Cactus radiosus var. neomexicanus (Engelm.) J.M.Coult.
Coryphantha aggregata (Engelm.) Britton & Rose
Coryphantha alversonii (Coult.) Orcutt
Coryphantha alversonii var. exaltissima Wiegand & Backeb.
Coryphantha arizonica (Engelm.) Britton & Rose
Coryphantha bisbeeana Orcutt
Coryphantha fragrans Hester
Coryphantha neomexicana (Engelm.) Britton & Rose
Coryphantha neovivipara (Viv.) Y.Itô
Coryphantha neovivipara var. aggregata (Engelm.) Y.Itô
Coryphantha neovivipara var. arizonica (Engelm.) Y.Itô
Coryphantha neovivipara var. neomexicana (Engelm.) Y.Itô
Coryphantha neovivipara var. radiosa (Engelm.) Y.Itô
Coryphantha radiosa (Engelm.) Rydb.
Coryphantha vivipara (Nutt.) Britton & Rose
Coryphantha vivipara f. sonorensis P.C.Fisch.
Coryphantha vivipara var. aggregata (Engelm.) W.T.Marshall
Coryphantha vivipara var. arizonica (Engelm.) W.T.Marshall
Coryphantha vivipara var. bisbeeana (Orcutt) L.D.Benson
Coryphantha vivipara var. buoflama P.C.Fisch.
Coryphantha vivipara var. kaibabensis P.C.Fisch.
Coryphantha vivipara var. neomexicana (Engelm.) Backeb.
Coryphantha vivipara var. radiosa (Engelm.) Backeb.
Coryphantha vivipara var. rosea (Clokey) L.D.Benson
Escobaria aggregata (Engelm.) Buxb.
Escobaria arizonica (Engelm.) Buxb.
Escobaria bisbeeana (Orcutt) Borg
Escobaria neomexicana (Engelm.) Buxb.
Escobaria oklahomensis (Lahman) Buxb.
Escobaria vivipara var. arizonica (Engelm.) D.R.Hunt
Escobaria vivipara var. bisbeeana (Orcutt) D.R.Hunt
Escobaria vivipara var. buoflama (P.C.Fisch.) N.P.Taylor
Escobaria vivipara var. kaibabensis (P.C.Fisch.) N.P.Taylor
Escobaria vivipara var. neomexicana (Engelm.) Buxb.
Escobaria vivipara var. radiosa (Engelm.) D.R.Hunt
Escobaria vivipara var. rosea (Clokey) D.R.Hunt
Mammillaria arizonica Engelm.
Mammillaria arizonica var. alversonii (J.M. Coult.) Davidson & Moxley
Mammillaria neomexicana A. Nelson
Mammillaria radiosa Engelm.
Mammillaria radiosa var. alversonii (J.M. Coult.) K. Schum.
Mammillaria radiosa var. arizonica (Engelm.) K. Schum.
Mammillaria radiosa var. vivipara (Nutt.) Schelle
Mammillaria vivipara (Nutt.) Haw.
Mammillaria vivipara subsp. radiosa Engelm.
Mammillaria vivipara var. alversonii (J.M. Coult.) L.D. Benson
Mammillaria vivipara var. radiosa Engelm.
Pelecyphora vivipara is a species of
cactus known by several common names, including spinystar, viviparous foxtail cactus, pincushion cactus and ball cactus. It is native to North America, where certain varieties can be found from Mexico to Canada. Most of these varieties are limited to the
Mojave and
Sonoran Deserts. The species epithet "vivipara" is due to the species'
viviparous reproductive habit.[4]
Description
Pelecyphora vivipara rarely grows individually and usually forms groups. This is a small round cactus growing to a maximum height of about 15 cm (6 in), often remaining smaller and oblong or spherical. It is densely covered in a mat of star-shaped arrays of straight white spines 1 to 2.5 cm (3⁄8 to 1 in) long. It flowers in yellow, pink, red, or purple blooms 2–5 cm (3⁄4–2 in) across.[5][6] Their conspicuous warts are up to 12 mm (1⁄2 in) long. The often hair-like spines are translucent and shiny. The three to seven uniformly orange or brown colored central spines are spreading and strong. The approximately 16 radiating marginal spines are white.
The flowers are bright pink to purple. They are up to 6 centimeters long and reach a diameter of 5 centimeters. The green, ellipsoid fruits are up to 2.5 centimeters long and 1.5 centimeters in diameter. They are often covered with scales at their tip.[7]
Plant
spines
Pelecyphora vivipara in southwestern foothills of Sierra Blanca, north of Cat Mountain, Otero County, New Mexico.
Pelecyphora vivipara blooming in Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park
Pelecyphora vivipara in Red Rock Canyon near Las Vegas, Nevada
Pelecyphora vivipara var. arizonica (Arizona spinystar) – native to the desert southwest of the United States
Pelecyphora vivipara var. bisbeeana (Bisbee spinystar) – native to
Arizona and
New Mexico
Pelecyphora vivipara var. deserti (Desert spinystar) – found in the desert southwest
Pelecyphora vivipara var. kaibabensis (Kaibab spinystar) – mostly limited to Arizona
Pelecyphora vivipara var. neomexicana (New Mexico spinystar) – native to New Mexico and
Texas
Pelecyphora vivipara var. vivipara – known as far north as
Manitoba
Distribution
The species has a broad range across the western interior of North America, from northern Mexico to the Canadian prairies.[9] Its distribution in the early
Holocene era is known to have differed locally from its present range. From
pollen core data, a portion of the
prehistoric distribution of this species has been mapped; for example in the
Late Wisconsin period, Pelecyphora vivipara occurred in the
Waterman Mountains (
Coconino County) of northern
Arizona, (the
Waterman Mountains are in SE
Arizona), although the species does not occur in this location in the present time.[10]
In the US state of
Minnesota, it is listed as a threatened species and is at the most easterly extent of its natural range; it is rare in the state and found in a narrow section of the western part of the state, where it is found growing in crevices and outcroppings of granite.[6] It consists of one population that in the past was recorded by Lycurgus Moyer, who found it in 1898, as "quite abundant", but because of habitat loss due to farming, its numbers have declined.[6] The remaining plants are also threatened by illegal harvesting by cactus fanciers, who plant it in
rock gardens and windowsills.[6]
Notably, Pelecyphora vivipara is one of only four cactus species native to Canada, growing in the southern prairies of Alberta, Saskatchewan and southwestern Manitoba.[11]
Flowering specimen near Phillips, Montana, USA
Characteristic reddish spines
Taxonomy
The first description as Cactus viviparus by Thomas Nuttall was published in 1813.[12] The specific epithet vivipara is derived from the Latin word viviparus and means 'living birth'. The reference to the species is unclear. Franz Buxbaum placed the species in the genus Escobaria in 1951.[13] David Aquino & Daniel Sánchez moved the species to Pelecyphora based on
phylogenetic studies in 2022.[14] Further
nomenclature synonyms are Mammillaria vivipara (Nutt.) Haw. (1819), Echinocactus viviparus (Nutt.) Poselg. (1853), Mammillaria radiosa f. vivipara (Nutt.) Schelle (1907, incorrect name ICBN article 11.4) and Coryphantha vivipara (Nutt.) Britton & Rose (1913).
References
^Univ., Martin Terry (Sul Rose State; College, Kenneth Heil (San Juan; Mexico, New; Ambiental), Rafael Corral-Díaz (Consultor (2009-11-17).
"The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
^NatureServe (2024).
"Escobaria vivipara". Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
^Greene, Edward Lee (1889).
"Pittonia". Doxey & Co. [etc.] Retrieved 2023-11-23.
^Buxbaum, Franz (1951). "Die Phylogenie der nordamerikanischen Echinocacteen.Trib. Euechinocactineae F. Buxb". Sterreichische Botanische Zeitschrift (in German). 98 (1–2). Springer Science and Business Media LLC: 44–104.
doi:
10.1007/bf01289304.
ISSN0378-2697.