Cactus Explorer

Epithelantha greggii In bloom, Coahuila Mexico 🏜️🇲🇽

Meet the “Living Rock” cactus: Ariocarpus fissuratus var. lloydii 🌵

Native to the Chihuahuan Desert, this slow-growing, cryptic cactus features a blistered, reptile-like epidermis on its large tubercles and a massive taproot adapted to store water for survival in desert conditions.

Geophytic cacti and smaller succulents like these often adapt cryptic mimicry camouflage to survive in arid environments. By matching the colors and textures of desert substrates like limestone and granite, they blend seamlessly into the rocky landscape to hide from herbivores when not in flower.

It can take a decade for this species to flower from seed in cultivation, so patience is key for collectors! Always ethically source your plants to protect wild populations 🏜️🤝

The biggest Thelocactus rinconensis I’ve ever seen! And we were lucky enough to catch the entire population in flower 🤩 Colours ranged from pink to white and some morphs reminded me of Copiapoa species from Chile 🤯 Coahuila, Mexico 🇲🇽🏜️

Martian desert vibes in Coahuila Mexico 🏜️🇲🇽 👽

Turbinicarpus pseudomacrochele subsp. minimus, now classified as Kadenicarpus pseudomacrochele subsp. minimus or even better - Kadenicarpus minimus.

This species has a very restricted range in the southernmost part of the Chihuahuan Desert and grows in limestone crevices with little organic matter.

The plants often germinate amongst Cyanobacteria and smaller Selaginella species that have previously colonised silt build up in these xeric niches providing a suitable substrate and microclimate for seeds to germinate in.

Mammillaria chionocephala (Mammillaria formosa subsp. chionocephala) is a striking globular “pincushion cactus” native to northeastern Mexico. Growers love it for its thick, snow-white halo of trichomes and and star-like crown of flowers around the apex 🏜️🇲🇽

Agave victoriae-reginae in the Sierra Madre Oriental Mexico ⛰️

One of our favourite cacti of the Mexico trip was this golden-yellow spined Acharagma roseanum, which, after a few attempts of unsuccessful searching on previous trips, seemed to be a bit of a unicorn plant in habitat.

This species and all other Acharagma like slightly cooler and humid microclimate niches in habitat compared to many other cacti, which is why they are usually found at higher altitudes in the Sierra Madre Oriental, or on north west facing slopes in the Chihuahuan Desert that get more shade and therefore hold onto humidity for longer after rain.

These types of north facing niches in northern hemisphere deserts are often where lichens, ferns and other more mesophytic life can be found 🏜️

Nothing like a huge clump of Ferocactus robustus to brighten up your day ☀️😁🌵 Puebla, Mexico 🇲🇽