The mammillarias of the supertexta group are typically so densely spined and wooly that the epidermis is almost completely concealed. This is especially true of this clone long cultivated at the former Tegelberg’s Cactus Nursery in Lucerne Valley, California; it was donated to the Huntington by Gil Tegelberg Jr. upon his retirement in 1992. In the intense heat of the Mojave Desert, compounded by the enclosed space of the Tegelberg greenhouse, plants grew magnificently for the father and son nurserymen. Their specimen of M. albilanata grew into a large sprawling cluster of several semi-prostrate branches. Under the Huntington’s milder, more coastal climate it began to produce numerous offsets from the upper sides of these branches suggesting that the time had come to propagate and distribute this choice example of the type subspecies restricted to Zopilote Canyon in the state of Guerrero, Mexico. Rooted cuts of HBG 72568. $7.50. A few larger specimens (6" pot size) are available for $15.
Published in the Cactus and Succulent Journal, Vol. 79 (2), March - April, 2007