Ferocactus stainesii, known as the Mexican Fire Barrel Cactus, is a lovely cactus that is native to Mexico.
F.
stainesii is a simple or clumping barrel/column cactus with thick red
spines. In habitat plants must be a great age, often forming into quite
massive groups, with several subsidiary barrels growing from the main
one, with deep green bodies densely covered with bright red spines up
its entire length.
Most
plants have bright red spines with bristlelike, white radials—a
wonderful contrast, but in some populations the white bristles are
occasionally absent.
.
Stems
are columnar deep green up to 2.4 metres tall and 30 to 40cm in
diameter, with several subsidiary barrels growing from the main one.
Ribs: 13-20, compressed, more or less ondulate.
Areoles: Distant to closely set and almost contiguous in older specimens, circular.
Radial
spines: Sometime absent or usually reduced to long white or straw
coloured hairs on the areoles that appears later with age.
Central
spines: Several, subulate-acicular, stright or slightly curved, more or
less flattened and angular at first bright red/purplish becoming dull
yellow with age, but some populations also boast yellow-spined
individuals, and the white bristles are occasionally absent.
Flowers: Yellow to red, about 2.5cm long.
Keep dry at 10°C in winter, but can tolerate sporadic light frost.
