Nowadays many cactus genera from Chile (these are: Eriosyce itself, Thelocephala, Horridocactus, Pyrrhocactus, Islaya, Neochilenia, Neoporteria and more) are all thown into one genus Eriosyce. We use old names but list the all the plants here in one category. Because this is so broad group now it is difficult to describe it. Suffice to say they are ball shaped and live in Chile or nearby. As majority of them come from Atacama, one of the worst deserts of the world, they require very porous mineral “soil” without soil and infrequent watering (sometimes rains come to Atacama after two year drought). Cold winter (2-10°C) is essential if flowers are expected and those are really marvellous, especially the bi-colored ones of Neoporteria. Greenhouse is reccomended (but not absolutely necessary).