Family: Cactaceae
Habitat: Mexico and desert areas of southern United States.
Cultivation: It is advisable to take extra care during the watering, to soak the soil around the plant, not directly on its stem. The temperature must remain above 5 ° -6 ° C, with small differences between species and species.
Curiosity: The name comes from the Latin “ferox”, that is fierce, given by the presence of colorful, strong numerous and menacing thorns along the ribs of the stem.

FEROCACTUS

The plants of the genus Ferocactus are cacti with round shape, which tends to become columnar in adult specimens and it gradually increases with the age of the plant. However , on the market, there are almost plants with round shape. The feature that gives them their name is the thorn, so robust and obvious to give the name of “fierce cactus.” The ribs are vertical. The color of the stem can vary from gray-green to dark green depending on the variety considered. The dimensions change greatly depending on the species; from 30-40 cm up to one meter in height for an adult plant. Flowering occurs from June to August; the flowers are bell-shaped and in several colors: red, yellow, orange, violet, and they come out from the apex of the plant in small groups.

Variety and Types

Today the species that we recognize are about thirty. However, a number of varieties is added to these. Below we list the various species and the main variety of ferocactus gender.

Here are some:

• Ferocactus acanthodes
• F. acanthodes v. eastwoodiae
• F. acanthodes v. hertrichii
• F. acanthodes v. lecontei
• F. acanthodes v. rostii
• F. acanthodes v. tortulispinus
• F. alamosanus
• F. alamosanus ssp. reppenhagenii
• F. californicus
• F. chrysacanthus
• F. chrysacanthus f. rubrispinus
• F. chrysacanthus ssp. grandiflorus
• F. coloratus
• F. covillei
• F. cylindraceus
• F. cylindraceus ssp. eastwoodiae
• F. cylindraceus ssp. lecontei
• F. cylindraceus ssp. tortulispinus
• F. cylindraceus v. albispinus
• F. cylindraceus v. rostii
• F. cylindraceus v. tortulispinus
• F. cylindraceus v. tortulospinus
• F. diguetii
• F. diguetii v. carmenensis
• F. echidne
• F. echidne v. rafaelensis
• F. echidne v. rhodanthus
• F. echidne v. victoriensis
• F. emoryi
• F. emoryi ssp. rectispinus
• F. emoryi v. rectispinus
• F. flavovirens
• F. fordii
• F. fordii ssp. borealis
• F. fordii v. grandiflorus
• F. gatesii
• F. glaucescens
• F. glaucescens f. nudum
• F. glaucescens v. inermis
• F. gracilis
• F. gracilis ssp. coloratus
• F. gracilis ssp. gatesii