May 13, 2012 @ 5:39 pm
SUCCULENT SUNDAY: Gymnocalycium leeanum, cool as a cucumber
You won’t find a blue-flowered cactus—the entirely family Cactaceae famously lacks blue flower pigment. Green cactus flowers, however… while not common, green cactus flowers do exist, for instance on this week’s South American cactus, Gymnocalycium leeanum.
As it matures, this Argentina cactus often forms clumps of several round bodies. Its central spines (outward-facing spines) may be lacking, as in the pictured specimen. The radial spines are held close to the round body, as if ironed flush to the cactus’s outer surface.
Gymnocalycium leeanum flowers range from yellow, yellow-white, or greenish yellow, as in the plant pictured.
Gymnocalycium leeanum, grown and photographed by Mr Sentient Meat
