Melocactus diamantinus (Cactus)

A solitary cactus with a bright green body, equipped with deep, well-marked longitudinal ribs, on which there are large and downy areoles with reddish spines. The spines are very long, thin and straight, which stretch up even more at the apex. Precisely this particularity of the much longer spines, than the other varieties have, makes this Melocactus highly appreciated. At a certain age of the plant, when the cactus stops growing, a whitish spherical cephalium develops at the apex of the plant, formed by red bristles, from which small magenta flowers with thin petals bloom. The cephalium tends to grow, not in diameter, but only in height, assuming a characteristic cylindrical shape, that also gives an idea of the age of the plant.