Mammillaria

Mammillaria, large genus of some 200 species of low-growing cacti (family Cactaceae) native to the Western Hemisphere and concentrated in Mexico. It includes plants known commonly as pincushion, fishhook, snowball, bird’s-nest, golden-star, thimble, old woman, coral, royal cross, feather, and lemon ball cacti, all of which are small plants suitable to indoor cultivation or outdoor cultivation in warmer climates.

The spines of the cacti are either straight or hooked. Many small flowers, in a variety of colours, are borne between the tubercles in rings around the plant below the tip. Although some species may reach only 5 cm (2 inches) in height and only a few exceed 60 cm (24 inches), most grow to less than 30 cm (12 inches). A number of them, such as old woman cactus (Mammillaria hahniana) and feather cactus (M. plumosa), are woolly or hairy.