MELON CACTUS

the genus Melocactus, containing about 36 species, in the family Cactaceae, native to the West Indies, Central America, and tropical South America, and distinguished by a cephaliumi.e., a woolly and bristly mass topping the plant. The cephalium forms when the plant reaches a certain age, varying with the species. The common names Turk's head or Turk's cap refer to them. Melocactus species are also called melon-cacti or melones for their size and shape. Carmine to pink flowers, which push up through the cephalium, only the tips being visible, are followed by fruits, usually pink. Jamaican species M. communis is up to 100 centimetres (about 3 feet) tall and 30 cm wide.