Origin and Habitat: Garden origin (Nursery produced cultivar)

• Mammillaria cv. Fred Small Head Type

Description: This strange mutant Mammillaria makes a large low crowded mound of tiny, spineless, rubbery textured pale-green and pink tipped stems, some only a few millimetres across (3-9 mm wide). Each mound may be formed by hundreds of individual heads. Crested stems will also occour and the plant looks more like a strange marine creature than a cactus.
Remarks: Sometime "Fred" revert to the type producing some normal shoots, spines or hairs, monstrose or crested flowers. Sometimes will have a normal "patch" and remain mostly monstrose. But all this very different forms are the same plant! They are epigenetic variation not genetic mutant!

Cultivation and Propagation: Mammillaria "Fred" (all clones) grow well on their own roots. Keep well ventilated as it is prone to root rot. Protect from frosts and freezes. Hates the sun.
Propagation: It is easy to take a Fred and separate the "blog" into many new pieces. Each piece can be started on its own, with a bit of care, patience and maybe a little luck. As with most cactus, you can cut a piece, let it dry for a week or so, and put it into the soil and it will grow new roots, if the conditions are just right. The best luck is with cuttings that are 3 cm or larger; smaller ones will root, but it takes much more effort to keep them alive.