Origin and Habitat: Coahuila and Durango, Mexico
Altitude: 1250-1500 m
Habitat: together with Coryphantha durangensisSN|10064]]SN|10064]], Ferocactus hamatacanthusSN|3403]]SN|3403]] and Thelocactus bicolorSN|3420]]SN|3420]], Echinocereus stramineusSN|7817]]SN|7817]], Opuntia kleiniaeSN|8157]]SN|16289]], Opuntia violacea, Opuntia herrfeldtii, Opuntia imbricataSN|16289]]SN|8157]], Euphorbia antisyphilitica, Yucca thompsonianaSN|27876]]SN|27876]], Larrea tridentata, and Jatropha dioica.

• Mammillaria zeyeriana F.Haage ex K.Schum.
• Neomammillaria zeyeriana (F.Haage ex K.Schum.) Fosberg

• Mammillaria grusonii C.Runge
• Mammillaria durangicola Repp.
• Mammillaria mexicensis R.T.Craig
• Mammillaria pachycylindrica Backeb.
• Mammillaria papasquiarensis (Bravo) Repp.
• Mammillaria tesopacensis var. papasquiarensis Bravo ex S.Arias, U.Guzmán & S.Gama López
• Mammillaria zeyeriana F.Haage ex K.Schum.
• Neomammillaria zeyeriana (F.Haage ex K.Schum.) Fosberg

Description: Mammillaria zeyerianaSN|15974]]SN|15975]] is one of the largest species in the genus and usually solitary. It is also known by many to be synonymous with Mammillaria grusoniiSN|15975]]SN|15974]], but not sufficiently differentiated and considered merely a local variant of the latter (if not the same). It has spines of intermediate measurement, of which the radials are 10 to 15, 8-15 mm long, and the centrals are usually 4 stronger than the radial, 12-25 mm long. The flowers are similar to the type species.
Habit: It is usually solitary (it has a tendency to remain the same in the culture). It reveals its true beauty only as it becomes 6-10 years old, and reaches 20 cm or more in diameter.
Stems: Hemispherical or conical to short cylindrical, pale greyish green, up to 15(-30) cm tall and 10-25 cm in diameter.
Tubercles: Conical, terete, in 13 or 21 spirals, basally four-angled, slightly carinate, 10 to 12 mm tall, without latex, the axil is naked or sparingly woolly.
Areoles: Elliptic, 3 mm long.
Radial spines: 10-15, straight, needle-like, upper ones shorter, 8-15 mm long, at whitish to reddish, tipped brown, later grey or snowy- white.
Central spines: Usually 4 (but sometime up to 6), straight, stronger than the radial, brownish, the uppermost one curved, one descending, 12 - 25 mm long.
Flowers: Bell shaped, funnel-form, diurnal, light yellow-cream or pinkish with darker (brown or purple) midstripe with a yellowish throat, up to 25 mm long and in diameter.
Blooming season: Spring, and flowers remain open for about three or four days.
Fruits: Scarlet, club shaped.
Seeds: Brown.

Bibliography: Major references and further lectures
1) John Borg “Cacti: a gardener's handbook for their identification and cultivation” Blandford P., 1970
2) Nathaniel L. Britton, J. N. Rose “Cactaceae: Descriptions and Illustrations of Plants of the Cactus” Volume IV. The Carnegie Institution of Washington Washington, 24/Dec/1923
3) Edward Anderson “The Cactus family” Timber Press, Incorporated, 2001
4) James Cullen, Sabina G. Knees, H. Suzanne Cubey "The European Garden Flora Flowering Plants: A Manual for the Identification of Plants Cultivated in Europe, Both Out-of-Doors and Under Glass" Cambridge University Press, 11/Aug/2011
5) David R Hunt; Nigel P Taylor; Graham Charles; International Cactaceae Systematics Group. "The New Cactus Lexicon" dh books, 2006
6) John Pilbeam “Mammillaria: the cactus file handbook” Cirio Publishing Services Ltd Dec/30,/1999

Cultivation and Propagation: This plant blooms easily and needs lots of light. Use a pot with good drainage and a very porous mineral-based potting mix. Potted plants are quite wet-sensitive, especially in light of its small root system. Water sparingly during the growing season, let soil dry in between to prevent root rot, keep very dry in winter. Feed with a high potassium fertilizer in summer.
Usually it is recommended to over-winter this plant in a bright and warm greenhouse with at least 8-10° C , but it has proven to be quite frost resistant (if kept dry it is hardy as low as -7° C). A resting period in winter and strong light are necessary so that it can flower properly. Plants will offset readily, and dense clumps can be produced in a very few years.
Propagation: Through seeds and cuttings.