Habitat: prairies of Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina.
Description: cacti with a globular or cylindrical stem that produce yellow, quite large flowers from the centre of the apex or just below it. Spines may be from yellow to brown. In their habitat, they live among desert grasses. Some may have synonyms in Wigginsia, others in Malacocarpus, Brasilicactus, or Eriocactus. It has been moved into the genus Parodia.
Soil: basic mix.
Location: filtered light; they need a bright site in the wintertime as well.
Temperature: minimum temperature of 6°C (43°).
Water: average, taking care not to keep the soil too dry in the winter as they may wither.
Cultivation tips: easy; repot each year and make sure the soil is well-draining. Propagation is from seeds, cuttings or offsets. They’re slow-growing.
Main species of Notocactus: Notocactus scopa, the most beautiful, particularly the variety ruberrimus; Notocactus buiningii self-sterile, it thrives in humus-rich, chalk-free, acidic soil, needs some light watering also in the wintertime and a minimum temperature around 12°C (54°F) and it is usually grafted; Notocactus shumannianus;
Notocactus buenekeri; N. haselbergii; Notocactus concinnus; N. floricumus; Notocactus herteri;
Notocactus graessneri; Notocactus magnificus; Notocactus leninghausii, syn. Eriocactus l. and Parodia l.;
Notocactus uebelmannianus; Notocactus mammulosus; Notocactus ottonis; Notocactus roseiflorus; Notocactus schlosseri;
N. megapotamicus; Notocactus submammulosus; Notocactus mueller-melchersii;N. warasii;
Wigginsia (Malacocarpus) corynoides.