Ariocarpus bravoanus
Lot ARIO-BRAV-01 1 of 1 the exact plant pictured
$815.00
- Plant: Ariocarpus bravoanus
- Cultivation: seed grown, with a strong root system
- Size: about 10 cm (3.9 in) across
- Flowers: bright pink, every autumn
- Listing: one-of-a-kind, the exact plant in the photographs
- Grown: cultivated in our greenhouse
In stock
- Flat $12 shipping anywhere in the United States, for one plant or several.
- Ships within 1 to 3 business days and usually arrives 2 to 5 business days later.
- All sales are final. If a plant arrives dead, email photos of the plant and packaging within a couple of days. Shipping and returns
- 237 plants sold
- Grown in Orange County, California
- Artificially propagated, never wild-collected
Description
Type: Seed grown · Size: about 10 cm (3.9 in) across, shown in a 5 in pot · Flowers: bright pink, every autumn · One-of-a-kind specimen
Ariocarpus bravoanus is for sale here as a single, one-of-a-kind specimen: a large seed grown plant about 10 cm across, capped with thick golden wool and flowering bright pink every autumn. The plant in the photographs is the exact one you will receive. At rarecactus.com we grow our Ariocarpus from seed on the lean mineral regime the genus demands, and this one has spent years building the dense, layered rosette you see here.
What makes this Ariocarpus bravoanus different
The species was described only in 1992, by Héctor Hernández and Edward Anderson, from limestone gravel plains in the municipality of Guadalcázar, San Luis Potosí. Its name honours Helia Bravo Hollis, the Mexican botanist whose work on the cacti of Mexico shaped the field for most of a century.
Kew’s Plants of the World Online accepts Ariocarpus bravoanus at species rank, with two subspecies: the typical plant of Guadalcázar and subsp. hintonii from further north, near Matehuala. This plant carries the species name alone on its tag and shows the typical character. Its long, keeled, triangular tubercles rise at an angle instead of lying flat, each one dark green with a finely pebbled surface and a tuft of white wool on its upper face. Our Ariocarpus bravoanus specimen page covers the taxonomy, the habitat and the small wild range in full.
The crown is the showpiece. Years of wool have packed in between the youngest tubercles to form a soft golden-tan cap, and that wool is where the flowers come from.
Flowering
This plant flowers every year. The blooms are bright pink to magenta, funnel-shaped and 2.5 to 5 cm across, large for the size of the body, and they push straight up out of the woolly centre between September and November as the days shorten. Each flower opens by day and closes at night, lasting two or three days. The species is known for flowering young, so a plant this size has many autumns of bloom behind it and many more ahead.
How we grow it
We keep it in a deep pot of about 95 per cent mineral grit (pumice, lava, granite, zeolite and limestone chip) with 5 per cent worm castings, sized to the thick taproot that holds most of the plant below ground. It gets full sun with light shade cloth through the hottest summer weeks, a thorough soak only once the mix has dried out completely from April to October, and a bone dry rest from November to March.
Restraint is the whole method. Extra water or feed swells the body and loosens the tight rosette, and a wet, airless root run is the one thing the genus will not forgive. Our Ariocarpus care guide sets out the substrate and the watering calendar in detail.
Choosing this plant
At about 10 cm across, this is a large plant for a species that matures at 3 to 9 cm in habitat. Because you are buying the exact plant pictured for sale, there is no guesswork about its shape, its wool or its condition: the crown and new growth are clean, and the oldest outer tubercles carry the corky tips and weathering marks that come with age on any mature living rock. Every Ariocarpus in our greenhouse is seed grown, with a strong root system, never grafted to force size and never taken from the wild.
When your plant arrives
Your Ariocarpus bravoanus ships bare-root and dry, the safest way to move a taprooted living rock. On arrival, pot it into a deep, sharply draining mineral mix sized to the root, set it in bright indirect light, and withhold water for about 14 days while it settles in before the first cautious soak. After that, move it gradually into brighter light and water only on the soak-and-dry cycle through the growing season.
Provenance and legality
Seed grown, greenhouse cultivated, never wild collected and never grafted. Ariocarpus sits on CITES Appendix I, the strictest tier of international wildlife trade protection, and artificially propagated stock like this specimen is the only lawful and ethical way to own one. Browse the rest of the genus on the Ariocarpus encyclopedia hub.
Questions before you buy
What exactly arrives?
This plant. One-of-a-kind listings show the exact plant and sell once; the lot number under the title is its record, and the listing states its measured size.
How does it ship?
From our greenhouse in Orange County, California, within 1 to 3 business days, for a flat $12 anywhere in the United States. It usually arrives 2 to 5 business days later.
Is it legal to own?
Yes. Every plant we sell is artificially propagated, seed grown, with no wild collection at any stage. CITES rules apply to international trade, and we sell within the United States only, so no export permit is involved.
What if it arrives dead?
All sales are final, because each plant is a living one of a kind. If it arrives dead, take clear photos of the plant and the packaging within a couple of days of delivery and tell us. If anything else about the order is not right, say so and we will help where we can.
Growing Ariocarpus
Ariocarpus grow from a swollen taproot, and nearly every care decision protects it: strong light, a fast mineral mix, water only through the warm growing season, and a completely dry winter rest.
- Sun exposure
- Full sun
- Give it full sun or your brightest position. Shade cloth at 30 to 40 per cent through the hottest summer weeks stops bronzing on growth that has not hardened.
- Watering
- April to October only
- Soak, then let the mix dry out completely before watering again, April to October, with growth peaking in late summer. From November to March keep the plant bone dry.
- Soil
- 95% mineral
- About 95 per cent mineral (pumice, lava, granite grit, zeolite, limestone chip) plus 5 per cent worm castings. Hard tap water already supplies calcium; rainwater growers rely on the limestone.
- Cold tolerance
- Dry rest at 5–10°C
- Kept completely dry, plants ride out brief frost to about −5°C, but cold with wet soil rots the taproot. A dry 5 to 10°C winter rest is safest.
- Container
- Deep pot
- Use a deep pot for the fleshy taproot; unglazed terracotta helps in humid climates. Repot in spring, no more than every two to three years.
- Growth rate
- 10+ years to flower
- Very slow. Seedlings need two to three years to reach thumbnail width, and most species take ten years or more to flower from seed.
Shipping & Returns
Shipping
Flat $12 shipping anywhere in the United States, for one plant or several. Orders ship within 1 to 3 business days and usually arrive 2 to 5 business days later. Every plant is packed by hand to travel safely.
Returns
Every plant we sell is alive, so all sales are final and we do not accept returns or exchanges. If a plant arrives dead, take clear photos of the plant and the packaging within a couple of days of delivery and email support@rarecactus.com. If anything else about your order is not right, tell us and we will help where we can.
