I had previously thought that Mammillaria theresae was the sweetest Mam that existed, then I got this plant from Miles Anderson at a recent Tucson Cacti and Succulent Society sale. Only found growing on exposed limestone in a small area of the Chihuahuan desert of Mexico, this plant was lost for quite some time. The only record of it was a single old photograph until 1996 when George Hinton and Jonas Luethy rediscovered it. A tiny plant, the heads are barely 3/4 of an inch around. Luckily it clusters or you would almost need a magnifying glass to see it. It has nearly cylindrical tubercules that turn a deep purple almost black in good light. The tiny harmless white spines like little lacy umbrellas at the tips of the tubercules are a nice contrast to the color of the plants body.
     It is reported to be difficult to grow on it's own roots so non grafted specimens are very rare. I think I'll ask Miles if he's had any luck growing them on their own roots, I'm sure he's tried. He told me this one is flowering size and should bloom soon. It gets lovely purple flowers that are considerably large given the size of the plant. I can't wait to see!
     Oh, by the way, I still love my Mammillaria theresae. She's just got a little competition now ;-)

     Update September 19th, 2006. Well, no flowers this season dang it! But luckily I have a friend who has one that flowered. Dominique is a fellow member of the forums at Cactiguide.com and a cacti and succulent lover from Paris, France. She's agreed to allow me to use some of her marvelous pictures including the flower pic below. Thanks, Dominique :-) Also click HERE for a gallery of her other wonderful pictures.

The same plant in April

Closeup of spination

Dominiques' flowers