Cactus Tephrocactus articulatus var. papyracanthus

Today I’m presenting you with a cactus that is a mixture of curious and strange, I wouldn’t know how to describe it. Some also classify it as a succulent rather than a cactus. It is the Tephrocactus articulatus var. Papyracanthus. It is known by the common name Cactus spines of paper. It has a bush port, developing into small straight, pineapple-shaped fragments that, as they grow, can reach thirty centimeters long. It has the body of a mixture of green and grey. One of the biggest problems it has is that when it grows in this way, the union between segment and segment is so thin that with any sudden stroke or movement, it can break.

The spines are their most characteristic touch without a doubt. These are white, flexible, curved, broad, flattened, smooth spines that to the touch it can remind raffia. They are not the typical spikes we are used to seeing cacti, but rather they are a small tape attempt that varies greatly depending on the color, markings, and size of them. They are usually between three and ten centimeters long. From each areola, several come out.

When it is a time of flowering, it offers us flowers that can be white or yellow. Being a clear coloration has a good contrast to the surface of the plant itself. It also offers us brown fruits between one and five centimeters long. Inside it there are the seeds we can use to reproduce this specimen.

Finally, I could tell you that irrigation must be very moderate, as it is a plant used to living in the heights of the mountains and this makes it accustomed to both cold and heat and as a result of not receiving water as many times as it would like. Now, knowing this, I recommend that you water it once every fifteen days in both summer and spring and in autumn irrigate only once, before the minimum temperatures are not too low. Above all, we must avoid water excesses and water swellings, because they are the main causes of death in this curious example.