The open plant encyclopedia
Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.
The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.
Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.
Mammillaria hahniana
Also called Old Woman Cactus
Old Lady Pincushion (Mammillaria hahniana) is a small, solitary globular cactus covered in white down and spines, with reddish purple flowers in spring and summer. It is easy to grow if kept dry in winter and given plenty of bright light and well-drained soil.
Mammillaria hahniana, the old lady cactus, is a species of flowering plant in the family Cactaceae, native to central Mexico. It grows to 25 cm (10 in) tall by 50 cm (20 in) broad. The solitary spherical stems, 12 cm in diameter, are covered in white down and white spines. Reddish purple flowers are borne in spring and summer, sometimes forming a complete ring around the apex of the plant.
Its status is listed as "Near Threatened" by the IUCN Red List.
Mammillaria hahniana is one of several Mammillaria species to be cultivated. In temperate regions it must be grown under glass with heat. However, some growers report that it is quite hardy down to −5 °C (23 °F) or even −10 °C (14 °F). Like all cacti it must be kept dry in winter, and fed and watered during the active growth cycle in summer. Increasing quite readily and flowering at a relatively early age, it is a suitable subject for domestic cultivation. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Mammillaria bombycina · Mammillaria carmenae · Golden Star Cactus · Mammillaria erythrosperma · Twin Spine Cactus · Mammillaria laui · Mexican Pincushion · Mammillaria petterssonii · Feather Cactus · Mammillaria polythele · Cactus · Texas nipple cactus
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Mammillaria hahniana 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.
