Gymnocalycium baldianum Spegazzini
Growth Habits: generally solitary but will produce offsets with age in cultivation, dark green stems each head is up to 3 inches (7.5 cm)
Scientific name; Gymnocalycium baldianum
Common names: Dwarf chin.
Synonym: Echinocactus sanguiniflorus, Gymnocalycium venturianum, Gymnocalycium platense var. baldianum, Echinocactus baldianus, Gymnocalycium sanguiniflorum
Etymology: Gymnocalycium, From the Greek words gymnos meaning naked and kalyx meaning bud.
The species name "baldianum" Named after Baldi (a colleague of Spegazzini).
Origin:Argentina (Catamarca)
Light: Full sun to light shade.
Compost. A free draining standard cactus mix.
Water: Regular water in spring to autumn.
Flower: The normal flower colour is pale pink to bright red i have also found white flowered ones while compiling this reference.
Min temp: Hardy to 15°F (-10°C), for short periods.
Cultivation: Easy to grow and remains quite a small plant.
Habitat. Grass and scrub covered ground at around 1800m (6000 ft) elevation.
Comments: A good plant for beginners as it is not very demanding and takes up little room.i find it flowers better if allowed to go below 5 deg C (42F) in winter and will flower several times in a season.One of these plants quite happily survived in my unheated greenhouse last winter with minimum temp of -8 deg C.(to survive these conditions the soil and roots must be dry)
Additional images:
image with a better view of the plant and buds