Species Notes:Comment from Alexander Arzberger -See his photos below...
This very interesting cactus is also known as Eriocactus or Notocactus nigrispinus. There are a lot of discussions about the differences to P. schumanniana, but I think they are enough to distinguish well the two species. P. nigrsipina differs from P. schumanniana by the wider and lower growing body, the brownish-black spines and the totally different type of habitat.
The Parodias grow on a flat plateau of sandstone in a vegetation area which is similar to the habitats of Frailea and Gymnocalycium, in one case they grow even in community with Gymnocalycium fleischerianum. Other plants in this habitat are Tillandsias, Dyckia tobatiensis, some brushes and grass. The sandstones are mostly covered with moss and lichens because of the high humidity of this place. The soil contains sand from the decomposition of the rocks and relatively much humus from the decomposition of the Bromelia roots.
This surface of this habitat is about 1 hectar only and shows now a very lower poblation in cacti than in my visit 24 years ago. I've found only a few smaller plants of Parodia and none of the the very old cacti exists anymore (see second picture from 1984). Therefore, this Parodia shall be probably extinct in a near future, because the young plants don't produce any seeds.
The cultivation of this species is not easy. The soil should be very well drained, with sand, and never should stay too dry. In summer, they like to be kept very warm and humid (especially with high air humidity at night). The winter temperatures can go down to 5ºC, but a really dry season doesn't exist. The propagation with seeds is easy, but they grow a little slow.
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