This highly variable species covers a spectrum of spination from short to long, stout to slender, straight to curved, almost white to black. As a result numerous synonyms have been described detailing some of this variation. The form offered here was described as Pyrrhocactus neohankeanus var. flaviflorus and has dark purplish bodies with often long and twisted but variable spines and large, light-yellow flowers. It originates from material collected by Wolfgang Krahn (WK 730) in the coastal hills NE of Taltal, Chile. HBG 118292. $6.
The name under which we received these was Pyrrhocactus neohankeanus var. flaviflorus which is a synonym of Eriosyce taltalensis subsp. paucicostata, as offered, but the plants were misidentified. As far as we know, the data offered still applies. The correct name is E. taltalensis subsp. pygmaea and ours were a pale-yellow-flowered form.
Published in the Cactus and Succulent Journal, Vol. 85 (2), March - April, 2013