from sowing! All other cacti I have sown needed at least a week.
So they grow fast, they produce fruits and new seeds fast and without any help.

And why?

Well... there is always a reason for this adaptation. I read somewhere that they do not live very long. A few years max and then one day they will just die without warning. So yes - they have to make sure there is enough little babies around for the specie to survive.

Frailea pumila is native to Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay and can be often found growing among mosses and between rocks. I can handle nicely full sun which I am providing. My one seem a little dehydrated though. I think they do enjoy a bit more water than other cacti.

Here is a bonus shot to show you how small it is. It is 3 years old now and maybe 2 cm across.
The flowers are from my aloe that I was also shooting today and will show another time.

My other blooming cacti:

_{Click on the image to view full post.}

Chamaecereus hybrid	Sulcorebutia Canigueralii	Mammillaria camptotricha	Mammillaria Glassii
Gymnocalycium baldianum	Mediolobivia mudanensis	Lobivia Arachnacantha	Rebutia hybrid
Mammillaria Bombycina	Mammillaria Gracilis Snowcap	Mammillaria haageana	Mammillaria backebergiana
Chamaecereus silvestrii	Mammillaria prolifera	Rebutia Fabrisii var. Aureiflora	Lobivia Wrightiana
Aylostera Flavistyla FR756	Parodia concinna	Mammillaria Copper King	Gymnocalycium Bruchii
Mammillaria backebergiana	Gymnocalycium damsii	Echinopsis subdenudata	Rhipsalis pilocarpa
Mammillaria Prolifera	Lobivia arachnacantha v. vallegrandensis	Mediolobivia atrovirens	Mammillaria magnimamma
Sulcorebutia langerii	Sulcorebutia frankiana	Chamaelobivia no ID	Rebutia Albiflora
Mediolobivia atrovirens var. ritteri	Gymnocalycium damsii var. tucavocense	Notocactus Ottonis	Gymnocalycium Friedrichii
Turbinicarpus Viereckii	Rebutia neocumingii	Notocactus Rubrigemmatus	Lobivia no ID
Sulcorebutia albissima	Lobivia arachnacantha II	Notocactus mueller-melchersii	Mammillaria Prolifera
Aylostera heliosa var. condorensis

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_{Shot with Nikon D5500 + Sigma 105mm lens
All photos and text are my own.}