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They aren't supposed to do that!
Growth Forms of Mammillaria
dixanthocentron
Mammillaria dixanthocentron Backeberg is
described as columnar and simple, to 20cm tall and 8cm diameter (Backeberg
1963). Someone forgot to mention detail to the plant shown below! This
deliciously spiny 10 year old was 25cm tall and 10cm diameter before
it decided to go with a dichotomous lifestyle. The photo below shows
the plant in 2005, 3 years after I noticed the split.
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The photo below show the plant in 2002,
not long after the split. You can see the "owl's eyes"
effect in the dichotomously splitting stem, a feature common in some other Mammilliarias
such as M parkinsonii.
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And of course, they definitely aren't supposed to do
this:
This plant is typical of its siblings.
Germinated April 1994 from seed collected near Tres Picos, Oaxaca.
Photo: April 2002 in a 12" pot. |
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Or this:
This photo shows a double headed specimen on
a single root system. Because of the common root, the stems are shaped
more like a light-bulb shaped than a column. The plant sacrificed one
of the heads during summer 2002. Photo: December 2001
in a 8" pot. |
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This is a typical looking Mammillaria dixanthocentron
of the "solitary, columnar" persuasion..
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The photo below shows the dichotomously splitting specimen
exhibiting meristem elongation in February 2002.
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Close up of flowers, spines, and wool in
December 2001.
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Close up of areoles showing the golden
spines and axillary wool. Note the strong, deflexed lower central and
the uniformly spaced radials.
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