Common Name:

General Information

Melocactus pruinosus is a spiny, evergreen depressed-globose cactus, producing a single stem that can be 8 - 13cm tall and 11 - 16cm in diameter. Flowers are produced in a cephalium, a perennial structure up to 55mm high and 40 - 90mm in diameter that develops atop the adult cactus[].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food and a medicine. It is grown as an ornamental.
Even though Melocactus pruinosus faces some major threats, it has a large extent of occurrence and it is abundant. It occurs in two main types of habitat, caatinga (dry forest), which is under severe pressure from human activity; and campo ruspestre (montane savannah), which remains in a good conservation state. The plant is classified as 'Least Concern' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2017)[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

,

Range

S. America - eastern Brazil (Bahia, Minas Gerais)

Habitat

In open areas and beneath low to tall shrubs and trees in dry forest, campo rupestre and cerrado de altitude, growing in stony soils, quartz sand and gravel, or between crystalline rocks ; at elevations from 550 - 1,300 metres[, ].

Properties

Conservation Status	Least Concern
Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Habit	Evergreen Perennial
Height	0.10 m
Pollinators	Hummingbirds, Insects
Self-fertile	Yes
Cultivation Status	Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

Not known

Edible Uses

The stems are used to make candy[]. We have no more information for this species, but in a similar species in Mexico, cubes of the plant's flesh are cooked in a concentrated sugary solution and turned into sweets - the cactus merely acts as a vehicle for the sugary flavour[]

Medicinal

The plant is used medicinally/

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed -

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