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Echinocactus platyacanthus
Also called Candy Barrel Cactus
Echinocactus platyacanthus, the giant barrel cactus, is a slow-growing, very large barrel cactus from central Mexico that can live over a century. It needs full sun, sharp drainage and very sparing water.
Echinocactus platyacanthus is a member of the cactus family Cactaceae. It is also known as the giant barrel cactus, golden barrel cactus, giant viznaga, or biznaga de dulce, and its Nahuatl (Aztec) name is huitzli nahual.. It is native to central Mexico in the Chihuahuan Desert. This species is the largest of the barrel cacti. In Mexico, its hairs are often used for weaving; and acitrón, a traditional Mexican candy, is produced by boiling the cactus pith.
Homalocephala parryi · Homalocephala polycephala · Horse Crippler · Barrel Cactus
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Echinocactus platyacanthus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
