Collecting cacti, in most cases, begins with Mammillaria. This is a representative not only of the plants most loved in floriculture, but also of a large, evolutionarily advanced genus from the Cactus family. To lead the popularity rating of the culture was possible thanks to its many varieties. What to choose from this wide range, consider the examples of species that are in special demand.
Baum (Mammillaria baumii)
It is a small undersized plant with yellow flowers. Its stems are shaped like needles of light green color. 
Did you know? In Mexico, where Mammillaria comes from, farmers use cacti as feed for cows. It is believed that the plant helps to increase milk production. That is why around the agricultural territory there is not a single prickly stem. They are brought from afar.The peculiarity of the species is that, to the best of the growth of children in a pot, a whole group of cacti is formedthat look like a bush, shrouded in white long spines. The plant grows more intense in width than in height. In favorable conditions, the volume of Bauma reaches 15-20 cm.
Voronkovidnye flowers appear in the summer. They have a pronounced aroma and rich colors of petals. After flowering, large, juicy fruits of gray color ripen on the stems.Blossfeld (Mammillaria blossfeldiana)
The look deserves attention thanks to the big flowers densely covering a top of a prickly stalk. During the flowering period, cactus sprouts, which always grow individually, resemble a bouquet. Often in buds up to 12 - 14 petals of a delicate scarlet color with a white border at the edges.
Learn how to deal with diseases and pests of cacti.
On a low dark green stalk, areola with a thick white pile attracts attention. Numerous long spines of burgundy color peep out of them. Moreover, each medium is much longer than the others and is curved into a small hook at the end. 
Important! To halt the growth of cacti, in standard soil mixtures, leaf earth is replaced with gravel.
Bokasanskaya (Mammillaria bocasana)
Mummillaria bokassky is more appreciated by growers for smoky green stems than flowers. The cactus grows small, forming a group shrub of various sizes of thorny balls. Along the entire length, they are densely covered with a felt-hairy pile, the length of which reaches 2.5 cm. 
A characteristic sign of the species is a thickened brown central thorn, surrounded by the rest of the thin and white. Cream flowers appear on the top in the form of a wreath, but through nondescript size and color look less attractive. Petals reach a length of 1.5 cm, with a stem diameter of 5 cm. 
Wilda (Mammillaria wildii)
The specificity of Mammillaria Wilda lies in the low spherical stem of a rich dark green color, light brown thick spines and flowers characterized by medium size and straw color. At the top of the cactus, the bristles are more compacted, thereby forming a golden bunch in the center of the sprout.
Familiarize yourself with the rules of breeding cacti seeds and vegetatively.
Important! Many believe that cactus spines absorb electromagnetic radiation. In fact, they only ionize the air.
Deherdt (Mammillaria deherdtiana)
This type of many collectors extolled to the top of all cacti plants. It can occasionally be found even on the rocky soils of his native Mexico. The value of Mammillaria Deherdt lies in its dwarfism and grandiflora. 
Cacti are succulent plants. This group also includes agave, adenium, aloe, lithops, euphorbia, yucca, stone rose, hatiora, havortiya.
The culture consists of a single rounded-flattened stem, whose height barely reaches 2.5 cm, and a diameter of 4 cm. The oval areoles are densely pubescent with a short white pile, one can see a bunch of elongated purple-brown hairs. Initially, the central spines have a white color and a glossy sheen, and to the extent of maturation they turn yellow, leaving only the tips brown. 
Flowers of this species are wide open, reaching 5 cm in diameter. Their red-carmine petals are characterized by a lanceolate form, forming a 2-centimeter flower tube at the base. Until the fruits, half hidden in the flesh of the sprout, ripen, the flowers will not fall off.
Did you know? The most popular Mexican delicacy is considered to be the candied cacti melokaktus oaxacensis.
Zeilman (Mammillaria zeilmanniana)
Mammillaria Zeylman grows short, its dark green stem develops in the shape of a cylinder and strongly branches. As a result, a cactus bush is formed in the pot, densely pubescent with long light villi. The central spines are hooked at the ends. Tubular flowers are fully disclosed, their petals have a rich pink color. 
Carmen (Mammillaria carmenae)
The species is characterized by a low bright green stem, which in the first years of life forms a spherical shape, and with age it stretches into a cylinder. In its natural environment, the culture is distinguished by its dwarfism, and at home its sprouts can stretch up to 7-9 cm. 
Mature cacti produce many lateral shoots, forming a branchy shrub up to 16 cm wide. Areola plants are covered with an elongated white down from which thickened yellowish spikes protrude. Blooms Carmen pale pink or cream buds, length and width of 1 cm. Fruits - small, white-green color. It tolerates low temperatures.
Important! It is recommended to water cacti in the summer only when the top layer of the substrate in the pot dries out, and in winter the plant is removed to a cold room where the temperature is not higher than +15 ° C and once a month slightly moisten the soil.
Barbed (Mammillaria spinosissima)
When this type of cacti blooms, a lush crown of carmine or crimson flowers appears at the top of the green stem. Their dimensions are measured in the range of 1.5 cm. Sprouts of the spiny mammillaria are drawn up to 25 cm, with a diameter of up to 10 cm. The flower is beautiful at any time of the year because its trunk has bright colors, sometimes with a bluish tinge. 
Characteristic signs of a species are the areola, which are lowered in the core of the stem. White bristles and spines grow from them, up to 1 cm long. The central needles can be white-purple shades and reach a length of 2 cm. After flowering, red fruits in the form of an elongated oval are fastened in areoles. 
Parkinson's (Mammillaria parkinsonii)
Specific signs of the species are smoky, strongly branched stems rounded. Sometimes the plant acquires a club-shaped configuration with a height of up to 8 cm. At the peak of branching, the cactus bush reaches 15 cm in diameter.
Did you know? In ancient times, healers used cactus needles to sew wounds. Before work they were sterilized.The peculiarity of Mammillaria Parkinson's is also in the rounded areoles, which are characterized by abundant hairiness at the initial stage of their development, and with age become bald. On the stem there are resilient nipples, up to 1 cm in length, of which grow central cream spines and white pubescence. The ends of all needles are painted in blood-brown color.
Flowers - small, with cream petals, along which there is a clear crimson-brown strip. The fruits are also red.Mammillaria prolifera
Mature cacti of this variety resemble the neatly folded rocky pile, through which yellow flowers made their way. Such an impression is formed through a strong branching of dark green stems that grow in the shape of a slightly elongated ball. In diameter, shoots larger than 4 cm do not grow, and reach a height of 6 cm (you can often contemplate the accretion of neighboring children). Leaf foot, the so-called "nipples" - oval, and their sinuses are slightly covered with nap. Characteristically, the tops of the trunks are characterized by white pubescence. Core spines white-yellow and shiny. Radial needles - thin, grow only white. 
Important! Cacti love solar windowsills. In the shadows, they are too drawn out and practically do not bloom.In spring, the runner may please with creamy yellow flowers for up to 12 weeks, sometimes the buds open again in winter. An expressive feature of this mammillaria is the aloh-brown strip located in the middle of the delicate petals.
Excellent (Mammillaria perbella)
It is a plant with rich green stems in the form of a slightly elongated ball, up to 6 cm in diameter. They are characterized by weak hairiness from other types of areola. Prickles a bit, they are all white and short. Buds and fruits are red. 
Slim (Mammillaria gracilis)
These cacti have small cylindrical trunks, up to 12 cm tall and up to 4.5 cm in diameter. The key characteristics of the species are intensive fouling of children and flowering in the winter season. The spines on the flower are long, white or brown in color. From a distance, it seems as if the cactus is wrapped in cobwebs. Its buds are elongated, tubular, yellow-cream color. 
Important! Fertilize mammillaria recommended once a month, and then only in spring and summer. For this purpose, special mineral complexes for cacti plants are used.
Teresa (Mammillaria theresae)
This unique view is among the most desired among the cacti growers. The reason for this lies in the excellent combination of a miniature stalk and a large single flower. When Theresa blossoms, its long purple-purple petals completely cover the sprout. It seems as if a bud appeared right out of the ground. 
The flowers are tubular, the length of the petals is up to 5 cm, the core is distinguished by a smooth transition to lighter tones. Stems - green with olive and red tinge. Their tip is shaped like an egg. The papillae are well developed, cylindrical in shape, directed into the sky. Areola covered with light flakes of white fluff. 
Extended (Mammillaria elongata)
Mammillaria elongated is a fairly wide and elongated sprout, with a diameter of up to 4 cm. As the adults mature, the stems bend and continue to develop lying down. They are densely covered with white, adjacent, setae and spines. A variety of red buds blooms that crown the tops of the shoots. 
Did you know? Mexican donkeys, in contrast to European ones, have learned how to knock prickles from mammillaria with hoofs, in order to eat their stems.
Hannah, Haniana or Ghana (Mammillaria hahniana)
This mammillaria is distinguished by a thick, felted pubescence that completely covers low spherical sprouts. For white down of various lengths, it is difficult to examine their color, nipples and areolas. The core of the trunk is slightly pressed inward, and around it appear red flowers of medium size. 
Shide (Mammillaria schiedeana)
Species are bushy bright green stem of spherical shape and greenish-white flowers. With age, the cactus acquires a mace configuration, reaching 10 centimeters in height and 5 centimeters in diameter.
Cactus is often called the "plant for the lazy." The following plants are also considered unpretentious in the care: sansevieriya, chlorophytum, tradescantia, euphorbia, zamiokulkas, spathiphyllum, hibiscus, Christmas tree.
The plant has thick white spines with thin golden tips. Radial needles grow ray-like. Buds appear in the spring. Fruits - small, carmine shades. 
Of course, not all types and photos of mammillaria are presented in this article, since there are about 200 of them in nature. But the proposed list is quite enough to satisfy the collector’s thirst and please yourself with an amazing prickly novelty, which, moreover, does not require special conditions for growing.
