🌸 Desert.plants.passion / Neoporteria odieri

If I had an opportunity to walk through the the Atacama desert, that place where only a lone wolf lives, I suppose I would not even notice this beautiful plant, so small, almost always drawn into the ground.
To grow it in a pot and watch its beauty whenever I want is a real pleasure.
Neoporteria is one of my favorite genus of existing plants. Well, today's accepted name is Eriosyce but I suppose I just like word Neoporteria more, so I gave myself the freedom to use its older name.
If we separate plants, that are today joined together in genus Eriosyce, in one of those older ways, there would be four groups of plants: Thelocephala, Horridocactus, Neoporteria and Eriosyce.
I have to mention that it is good to know something about history of taxonomy of plants that we care for, because that allows us to understand them better.
SO, this plant would be in a Thelocephala group, where all plants are dwarf balls, mostly with short spines, interesting body colors (bluish, dark brown…) and with tap roots.
Tap - roots - plants are particularly sensitive to over-watering and water-logging, and that is the reason why I plant them in a clay pot. It is better to forget to water them than to give them water too often. Many growers graft them to avoid those is-the-soil-completely-dry? – should-I-water-it-or-not problems.

When I ordered this one I received it grafted. ☹ It was not highlighted on the list of plants, otherwise I wouldn’t order it. But I was patient and waited few years, and when it reached size of mature plant, I cut it of and hoped it will develop own roots successfully.
And it did.
😊
This year it flowered for the first time and gave me two seed pods! Wonderful !
I assumed it has developed the roots strong enough and I have repot it in a deeper clay pot. Now it is an equal member of my Neoporteria collection group.
Hope the seed will be fertile. We’ll see next spring.