Here's Looking At Ya...

This Owl's Eyes Pincushion (Mammillaria parkinsonii) bears a strong resemblance to a pair of owl's eyes, unlike several others I have whose two heads, even by a real stretch of the imagination, look nothing at all like owl's eyes.

In the past year, this specimen started branching into two heads, (dichotomous division) which is how this species grows. It started out as a regular looking single globe and as it has grown older, it has started its expected division. As it continues to grow, the two heads will separate even more, and more heads will appear, and the cactus will form a clump of many separate heads.

The flowers on this M. parkinsonii are off-white, almost tan color. It bloomed very sparingly this year, mostly on the outside edges of the “eyes.”