Melocactus santiagoensis
A Turk's-cap cactus endemic to the dry south coast of eastern Cuba around Santiago de Cuba, where it grows in full sun on coastal rock and thorn scrub. Treat it as a heat-loving, frost-tender tropical cactus: strong light, warm nights all year, and a gritty mineral mix that dries quickly.
Where it grows wild
The few wild records sit on the semi-arid coastal strip east and west of Santiago de Cuba, a rain-shadowed zone of cactus and thorn scrub on limestone and rocky slopes. Like other Caribbean Melocactus it grows exposed among rocks, often within sight of the sea.
Records carry no elevations; the measured site is at about 50 m, consistent with a coastal lowland species.
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More Melocactus
Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY 4.0 licence, unmodified.