Hello,
I bought this cactus as Neochilenis sp. 2 (Horridocactus), I tried to find information about it without success. It is an interesting one, has nearly black colour.
Opinions are welcome!
Once bitten by the cactus collecting/growing bug, there is no known cure!
There's no 12 step programme for Cactaholics...so I shall just have to get some more!!
Horridocactus is a subgenus of Eriosyce. Originally it was a separate genus, although the plants from it are better known by other names, no doubt partly because the name Horridocactus has not been taken up by the horticultural trade.
Neochilenia is one of those older names and Neochilenis would be a typo.
All Horridocactus from Chile, medium sized compact to short columnar plants that produce sweet-smelling flowers in spring to early summer. They often have dark skin like yours. They can have anything from almost no spines to many spines, sometimes wiry and contorted, sometimes stiff, although rarely as strong as the ones on your plant. I don't know exactly what it might be, possibly even something completely different like a Lobivia?
Horridocactus have a reputation for being rot-prone, although I'm not entirely sure why. They are trouble-free in a suitable (peat-free?) soil. Possibly not great in extreme heat, but they are all safe down to freezing. Keep dry in winter, water whenever they've dried out completely in summer. Some have taproots, some don't, but none have extensive root systems so be careful in that rather large pot.
iann wrote:Horridocactus is a subgenus of Eriosyce. Originally it was a separate genus, although the plants from it are better known by other names, no doubt partly because the name Horridocactus has not been taken up by the horticultural trade.
Neochilenia is one of those older names and Neochilenis would be a typo.
All Horridocactus from Chile, medium sized compact to short columnar plants that produce sweet-smelling flowers in spring to early summer. They often have dark skin like yours. They can have anything from almost no spines to many spines, sometimes wiry and contorted, sometimes stiff, although rarely as strong as the ones on your plant. I don't know exactly what it might be, possibly even something completely different like a Lobivia?
Horridocactus have a reputation for being rot-prone, although I'm not entirely sure why. They are trouble-free in a suitable (peat-free?) soil. Possibly not great in extreme heat, but they are all safe down to freezing. Keep dry in winter, water whenever they've dried out completely in summer. Some have taproots, some don't, but none have extensive root systems so be careful in that rather large pot.
As Ian has already explained regarding the genera concerned they have now been sunk into Eriosyce. Your plant looks like Eriosyce tuberisulcata (syn. horridus). The flower colour varies from yellow to red in different plants. Here is a habitat picture from my friend Roger Ferryman.
I do enjoy the dark bodies of Eriosyces, which is why I collect them. They also tend to have nice, strong, decorative spination. 
