Cacti Parody, this is not at all like succulents, as it might seem, judging by the name.
This is a full-fledged genus, named after the Paraguayan botanist Lorenzo Parodi, who devoted his life to the study of succulent plants.
On this page you can see photos of Parody cacti of all kinds from home collections and read their descriptions.
Description of Parodia cacti
The cactus genus Parody (Parodia) now unites almost one and a half hundred species, including those that used to be independent, popular with cactus growers, the genera Brasilicactus, Eriocactus, Notocactus, Wigginsia.
All these plants are real “children of the sun”: firstly, they love sunlight very much and expressly react to it with excellent growth, magnificent thorns and flowering; secondly, their lush flowers, often collected at the top of the stem in real bouquets (on large specimens – up to several dozen at a time!), Downright splash with bright colors and light, and, thirdly, the spines of most Parodies are colored and translucent, also, as it were, pierced by light. In addition, in Parodies, the top of the stem is usually slightly beveled towards the sun.
All types of parody cacti are the favorite plants of cactus growers: responsive to care, abundantly and beautifully blooming, beautiful in any season. Most Parodies proper have hook-shaped, brightly colored central spines. However, in a purely room culture, plants of this genus, although they do not die, lose their charm, bloom poorly and can stretch. If you do not have the opportunity to place cacti in the summer in the sun, it is better not to start Parodies.
For the same reason, Parodies are not very suitable for inclusion in interiors and indoor flower arrangements. Only species of a small group of wigginsias tolerate the lack of sunlight more easily.
There is another difficulty with Parodies: unlike most cacti, they do not tolerate overdrying of an earthy coma, especially during the growing season, but they also suffer from excessive moisture in the soil, especially in cool weather.
When describing Parodia cacti, it should also be borne in mind that most members of the genus are fast-growing and large plants, and they do not like it when their growth is somehow limited.
The most famous and widespread of the actual Parodies is Parody microsperm (Parodia microsperma), incredibly variable and represented by dozens of variations that were previously considered separate species.
Its stem is usually quite small, but can reach 20 cm in height and up to 10 cm in diameter. It is covered with small spirally arranged tubercles, each of which has white-pubescent areoles with spines.
As you can see in the photo, this parody cactus has thorns and luxurious flowers in a variety of shades:
Flowers up to 4 cm in diameter, open, like all representatives of the genus, near the point of growth, usually several at once, in a lush bouquet and last for 3-5 days, closing at night.
Densely pubescent Parodies are very spectacular, for example, R. ripae (pune), the pubescence of the areoles of which is so abundant that the entire upper part of the stem is as if strewn with snow, and clawed spines and small bright red flowers peep out of this white attire.
Magnificent P. maassii (maassi), in which the central spine is powerful, up to 4 cm long and bent down. Parodies with long straight spines are also good.
The most charming of them is P. nivosa (nivosa), whose long snow-white spines grow in all directions from white “shaggy” areoles against this white background, large red flowers are especially expressive.
A close relative of Parody nivoz is P. chrysacanthion (chrysacanthion), in which both flowers and long spines are golden yellow. A remarkable feature of this Parody is its very early flowering: the buds appear already at the end of winter.
Groups of cacti of the genus Parody
Even the notocacti united with Parodies remain a peculiar and isolated group. Here you can see photos of notocactus and find out the names of popular types of these succulents.
The most famous and widespread representative of this group – Parodia (Notocactus) ottonis (Ottonis) – is represented by a wide variety of forms.
This notocactus is characterized by a spherical stem with a few straight rounded ribs and long sparse thin spines. Notocactus otthonis often forms new stems that grow straight out of the ground at the ends of underground shoots.
The flowers are large – up to 6 cm in diameter, bright yellow with a dark red pistil stigma characteristic of notocactus. But its form with orange-red flowers is especially spectacular.
One of the most beautiful species of notocactus is R (N.) werneri (=uebelmannianus) (werneri). Its flat-spherical dark green stem has such low and wide ribs that they are almost invisible.
Pay attention to the photo of notocactus – long light curved spines are pressed like a spider to the stem, and in spring large purple flowers appear on the top of the stem:
P. (N.) mammulosa (mammulosa) with small tubercles on the stems and flattened, downwardly directed central spines are well known among flower growers.
And P. (N.) scopa (osprey) with numerous short white bristle spines. The flowers of both notocactus are yellow, in nature and in culture, both of them are represented by diverse forms.
Eriococtus (Eriococtus) are adjacent to notocactus – large and very decorative plants that were previously distinguished into an independent genus.
Long known in the culture of R. (E.) leninghausii (leninghausi) is a cylindrical cactus up to 1 m high, with long golden-yellow spines. With age, new luxurious branches grow from the base of the stem, and in summer large lemon-yellow flowers appear on its top, each of which lasts quite a long time – several days (which is unusual in the world of the short-lived beauty of cactus flowers).
Although this plant is large for rooms, it remains a favorite among both amateurs and venerable cacti growers. Eriocactus P. (E.) magnificus (magnificus – which means “magnificent”) has become especially popular.
Look at the photo of eriocactus – it is distinguished by an unusual contrast of bluish-green powerful high ribs and densely pubescent areoles that close into solid ridges, dotted with golden spines, which give this plant a rare expressiveness:
Most of the forms mentioned above wigginsia (Wigginsia) (they are also adjacent to the notocactus) are now classified as one species – P. (W.) erinacea (erinacea). This is a large spherical plant with numerous ribs and a few slightly flattened, downward-pointing spines.
Wiggins are distinguished by large (sometimes more than 1 cm in diameter) white-pubescent areoles. Their flowers are only yellow, rather large – up to 7 cm in diameter. After flowering, elegant spherical pink fruits are formed.
Finally, we mention another small group of cacti adjacent to notocacti, Brasilicactus. Only one species with bright varieties. A certain bevel towards the sun, characteristic of all representatives of the extensive genus Parodies, reaches its extreme development in Brazilian cacti. They are always, like sunflowers, inclined to the south, and so strongly that their center of growth is not at the top, but on the side of the plant.
Brasilicactus are densely covered with bristle-like spines, and graceful flowers appear in abundance on this sloping top in the earliest spring. In the more well-known variation of R. (B.) haselbergii (haselbergs), the bristles are white, and the flowers are orange-red, in the form graessneri (gressneri) the bristles are golden yellow, while the flowers are light green.
