When you call up of cacti , images of burred , spine - covered desert plants likely come to listen . But did you know there ’s a whole world of fuzzy , hairy cacti out there ? These way-out , hirsute specimen are nature ’s way of keeping thing interesting . From cottony tuft to downy coats , haired cacti flaunt their unequalled textures with pride . While they share the same hardy , drought - insubordinate quality as their thorny relatives , these lovable oddballs add an unexpected twist of fuzziness to the cactus family .
Get ready to have your preconceptions ferment delightfully upside down as we unveil 12 fascinating hairy cactus varieties that will trance your senses and ignite your wonder about the marvel of the botanic world .
Related Post:1000 Types of Cacti With Pictures and Names
“Cephalocereus senilis”bySindy Nerois licensed underCC BY-NC 2.0
Contents
Hairy Cactus Types
Some species of cacti have lowly hairs that take place in dissimilar forms depending on the mintage — short , tenacious , very easy or a little hard . The hairs are more or less soft plant life organ , which can perform various functions in plants .
Like the wax of many succulent leaf , the hairs of some cacti are part of theiradaptationto the environment and their functions are varied and even contraposed . These let in avoiding plant water loss or being able to enchant dew piddle , dirt ball protection , or perhaps protection against over - exposure to light source or adverse weather conditions .
Below are some hazy cactus types :
Old Man Cactus (Cephalocereus senilis)
The old humankind cactus is one of the most popular type of hairy cactus . As the name implies , it has grey - livid , typical , prospicient , wooly hair that look like the whiskers of an old man .
This ashen fuzzy cactus is a columnlike cactus that can sometimes ramify and reach 1 meter in height ( in nature they extend to 15 meters ) . The most interesting thing about these plants is their curious thorn in the form of gray hairs that protect them from the cold . Although in pots they do not usually bloom , if they do they produce big blanched flowers that open at nighttime in mid - spring and former summertime .
The old man cactus is a slow - raise cactus that is used to create mini gardens along with other cacti . They are also interesting in single pots .
These plant need a very gay exposure to spring up their “ mane ” well . Young plant do not withstand less than 10 ° carbon but adult plants can defy up to 6 - 7 ° C . Thesoilcould be a intermixture of 1/2 coarse sand and another 1/2 of folio mulch . It is advisable to put gravel on the surface so as not to accumulate moisture .
Water very moderately and never wet the plant directly . If you need to increase the growth of “ white fuzz ” you may provide lime - rich mineral fertilizer in spring and summertime .
Peruvian Old Man Cactus (Espostoa lanata)
Another blurred cactus plant , the Espostoa lanata is a cactus of American origin , more precisely from the desert areas of Ecuador , Peru , and even Bolivia . It is a columnlike cactus that can make several meters in height . It is also known as the Peruvian Snowball Cactus , Woolly Cactus , and Peruvian Old Man Cactus . Its name derives from its cosmopolitan appearance , hairy or woolly , being breed by long bristle that surround it and give it that muddled appearance . It can grow between 800 and 2,000 meters of altitude .
It is a behind - produce , tree diagram - shape cactus that furcate off at the top over the year . It turn over from 2 to 5 beat in height in adult specimens . The fore are cylindrical , upright with a trunk 6 to 12 curium in diam . The stems are 12 - 20 cm in diameter .
Beneath the bristles or hairs , lie in hidden sharp spines . So beware , or you will bepricked .
The Peruvian Old Man Cactus require full sun or direct sunlight picture , although it also make well in semi - shade . This fuzzy clean cactus keep going high temperature well . It does not tolerate overweening humidness , so reduce watering more and more in the descent , and avoid watering in winter . In warm areas , you have to water occasionally in wintertime as long as it does n’t rain .
fertilise weekly in the watering time of year , with a mineral fertilizer , especially in blossoming . It does not need much fertilizer , being of medium nutritional need .
Powder Puff Cactus (Mammillaria bocasana)
Mammillariabocasana is a clumping cactus , often take form orotund heap . It is unremarkably refer to as the “ Powder Puff Cactus ” and the “ Snowball Cactus ” due to its resemblance to a cactus with a cotton - comparable appearance , characterized by silklike white whisker covering the low round plant . This hazy cactus plant is quite variable with a caboodle of different varieties and forms available in finish . contemporaries of cactophiles have had this plant life as one of their first acquisitions and few can have been let down by its easy cultivation and free - flowering use .
Its beginning can be traced back to Northern central Mexico , especially in San Luis Potosi Zacatecas and Queretaro states , Mexico . It grow among volcanic rock on canon wall and at the foot of a J. J. Hill in semi - desert . It is a fast - growing cactus cover with cluster of silken white hairs , with each cluster surrounding a yellow - to - red drug-addicted spine . The spines are used to make fishhook in Mexico .
Mammillaria bocasana is a freely clustering species that reproduces easily by cutting . It is a nifty starter flora for the cactus grower , that readily build up into a dense cluster of stems smothered by clean hairs , further decorated by rings of cream or pallid pink blooms . It is a quickly develop species . It offset from the base and can fill a 25 curium pot in just a few years given the best status .
It is quite Robert Frost repellent if keep dry , hardy as low as -5 ° C ( some news report give it hardy to -12 ° C ) . However , some warmth throughout the year will increase the grower ’s success ( lower limit 5 ° to 8 ° atomic number 6 during the residue season ) .
Several cultivar of the Mammillaria bocasana be , with varying quantity of woolen , and flower colors . The plants sell as ‘ forma multilanata ’ are very woolly , with yellowish flowers .
Austrocylindropuntia lagopus
Austrocylindropuntia lagopus is a low - rise cactus species form very dense , orotund cushion to several meter in diameter and a height of 60 centimeter . From the areoles arise very fine , up to 2 centimetre long , creamy - yellowish hairsbreadth . The epithet “ lagopus ” comes from the Greek “ lagôs ” : hare and “ pous ” : foot about the narrow stems covered with thick white wool , evoking the leg of a snowshoe rabbit ( Lepus americanus ) .
The stem are so densely hirsute and concealed that believably do not have any photosynthesis function , which is indeed support by the leaves . In habitat , the leave-taking are almost entirely hidden in the hair , but usually observably exert above the hairsbreadth in cultivation .
It is quitewinter hardyand can be cultivated out of doors if adequately protected from the rain and keep perfectly dry . It is prostrate to rot and needs good drainage , so water sparingly . It also needs as much lineal sunlight as possible to encourage the heavy spines and fleece formation . plant life in shaded positions grow etiolate and fail to produce the distinctive hairy covering . They involve to be kept in a nerveless post during the wintertime residual ( at 0 to -10 ° C ) this is important for the flowers as well as for their health .
Seeds are rarely available and extremely difficult to germinate , so it is bestpropagated by cuttingthat frequently does n’t succeed in producing roots or tooth root very slowly and unpredictably . For this reason , this plant is often grafted .
Monkey’s Tail (Cleistocactuswinteri subs. colademononis)
Cleistocactus winteri bomber . colademononis , sometimes list under its old name of Hildewintera colademononis , is a fantastic plant life with very long white and soft , hairlike spines . The common name “ monkey ’s seat ” come to to the show of the hairy prow . It is free efflorescence and the outsize bright red heyday are particularly ornamental .
Cleistocactus winteri subs . colademononis is of easy polish , which makes it a good cactus for initiate . It is suited to hanging handbasket as well as pots . Since they are rapid growers and postulate plenty of space for their roots , repotting with refreshed potting mix should be done every other twelvemonth or when the works has outgrown its pot . However , repotting does n’t needs mean they ’ll call for large containers .
The scamp ’s tail cactus requires filter bright light , partial Sunday or unclouded shade , but not full sun that will sunburn it . It ask temperate tearing throughout the growth season . This can be done each week or more frequently during the summertime if the weather is sunny enough , but allow it to dry out to the full before watering again . Kept this way , the plant will show salubrious growing . Keep rather dry as presently as the temperature starts dropping in October and keep it wry in wintertime . The plant survives outdoors without protection in wintertime ( insensate hardy to -2 ° C ) but is then somewhat prostrate to rot , too .
They are comfortable to propagate from cut or seeds .
Eulychnia saint-pieana
The popular Eulychnia nonesuch - pieana is a morphological form of Eulychnia breviflora , very price for its especially haired areoles , but both plants with scarcely woolly areoles and plants with very woolly areole ( with all medium shape ) are found throughout the distribution range of the specie and it is difficult to sort Eulychnia saint - pieana as a separate form .
It is one of the showiest Eulychnia coinage sought - after by cacti fiery , producing lots of poor white woolen as a seam for those long pricker . It ’s a must for any columnar collector !
turn them in rich , porous , arenaceous soil , and let their soil dry out between tearing . If potted , repot in the bounce , if their roots become cramped . mostly , they should be repotted every other class to allow fresh grime . However , this does n’t necessarily signify they ’ll demand larger containers . fulfill about a quarter of the pot with rugged crocks , crushed rock , etc . to promote good drainage . After repotting , do not water for a workweek or more .
This plant is easily grown on its root . It can be increase by cuttings , which will take root at a minimal temperature of 20 ° C .
Grizzly Bear Prickly Pear (Opuntia polyacantha var. erinacea)
Grizzly bear Cactus ( Opuntia polyacantha var . erinacea ) is a low - growing cactus with wide , slender stem section ( stamp pad ) . The pads are intermediate - sized for a bristled pear ( about 5 column inch retentive by 3 inches wide ) . The thorn are thin to dense , unretentive to long ( to 6 inches , wavy , and flowing ) . The tenacious , menstruate backbone sometimes altogether obscure the tablet .
Grizzly yield Cactus is a topically common ( uncommon overall , but can be abundant in certain areas ) component of botany communities on well - drained sandy , gravelly , and rocky soils along washes , canyon , and on upper bajadas and moderate slope into the grim mountains in the Upper Sonoran ( Mojave Desert Scrub and Pinyon - Juniper Woodland ) liveliness zone .
Around Las Vegas , this cactus is find at middle elevations in the mountains , seduce it hard to find without a hike . A few can be found near Willow Springs at Red Rock Canyon NCA ( Petroglyph Wall Trail ) , and the Visitor Center on Mt. Charleston .
Flowers are discolour rose - pinko or chicken , leading onto spiny fruits . It has a clippety-clop habit and is dauntless to -20 ° C if kept dry over the winter . Plant in a position of full sun , in well - drain grunge for optimal growing .
Austrocylindropuntia floccosa
Austrocylindropuntia floccosa , also telephone waraqu is a ground cover cactus that forms thousand - foreland colonies or compact cushion of up to 60 ( and over ) centimetre in diameter . This plant is covered with a dumb , long - woolly feel of bloodless hair and xanthous spines from which come out bright chicken flowers .
This white fuzzy cactus produce on the eminent puna region in ironic valleys , rocky slopes among grasses , and low Bush in high - elevation tropical alpine home ground . Only here and there the dark-brown colour of the grasses is interrupted by the blank colour of the braggart cushions of the “ wool cactus , ” Austrocylindropuntia floccosa . From the aloofness , the plants look like recumbent sheep . The Puna part has a marked dry time of year and all-night temperatures that degenerate often below 0 ° C ( to -15 ° hundred ) .
The distinctive figure of Austrocylindropuntia floccosa in central Peru has a dense covering of long hairs that protect from freezing temperatures and from high - altitude ultraviolet light , comparisons in habitat with ‘ hairless ’ forms show that the hirsute type maintains an epidermal temperature several degrees higher during the dark . Austrocylindropuntia floccosa may be regain in nature with its origin in snow - urine - logged conditions .
This hairy cactus involve as muchdirect sunlightas possible to boost the laborious vertebral column and wool formation . Plants in shaded positions grow etiolate and flunk to give rise the typical hairy covering . It is quite winter unfearing and can be school outdoors if adequately protected from the rain and kept dry .
Old Man of the Andes (Oreocereus celsianus)
Oreocereus celsianus , or the “ previous man of the Andes ” is a columnar cactus growing in chunk that , in the wilderness , may touch and exceed 3 yard of height ( but commonly less than 2 m tall ) . It is hard to see the shape of the ribbed base , as it is thickly drape with silky white hairs .
Oreocereus celsianus is wide spread at mellow altitudes in Argentina , Bolivia , and Peru . This muzzy white cactus is usual and abundant . It occurs naturally in the semi - arid Andean region in sheltered site on rocky , well - drained grime among high mountains , mostly in slope with preference to the east and north . It flourishes in area characterized by a stale and dry clime in wintertime and strong with rare rain in summertime .
It is believe that the white pilus provide protection from the intense ultraviolet light of the higher altitude and are also equipped with “ antifreeze chemicals ” in their sap that make it middling frost resistant . It require full sun exposure with ample airflow to bring forth dense hairs , but , as a former lot dweller , does not give care for passing high temperatures in summer .
Pediocactus paradinei
Pediocactus paradinei is a pretty , small , gray - green spheric plant life . It is also get laid as the Park Pincushion Cactus , Paradine Cactus , Kaibab Pincushion Cactus , Houserock Valley Cactus , and Bristly Plains Cactus . Its natural habitat is the East side of the Kaibab Plateau and the west edge of House Rock Valley , ( Coconino County ; northerly Arizona , USA ) . Pediocactus paradinei is scarce and occurs in small and disordered patches .
The “ pilus - alike ” vertebral column is not always a “ typical ” equipment characteristic of Pediocactus paradinei ; however , in the habitat , there are few plants with such long clean hair . There are other types of haired cactus very like to Pediocactus paradinei . They are extremely varying in spination .
They are some of the most difficult cacti to grow from their own root , cultivated only by expert cactus enthusiasts . Nevertheless , plants on their own roots are very hardy . They do n’t tolerate exist in a humid and heated up glasshouse . post them in a vent position ; they care “ wind ” . debar direct sunshine pic in summer . water system moderately only from early March to May ; the rest period of the twelvemonth keep back them in quiescence . They are exceptionally irksome agriculturist . They may need 7 to 10 years to grow into mature specimen with recollective hairy spikelet . For this intellect , it is oft grafted on secure sturdy cactus stock like Opuntia andEchinocereus .
“Cephalocereus senilis”bySindy Nerois licensed underCC BY-NC 2.0
Hairy Stemmed Rhipsalis (Rhipsalis pilocarpa)
Rhipsalis pilocarpa is a peculiarly attractive tropic epiphytic ( seldom lithophytic plant ) plant from Brazil with tenacious hairy , cylindric stems and whitened , very fragrant , flowers about 2 atomic number 96 in diameter . The plant forms pendant shrub and is quite variable .
Rhipsalis pilocarpa is among the easiest to cultivateepiphytic cactiand tolerates pretermit . These cacti wo n’t want normal cactus ground but will choose to be in a soil for the most part composed of organic material , such as peat or peat moss moss , This type of soil would normally be used for orchids , bromeliads , or other epiphytic plants . These woods cacti tend to be long - endure .
Old Man Opuntia (Opuntia vestita)
Opuntia vestita is usually a slender columnar white and very furry cactus from eminent ALT . The received plants form branches both basally and near the top of the prow . It occurs in Argentina in Jujuy and Salta , and in Bolivia in Cochabamba , Chuquisaca , La Paz , Potosi , and Tarija .
The coinage name“vestita”refers to the plants ’ vestments , its clothing of white-hot hairs that sour into dens Colony of what look to be patches of blow remembering the high mountain peaks that border – on all sides – the home ground of this industrial plant .
This particular metal money necessitate regular watering when ground is juiceless during the growing season but it is prone to settle down rot , so prudent tearing is necessary . Keep dry in winter . It comes from high height and does not like raging , stuffy summers , so it is best to put them in airy places with sizable air flow . It requires a very dead and mineral potting mix and a full Lord’s Day or slightly shady exposure . Protect from severe frost .
“Espostoa lanata”bydogtooth77is licensed underCC BY-NC-SA 2.0
rootage : https://www.llifle.com/
“Mammillaria bocasana (Powder-puff Cactus; Snowball Cactus) – cultivated”byArthur Chapmanis licensed underCC BY-NC-SA 2.0
“Austrocylindropuntia (Punotia) lagopus”byBlossfeldianais licensed underCC BY-NC 2.0
“Hildewintera colademononis”bydouneikais licensed underCC BY-NC-SA 2.0
“Eulychnia saint-pieana 01”byTriangulatedTruth™is licensed underCC BY-NC 2.0
“Opuntia polyacantha var. erinacea; Grizzlybear Prickly Pear”byDon M. Davisis licensed underCC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Fluffy cactus (Austrocylindropuntia floccosa, Cactaceae)byAndrew Neild, UKis licensed underCC BY-NC-ND 2.0
“Oreocereus Celsianus, ‘Old Man of the Andes,'” byDominusVobiscumis licensed underCC BY-NC-ND 2.0
“Rhipsalis pilocarpa”bydouneikais licensed underCC BY-NC-SA 2.0
“Opuntia vestita cristata”byZrudais licensed underCC BY-NC-SA 2.0
