The magnificent seven
Just a brief aside before I begin today’s topic. I must say to all succulent collectors, with the utmost sincerity, that with the right location providing ideal (or close-to-ideal) growing conditions for your wards, one is practically on cruise control even in our humid, tropical environment. Since moving the bulk of my collection to the Tagaytay area last year, I have encountered minimal problems, and the plants have just been thriving! A rule to think about when planning your collection is: if you have the right location, you will be able to grow just about any succulent in the world; if you don’t, then study your limited location’s potential (mainly in terms of amount of direct sunlight and free air circulation), then research the types of succulents that can still grow well in your limited conditions. You and your plants will be much happier that way.
A few months ago, I wrote about my top 10 favorite Mammillarias, arguably the most popular cactus genus among collectors across the world, including here in the Philippines. Today, I continue with the next seven of my favorites in this wonderful genus. As a recap for those who missed that first installment, I reprise some basic information on this group. Mammillarias, or Mams for short, have a huge appeal to collectors for several reasons, but mainly due to their great diversity in spination, coloration and form, their relatively small size (which allows a collector to build a relatively large and impressive collection in a small area), their general ease of care if their basic needs are met, and their availability among plant retailers, even locally.
Mams contain the greatest number of species next to the genus Opuntia, with between 200 and 300 species depending on which classification scheme or which expert you follow. While the bulk of Mams are native to Mexico, there are a few that are found in South America and even some of the Caribbean islands.
The name Mammillaria comes from the latin word “mammilla,” which means “nipple.” These nipples essentially refer to the tubercles covering the plant body and which, for a number of species, contain a milky sap or latex. What is fascinating about the symmetry and general architecture of these plants is that the tubercles are not arranged in an irregular pattern, but form angled, spiraling rows crossing over each other.
The most important distinguishing feature of Mams relative to other cacti is the position of their flowers. They do not grow from the areoles at the end of the tubercles, as in other cacti, but from the axils or the spaces between the tubercles. Flowers come in many colors, from white to fuchsia to red. While these flowers are generally small (with some exceptions), if you are lucky and have grown your Mam well, you may get it to produce a wonderful ring of flowers around its crown. This, I can tell you from experience, is a true sight to behold.
In terms of their care, I can tell you again from experience that there are easy-to-care-for species and there are others that are a lot more difficult. While some of my favorites belong to the easy category, most of the species I fancy tend to be the more difficult and challenging ones. For me, the key to success with Mams is to give them the right location with plenty of sun and free air circulation. I grow all my Mams in clay pots. You can grow them successfully in a mixture of 50 percent good garden loam (sandy loam is best) and 50 percent washed river sand. With this combination, you need to water only once a week.
Now let’s get to what I consider “The Magnificent Seven” (TM7), after the 1960s movie starring Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson and James Coburn, about seven gunslingers who defend an oppressed Mexican peasant village (oops, I think I may have given away my age there). I have a real inclination toward the white Mams which, because of their very dense and white spination or hairs, give an overall white appearance to the plant. The top of the heap would have to be the rare Mammillaria herrerae. This highly desirable plant from Queretaro, Mexico, has beautiful and very dense white spination that completely envelops the plant body. When grown in full sunlight, the plant grows very compactly and, with age, produces beautiful multi-headed clumps that are a wonderful sight to behold. This plant, which is endangered in the wild due to over-collecting by nature thieves, is one of the more difficult Mams to grow. But with full sunlight, a mineral soil, and once-a-week watering, it will thrive and become a true showpiece in your collection.
The second plant on my TM7 list is another white Mam, though not quite as white and a lot more bristly than M. herrerae. This is M. lasiacantha, the lace-spine nipple cactus and also a rarer Mam but of much easier cultivation than M. herrerae. An inhabitant of the Chihuahuan desert of Mexico, fully grown specimens normally only reach about two to three centimeters tall. The flowers are cream-white with a brownish-red stripe.
M. pennispinosa is a very distinctive Mam with feathery hooked spines. But don’t be fooled by these seemingly dainty-looking spines. Once your finger gets hooked into it, it can be quite difficult to pry your finger free. If you don’t do it right, you can have blood on your hands — literally. This plant is also quite a temperamental plant and sparse watering is the requirement. I’ve successfully grown this plant in half-shade, but it really looks so much better and healthier under full direct sunlight.
M. aureilanata is usually a solitary grower that produces golden yellow-white, hair-like spines. Over time, it produces small clumps, as depicted by my specimen plant. It is from San Luis Potosi in Mexico and also requires careful watering.
I have included yet another form of my favorite M. theresae here. The form shown is quite distinctive and, with my poor eyesight, quite different from regular M. theresae (which was depicted in my last article on Mams). This form looks more like the very common M. elongata, which is readily available in local plant retailers. I have successfully flowered the regular M. theresae form, but this elongata-like form has refused to flower for me so far, though it has grown quite beautifully and compactly and this is its chief attraction for me.
The last two in my TM7 list are more recently discovered and described species and only now are becoming more readily available to plant collectors. M. sanchez-mejoradae and M. tlaloci are again two of the most beautifully spined Mams around and are much coveted by collectors worldwide. Both originating from the hot Mexican deserts, these plants are a bit less temperamental when it comes to watering. They both like mineral soil and you must grow them in full sunlight to maximize the growth and compactness of their spination.
Like the oppressed and threatened Mexican peasant village in that great 1960s movie, many of my Magnificent Seven are also endangered in their habitats in the wild, due mainly to unscrupulous collecting by poachers and habitat destruction. With their increasing popularity globally, commercial growers have now been able to produce all of them from seed. This should help stabilize their habitat populations and ensure their numbers for the future.
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E-mail the author at succulentophile@yahoo.com.
