Mammillaria painteri is a species of plant

Plant

Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...

 in the Cactaceae family. It is endemic to Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

. It is usually found near, but not limited to, San Juan del Rio, Guanajuato. It is commonly referred to as the Biznaguita in Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

. It is also known by many to be synonymous with Mammillaria crinita subspecies crinita. It was evaluated and added to the IUCN Redlist in 2002 as data deficient. The causes of this species' endangerment or threats to its well-being are not clear.

Description

Mammillaria painteri is evergreen

Evergreen

In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...

, meaning it keeps its leaves and color throughout all the seasons of the year. It is characterized by small, spherical mounds that sprout conical or cylindrical tubercles

Tubercle

A tubercle is generally a wart-like projection, but it has slightly different meaning depending on which family of plants or animals it is used to refer to....

. The globose mounds, or stems, are dark green and can range from one to eight centimeters in height and diameter

Diameter

In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints are on the circle. The diameters are the longest chords of the circle...

. In its monstrous form, Mammillaria painteri forma mostruosa, it can grow to be larger than that. The mounds may be clustered together or singular. It typically has white or pale light yellow flowers. Rarely, it will sometimes produce light pink or magenta flowers as well. The flowers are shallow and funnel-shaped.

This species is known to withstand temperatures down to atleast -2 or -5 degrees Celsius

Celsius

Celsius is a scale and unit of measurement for temperature. It is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius , who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death...

 if kept completely dry. It is not known to do well in direct, intense sunlight, mainly in summer months. It is also sensitive to red spider mite

Spider mite

Spider mites are members of the Acari family Tetranychidae, which includes about 1,200 species. They generally live on the under sides of leaves of plants, where they may spin protective silk webs, and they can cause damage by puncturing the plant cells to feed...

.

Sources

• Fitz Maurice, W.A. & Fitz Maurice, B. 2002. Mammillaria painteri. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 22 August 2007.
• Craig, Robert T. "M. bocasana, M. painteri." The Mammillaria Handbook, with Descriptions, Illustrations, and Key to the Species of the Genus Mammillaria of the Cactaceae. Pasadena: Abbey Garden, 1945. 211. Print
• De Candolle. "Mammillaria Crinita Ssp Crinita." Mammillaria | All About Mammillaria Cactus Genus. Mammillaria, 15 May 2003. Web. 27 Sept. 2011. .
• "Mammillaria Painteri Forma Mostruosa." Cactus-art. Web. 27 Sept. 2011. http://www.cactus-art.biz.