Mammillaria prolifera
Texas nipple cactus
Family CactaceaeAlso called West Indian nipple cactus, grape cactus, hair-covered cactus
About
Mammillaria prolifera, the Texas or West Indian nipple cactus, is a clustering cactus of Texas, north-eastern Mexico and the Caribbean. It is one of the most widely grown Mammillaria species.
Care at a glance
- Pet safety
- Listed as non-toxic to pets, but the sharp spines can cause injury. General guidance for the genus
- People
- Listed as non-toxic to humans, but the sharp spines can cause injury. General guidance for the genus
- Light
- Full sun or bright direct light, with some afternoon shade in hot weather. General guidance for the genus
- Water
- Let the soil dry out completely between waterings; stop watering while dormant in winter. General guidance for the genus
- Temperature
- Grows best at about 21–27 °C (70–80 °F); prefers a cool winter rest at 7–13 °C (45–55 °F). General guidance for the genus
- Soil
- Well-drained cactus mix with added grit or coarse sand. General guidance for the genus
- Propagation
- Easy to propagate; separates readily into offsets.
- Growth rate
- Slow. General guidance for the genus
“General guidance for the genus” marks advice sourced for the genus as a whole rather than this species.
Field notes
Morphology
A highly variable succulent forming dense clusters of round to slightly elongated stems about 9 cm tall and 4.5 cm wide. Tubercles about 1 cm long often carry fine white hairs as long as the tubercles. It often bears flowers and fruit at the same time. Three subspecies differ in size, spine number and colour, and flower shape and colour.
Distribution & habitat
Texas, north-eastern Mexico, Cuba and Hispaniola, mainly in seasonally dry tropical areas. Subsp. prolifera grows in Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Haiti at about 30–50 m, in low dry thickets.
Cultivation notes
One of the easiest and most commonly grown mammillarias, valued for dense tufts of spines and for flowering and fruiting more freely than any other species. It propagates easily; subsp. texana is the one most often grown, while subsp. arachnoidea is harder.
History & etymology
First described by Philip Miller in 1768 in The Gardeners Dictionary as Cactus proliferus, "Small Childing Melon-Thistle", from plants William Houston brought to London, probably from Cuba.
Habitat
- Altitude
- Not recorded
- Altitude class
- —
- Native to
- United States, Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti
- IUCN status
- Least concern
Cultivation
- Difficulty
- easy
- Temperature
- Grows best at about 21–27 °C (70–80 °F); prefers a cool winter rest at 7–13 °C (45–55 °F).
Text adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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