Neoraimondia herzogiana

Botanical identity and natural origin of Neoraimondia herzogiana

Neoraimondia herzogiana is native to Bolivia, including the dry inter-Andean valleys of Cochabamba and the area around Mizque. The species is also known under the older botanical name Neocardenasia herzogiana.

Care for Neoraimondia herzogiana

• Light: Give it full sun or the strongest direct light available indoors. Increase sun exposure gradually after a period in lower light.
• Water: Water thoroughly while the growing tip is active, then let the cactus mix dry completely. During cooler, darker periods when growth is slow or paused, keep the roots mostly dry and water only very lightly.
• Temperature: Give warm conditions while the tip is growing, around 18–30 °C. Avoid prolonged temperatures below 6 °C.
• Humidity: Keep humidity low, around 40–50%, with good airflow.
• Potting mix: Use a well-draining cactus mix with plenty of pumice or coarse grit.
• Feeding: Feed lightly with a cactus fertiliser while fresh growth is forming at the tip.
• Repotting: This cactus becomes tall and top-heavy with age, so move it into a stable pot when roots fill the container or the plant needs a steadier base.
• Propagation: Grow from seed. Keep young seedlings warm, bright and lightly moist while they establish.

Problems with Neoraimondia herzogiana

• The stem base becomes soft or discoloured: The cactus has probably stayed wet for too long. Remove soft or rotten tissue back to firm healthy tissue with a clean tool, discard the removed rotten tissue, and repot in fresh dry cactus mix if the roots or old mix are wet or decaying.
• The growing tip becomes thin and pale: The plant is receiving too little light for sturdy columnar growth. Increase direct light gradually.
• A pale dry patch appears on the sun-facing side: The stem has scorched after a sudden increase in sun. Reduce the strongest midday exposure and increase direct light gradually.

Neoraimondia herzogiana has sharp parts

• Keep this plant away from children and pets because its effects after chewing or swallowing are unclear.
• Sharp spines can puncture the mouth, eyes, skin or paws.
• Handle it carefully. Contact a veterinarian or medical professional after a serious injury, especially to the eye.

What does the name Neoraimondia herzogiana mean?

Neoraimondia means new Raimondia and ultimately honours Antonio Raimondi. The species epithet herzogiana honours the German botanist Theodor Carl Julius Herzog.

Nathaniel Lord Britton and Joseph Nelson Rose established the genus Neoraimondia in 1920 in The Cactaceae, volume 2, page 181.

Curt Backeberg first described it as Neocardenasia herzogiana in 1949 in Blätter für Sukkulentenkunde, volume 1, page 2. Franz Buxbaum and Hans Krainz later placed it in Neoraimondia as Neoraimondia herzogiana in 1967 in Catalogue of Species in Cultivation at the Zurich Municipal Succulent Collection, page 89.