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Ferocactus santa-maria     9/2/18
A Baja California species. The genus Ferocactus has lots of members. I think that you could have flowers from early spring to almost winter by keeping a significant selection. Many can become quite large, but I've had no problems keeping them for years in one or two quart (~ 1- 2 liter) pots. They get to be about 4 to 5 times the pot volume. In nature, they can be immense. I've seen a Ferocactus wislizenii ten feet tall, weighing some tons. One downside to the genus is that they have truly vicious spines, unforgiving if you make a mistake. Some have recurved central spines, like huge fishhooks. The classic pattern is, you stick your finger through the obvious big spines and get pricked by a little spine on the body. You recoil, as is natural. The recurve of the outer spines now lays your finger wide open. Lots of blood. Lots of cursing. The species above has curved central spines only, no fishhooks.   (25/32)   

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