Ariocarpus fissuratus CITES P-IT-1004 | Cracked limestone
€42,40
🌱 Morphology
An extraordinarily slow-growing and almost always solitary cactus, whose aerial part remains practically flush with the ground. The body, greenish-gray and sometimes yellowish with age, is flattened to globose and can reach about 10–15 cm in diameter. It is formed by numerous triangular or rhomboidal tubercles, very close together, with a hardened and deeply fissured surface, creating the characteristic appearance of cracked limestone. Each tubercle has a central woolly groove that connects the areole to the axil. It lacks spines. Underground, it develops a large taproot that stores water.
🌍 Distribution, habitat, and family
It is distributed throughout southwestern Texas and northeastern Mexico, mainly in Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo León, and Zacatecas. It lives in the Chihuahuan Desert, on slopes, plains, and low limestone hills, at an altitude of approximately 500 to 1,500 m. It belongs to the Cactaceae family, Cactoideae subfamily, and Cacteae tribe. Its mimicry with rocks is extraordinary.
❄️ Temperature · USDA Zone 9a
It tolerates minimum temperatures down to −6 ºC when dry and with well-acclimated specimens. Cold conditions must always coincide with a completely dry substrate.
☀️ Lighting
It requires very intense lighting and several hours of direct sun. During active growth, a DLI PAR of 20–30 mol·m⁻²·day⁻¹ is recommended, with progressive acclimation.
💧 Growth cycle and watering
Winter dormancy. It is kept completely dry during the winter. In spring and summer, it is recommended to water deeply but very infrequently, allowing the substrate to dry out completely. Its enormous storage root makes it tolerate drought better than excess water; drainage and aeration are essential.
🌸 Flowering
In September-November, especially after the first autumn rains, solitary flowers appear from the wool of the younger tubercles. They are large relative to the body, about 2.5–4.5 cm, generally pale pink, magenta, or reddish-pink, with a darker throat.
🌿 Nutrition
During the active growth period, a fertilizer with a high content of assimilable calcium and low nitrogen levels, such as Desert CHOICE® Cactaceae, is recommended, applied once a month when watering. Before flowering, it can be supplemented with Desert CHOICE® Flowering.
This is an inimitable xerophyte grown in Madrid in a technological square pot with the substrate activated with mycorrhizal fungi and biofungicides.
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