Species Notes:Comment from Alexander Arzberger -See his photos below...
Very near to the town of Concepción (north Paraguay), you will find a vegetation area with small trees of Acacia and Mimosa. The soil is a very fine-grained clay which gets very hard when it dries and slushy after the rainfalls, also it contains some of salt.
At more shady places, under the Acacias, I've found also the interesting Frailea concepcionensis. These small cacti are very hard to find and are mostly hidden under the leaves.
Other cacti and bromeliads in this habitat are Echinopsis rhodotricha (growing up to a height of 80 cm), Harrisia martinii, H. bonplandii, Selenicereus setaceus, Monvillea cavendishii (Praecereus), Opuntia paraguayensis, O. retrorsa and, as epiphytes Rhipsalis leucorraphis and Tillandsia duratii. Many cacti grow also on carpets of Selaginella, a type of fern-moss.
The climate is mostly warm with an average temperature of 23,5 ºC. Occasionally, the south winds in the winter can drop the temperatures til 0 ºC during the night, but at day they always rise again to over 15 ºC. Most of the rain falls during the sommer months, but sometimes also in the winter. There is not a really dry season.
These cacti grow well in collections, keeping them always with a slight humidity and not in full sun. They flower from spring to autumm.
This icon appears next to images that have been 3rd party verified. Click Here to learn more. Click any picture below to enlarge.