Ariocarpus fissuratus Living Rock Cactus (Specimen A)
Lot ARIO-FISS-01 1 of 1 the exact plant pictured
$750.00
- Plant: Ariocarpus fissuratus, living rock cactus
- Cultivation: seed grown, with a strong root system; taproot trimmed
- Age: 16 years from seed
- Flowers: pink, in 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 · Age: 16 years from seed · Flowers: pink, in autumn · One-of-a-kind specimen
Ariocarpus fissuratus is the living rock cactus of the Big Bend country, and this one-of-a-kind specimen for sale is 16 years old from seed. The plant in the photographs is the exact one you will receive. At rarecactus.com we grow our Ariocarpus from seed in a deep, almost entirely mineral mix, and this plant has spent sixteen seasons building the dense, layered rosette and thick crown of wool you see here.
What makes this Ariocarpus fissuratus different
Age is the short answer. A living rock grows by millimetres a year, so a plant of sixteen years carries a body that no amount of feeding or forcing can fake. The tubercles overlap in tight, flattened tiers, each one dark grey-green and roughened into the warty, fissured surface that gives the species its name, with a groove of wool running down its centre. The crown is packed with soft, apricot-tinted wool, and that is where the flowers come from.
George Engelmann described the species in 1856 from plants collected near the Rio Grande in southwest Texas, and it ranges from the Big Bend region down into Coahuila and Chihuahua. In habitat it sits level with the limestone and all but vanishes in the dry season. Kew’s Plants of the World Online holds the accepted record for Ariocarpus fissuratus, and our Ariocarpus fissuratus specimen page covers the taxonomy, the habitat and the forms in full.
Flowering
This plant flowers. One of the photographs catches it in bloom: a satiny pink flower with a bright orange-gold ring of stamens and a pale, star-shaped stigma, opening straight out of the woolly centre. Ariocarpus fissuratus flowers in autumn as the days shorten, and each bloom opens by day over two or three days. A plant this old has many flowering seasons behind it.
The trimmed taproot
Every living rock grows from a thick taproot, and in cultivation that root can grow long and heavy. We trimmed this plant’s taproot at an earlier repot to encourage more growth in the plant itself.
The close-up of the base shows how it responded: a broad, corky root crown with a dense mass of fresh feeder roots spreading out from under the body. It is seed grown, with a strong root system, and it does not need the extra-deep pot an untrimmed taproot would ask for.
How we grow it
We grow it in a mix that is almost all mineral grit (pumice, lava, granite and limestone chip) with a small amount of worm castings, in a pot sized to the root system. It gets full sun with light shade cloth in the hottest weeks, a thorough soak only once the mix has dried out completely through the warm months, and a dry rest through winter.
Restraint is what keeps the body flat and the tubercles tight. Extra water or feed swells a living rock and loosens its shape, 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 month by month.
Choosing this plant
Buy this Ariocarpus fissuratus for its age and its form. 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 the young growth are clean, and the oldest outer tubercles carry the dried wool and weathering that come with age on any mature plant. Every Ariocarpus in our collection is seed grown, never grafted to force size and never taken from the wild.
When your plant arrives
Your plant ships bare-root and dry, the safest way to move a living rock. On arrival, pot it into a sharply draining mineral mix in a pot sized to the root system, set it in bright indirect light, and withhold water for about 14 days while it settles in before the first careful soak. After that, move it gradually into brighter light and water only on the soak-and-dry cycle through the growing season. Keep it dry and frost-free through winter.
Provenance and legality
Seed grown, cultivated in our greenhouse, never wild collected and never grafted. Ariocarpus sits on CITES Appendix I, the strictest tier of international wildlife trade protection, and artificially propagated plants like this one are the lawful way to own one. We ship to US addresses only. 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.
