Mammillaria polythele Toluca

Mammillaria polythele TolucaMammillaria polythele 'Toluca' is a nursery produced cultivar. It was cultivated to have no spines or one or two small spines per areole. Mammillaria polythele is native to Mexico. Sun: These cacti prefer lots of sun, at least five hours of direct sun daily. Indoors a south facing window is ideal. Outdoors, place them in a spot where they will get plenty of sun exposure. If you are growing this plant outdoors be sure to provide it with light shade to

Mammillaria polythele 'Toluca' is a nursery produced cultivar. It was cultivated to have no spines or one or two small spines per areole. Mammillaria polythele is native to Mexico.

Sun: These cacti prefer lots of sun, at least five hours of direct sun daily. Indoors a south facing window is ideal. Outdoors, place them in a spot where they will get plenty of sun exposure. If you are growing this plant outdoors be sure to provide it with light shade to protect it from intense, peak afternoon sun.

Water: prefer to stay on the dry side. In the summer water them only when the soil has dried out entirely. Always err on the side of underwatering. They are built to withstand drought, and overwatering is one of the quickest ways to kill them.
During the winter it’s safe to cut back on watering entirely. This will encourage flowering during the spring!

Stems: Elongated, cylindrical, usually erect but sometimes sprawling, dull green to dark bluish green, 30 to 60 cm high (rarely to 80), 5 to 15 cm in diameter(rarely to 17), but flowering just when 5 x 5 cm. Typical subsp. polythele, has stems 8-10 cm in diameter.

Tubercles: Prominent, globular pyramidal-conical, nearly terete, teat-like, somewhat narrowed toward apex, 9-14 long, 8 mm in diameter, milky, in about 21 spirals axils of young tubercles densely long-woolly, the wool nearly covering the top of the plant, in age becoming naked without axillary bristles.

Central spines: Looking like radials and often confused with them, sometimes only 2 at first (in subsp. polythele) and pointing up and down, later 3-4 or more, somewhat spreading, unequal, pale to dark brown, sometimes reddish brown, in some variants yellowish, 8-17 (rarely to 25) mm long.

Radial: Absent or rudimentary.

Flowers: From near top of plant, rose to pinkish purple, to 8-19 mm long ,10-14 mm in diameter; perianth-segments narrow, acuminate.

Blooming season: Summer.

Fruits: Club shaped, dull red or purplish.

Seeds: Small brownish to dark brown.

Hardiness: Protect from frost. But it's hardy to -5°C if kept dry. A winter rest that allows the plant to shrivel (perhaps losing up to 25% of its summer height) will encourage flowering and long time survival.

Some of the information in this description has been found at desert-tropicals.com, llifle.com and cactus-art.biz