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Kroenleinia grusonii
Also called Gold Barrell Cactus, Gold Ball Cactus, Golden Barrel Cactus, Mother In Law's Seat
In Singapore: Golden Barrel Cactus, Golden Ball (Grown in Singapore)
A large, round, mostly solitary desert cactus from east-central Mexico, grown for its golden spines and sculpted ribs. Its key to success is full sun and very well-drained soil, with little water.
Kroenleinia grusonii, popularly known as the golden barrel cactus, golden ball, "mother-in-law's cushion" or "mother-in-law's chair", is a species of barrel cactus which is endemic to east-central Mexico.
Kroenleinia grusonii is widely cultivated by specialty plant nurseries as an ornamental plant, for planting in containers, desert habitat gardens, rock gardens, and in conservatories. A white-spined and a short-spined form, as well as a teal-blue cultivar ('Blue barrel'), are also in-cultivation.
The golden barrel is among the most popular cacti in collections and in landscaping, and has increasingly become popular as an architectural accent plant in contemporary garden designs.
The golden barrel cactus is rare and endangered—potentially regionally extinct—in nature. It is native to the Mexican states of Querétaro and Hidalgo, particularly near Mesa de León. Wild populations of K. grusonii were adversely affected in the 1990s as a result of wild specimens being poached as well as the creation of the Zimapán Dam and reservoir (in Hidalgo). The golden barrel cactus is a fairly adaptable species, but naturally prefers growing in rich, volcanic (but well-aerated) soil on sunny slopes, where water quickly flees from its roots. The species may be found growing at altitudes as high as 1,400 metres (4,600 ft) above sea level.
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Kroenleinia grusonii 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.
