BCSS Macclesfield & East Cheshire Branch

Newsletter June 2007 - Mammillaria magnifica

Mammillaria magnifica

Long standing readers of these Newsletters may recall seeing a picture of Mammillaria magnifica on the front cover a year or two ago. It was actually in December 1999, and, surprise, surprise, the plant has withstood the rigours of my cultivation for another eight years. I make no apology for including another photo of the plant. It really is a spectacular species - what spines! I have to say that one has to concentrate on the top six inches of the flowering example in my collection and ignore the rather brown bottom three inches of the stem. I suppose that's the minus side but on the plus side this plant can be relied on to flower around early June every year. It has shown no inclination to offset.

I also have a six-stemmed plant which I've had for around six years. It has shown no inclination to flower yet so I prefer the former. Both plants get the same treatment being potted in soilless compost, John Innes No. 2 and grit and get the occasional feed of Chempak No. 4 or No. 8 and they are grown within a couple of feet of each other.

M. magnifica was first described in 1967 and reported as occurring at at San Juan Batista, Puebla, Mexico. However, it took until 1971 to find it again in habitat. It was thought that a false location was reported to protect the plants from collectors. It has subsequently been found at several locations in the states of Puebla and Morelos growing at an altitude of 1000 to 1500m.

If you're intending to grow this species and are planning for the future it might be worth bearing in mind that mature plants have been reported with stems up to 40cm high and 9 cm thick (but it takes a long time to get to that size). Plants are not so common in the nursery trade but seed is available from Doug and Vivi Rowland.

Alasdair Glen