This charming species was described in 1997 so it is surprising that it has not been more widely distributed. Its 2” rosettes are composed of a couple of dozen nearly globular, opalescent, ivory-colored leaves, pink-blushed at the base. Unlike others of this genus, the flowers lack red flecks on the pure white limb of the petals which are pale yellow at the base to match the carpels and filaments. The stamens, however, bear red anthers until they dehisce their pale-yellow pollen then turn dark purple or charcoal-colored. The species is said to be most closely related to G. paraguayense subsp. bernalense but differs in several respects including having half the chromosome number at n=34. We offer propagations of HBG 126516, a plant from the collection of Dr. Gerald Barad and, given its ease of propagation, probably represents the type collection from Cerro Boca Chango, a volcanic plug near Corral Falso, Municipio de Tepetzintla, Veracruz, Mexico. The species is known only from this and a couple of other small volcanic plugs near Corral Falso. It is named in honor of Mario Mendoza Garcia, propagator at CANTE and the Charco del Ingenio Botanic Garden, who was one of the collectors of the type material. $7.
Published in the Cactus and Succulent Journal, Vol. 92 (2), Summer 2020