Mammillaria knippeliana f. crested

The crested shape of this cactus is highly appreciated and sought after by green collectors from all over the world, as each specimen is different from the others, always unique, with its extremely compact and spiny fan shape. In its normal form it is a generally solitary cactus, which sometimes becomes dichotomous with growth. It has a globular, slightly cylindrical stem, equipped with very evident pointed tubercles, at the apex of which small white and very straight spines emerge from downy areoles. In the grooves between the tubercles, as well as at the apex of the plant, there is the typical whitish down, that distinguishes many Mammillarias and gives it an apparently soft semblance, in contrast to the hard and bristly one, that the spines give it, creating an overall very scenographic appearance.