Frailea castanea (Cactus)

It is a miniature cactus, whose solitary stem, globular and strongly depressed at the apex, does not exceed a diameter of 4 centimeters. It has a chocolate-colored epidermis, sometimes very dark reddish - a characteristic, that gives it the name of the species. It is equipped with perfectly symmetrical and flat ribs, in the center of which long straight lines of whitish areoles are developed, from these areoles microscopic black spines emerge, arranged in a particular from, resembling the legs of a spider, usually all facing downwards and well attached to the body of the plant. In cold periods, this cactacea in nature tends to deflate and hide under the ground to protect itself, while in summer its decorative appearance is amplified by large intense yellow flowers, which sometimes even exceed the size of the plant itself and which will appear completely open, blooming with all their glory, only when the sun is really intense.