Species · genus Parodia · Cactaceae

Golden Ball Cactus

Parodia lenninghausii (F.Haage) F.H.Brandt ex Eggli & Hofacker

Also known as: Lemon Ball Cactus · Yellow Tower Cactus · Golden Barrel Cactus · Notocactus leninghausii

Growth habit

succulent subshrub or shrub

Native range

Brazil South

Reference · P. lenninghausii

Cultivars of P. lenninghausii

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under P. lenninghausii yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

Parodia lenninghausii is a columnar South Brazilian cactus, a succulent that stores water in its body and rots if kept wet. Grow it in gritty, fast-draining mineral mix and a sunny spot, and water deeply only when the soil has dried out completely throughout the pot. In winter it rests and wants even less water, so err toward leaving it dry.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 14-28d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Direct sun

Water

≈ every 28 days

Humidity

Low — average room

Temperature

10–30 °C

Soil mix

Gritty, fast-draining cactus mix

Propagation

Offsets or seed

Fertilizing

Dilute low-nitrogen cactus feed monthly in spring and summer

Growth rate

Slow

Flowering

Yellow blooms in summer on mature plants

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Not yet documented

This is where toxicity lives — every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

Add images

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 14-28d) · ai:claude-fable-5

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Golden Ball Cactus yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — is exactly what keeps this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.