Frailea pumila var. major

We've had this plant for a very long time and the variety designation is probably no longer accepted. It takes a very nice summer for us to see its flowers. With a summer like we've had (up until now!) these little jewels are cleistogamous and decide to do their own thing, pollinating themselves without letting the flower open.

Obviously, this little beauty has been busy last year and this year, without an open flower to be seen either year. Of course, we could plant the seed. In the past we have. However, we've found that they don't sell well at all, so we've ended up just keeping a few of them around because we like them. (Oh, did I forget to mention that they are small and stay small. We've been told by some and read articles by some saying that these plants tend to have a short life span, but that sure hasn't been our experience.)