Long-form articles on legality, conservation, collecting, and rare cacti.
Cactus winter care comes down to three things: cold, dry, and bright. Most desert cacti go dormant in winter and survive cold far better dry than wet. How dormancy works, how to water, frost protection, and overwintering indoors, in a greenhouse, or outside.
A cool, dry, bright winter rest is what makes most cacti flower. This guide explains the dormancy trigger, the minimum size each genus needs to bloom, and species-by-species bloom protocols for Mammillaria, Gymnocalycium, Echinopsis, Ariocarpus, and more.
A field number is a collector’s code that records exactly where and when a cactus was found. This guide explains what FR, SB, L, KK and other codes mean, the collectors behind them, and how to look one up.
Cactus root rot is caused by water molds, fungi, or bacteria that attack wet roots and collapse the plant from below. Identify it early, cut and callous correctly, and use genus-specific rescue protocols for tuberous and columnar species.
The best DIY cactus soil mix recipe for rare cacti and succulents. A five-mineral ratio (pumice, lava rock, zeolite, decomposed granite, limestone) plus per-genus tweaks for Lophophora, Ariocarpus, Aztekium, Astrophytum, and Copiapoa, the squeeze test, fertilizer schedule, and pest-prevention regime.
Peyote (Lophophora williamsii) is a federally Schedule I plant in the United States with a narrow Native American Church religious-use exemption. This reference covers every US state and more than 30 countries, citing the operative statute for each.
No cactus currently holds the IUCN’s formal Extinct in the Wild status. Mammillaria glochidiata held it until 2013. These seven walk that line, with cultivation lineages serving as the only insurance population for species whose wild type localities have been inundated, cleared, or stripped.
Ranked list of the 10 best U.S. universities for botany and plant biology, evaluated on herbarium depth, greenhouse facilities, faculty research in Cactaceae and desert ecology, and graduate career outcomes.
Lophophora williamsii biology, Chihuahuan Desert habitat, the geophyte taproot, CITES Appendix II status (not Appendix I), IUCN Vulnerable, and the conservation organizations working to keep wild populations alive.
The Huntington Library cactus garden, Desert Botanical Garden Phoenix, Boyce Thompson Arboretum, and five more US institutions where serious rare-cactus collectors plan a weekend visit. Addresses, current admission, and what to look for as a collector.
