The modest size of this species recommends it for use in residential landscapes or as a potted specimen. It forms elegant, spherical, 30 cm rosettes composed of straight, glaucous-gray, dagger-like leaves, each with a terminal black spine. The species does not flower as freely as some, perhaps because it is often container-bound. But when it does, it forms vegetative bulbils on the inflorescence. This was the case with a plant that recently flowered in Myron Kimnach’s garden, affording this historical offering. Rooted bulbils of HBG 16224, originally bulbils collected by Kimnach & Moran (# 154), Nov 15, 1959, 20.3 km SW of Tehuacán, along the road to Zapotitlán, Puebla, Mexico, where it grew with Cephalocereus hoppenstedtii, Neobuxbaumia tetetzo and a Mammillaria sp. at 1650 m. $8.
Published in the Cactus and Succulent Journal, Vol. 76 (2), March - April, 2004