Description of Turbinicarpus macrochele

Photo © Mark Faint

Stems single, globose to globose-cylindrical, mostly buried deep in the ground, the subterranean part consisting of old depressed tubercles, the part above ground flat to depressed globular (in humus containing soil, also globose), 1 to 3 cm high, up to 5.5 cm in diameter; stem colour bluish green, brown green to dark green and purplish grey too, depending on sun exposure and season of the year; the stem apex distinctly submerged to flat, tufted by protruding spines; roots fibrous to swollen, succulent; Tubercles pointed to truncate, conically flattened, on the underside sometimes indistinctly keeled, 10 - 16 mm wide, 5 - 10 mm long, 1 - 5 mm high, towards the base of the stem more flattened and broad, in plants with depressed tubercles these are larger and less numerous; Spines 1-5 differing in length, emerging from the lower part of the areole, arranged irregularly, stiff to flexible, papery to cardboard like, cracked crossways, pointed, towards the stem apex with a lengthwise furrow, in cross-section flattened to hemispherical, light greyish brown through yellowish brown and dark brown to black in colour, 40 mm long, slightly curved to twisted or bent, claw like, more or less prominent or bent towards the stem, interlacing, too (particularly above the stem apex), on older areoles often broken or missing; Flowers are produced at the apex of the stem, when open, up to 18 mm long and up to 35 mm in diameter with 11 to 20 petals, these are white, on the outside with a brown purple to olive green mid-stripe, on the inside with an occasional purplish pink mid-stripe, the throat is white or light pink, occasionally intensive pink; Filaments and style whitish to pink, anthers yellow; stigmas 3-9, mostly 4-6, up to 2 - 6.5 m long, 0.5 - 1.5 mm wide, white to yellowish white or light to dark pink in colour, straight or curved to twisted, more or less papillate, in this case they seem smooth or striking velvety; Flowering time from January through September in one or more flowering periods; Fruit small, ovoid, bare, hidden in the apex wool, splitting open laterally when ripe, then papery thin and brittle, the dry remains of the flower falling off; Seeds elongated, slightly flattened, 1.2 - 1.45 mm long, 1.0 - 1.15 mm broad, 0.9 - 1.05 mm thick, weighing 0.5 - 0.65 mg, seed coat dull black, with oval, rounded, prominent tubercles standing close together, diminishing in size towards the hilum, the hilum being at the base; Seedlings have up to eight fragile, plumose and flat spines, these become smooth and less numerous very soon and in the transitional stage to the generative phase they produce two (sometimes three) spines curved towards the stem apex in a typical V-position.

Locality: Near Matehuala, San Luis Potosi, México.

Related taxa

Turbinicarpus macrochele forms an aggregate of taxa with the following:

• T. macrochele ssp. frailensis
• T. macrochele ssp. macrochele var. polaskii

References

• Rod Turbinicarpus by M. Zachar, R. Staník, A. Lux, I. Dráb
• Turbi-Now Issue 4, 1998, by P. Lechner et al.

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