Cochemiea blossfeldiana is a species of Cochemiea found in Mexico.[1]
Cochemiea blossfeldiana typically grows alone, though sometimes in clusters. It has spherical to briefly cylindrical gray-green bodies, reaching in height and in diameter. Its conical warts lack milky sap, and its axillae are thinly woolly. The plant bears 4 dark brown to black central spines, long, with the lowest one hooking outward and the upper ones straight. Additionally, it features 15 to 20 marginal spines, yellow with dark tips, measuring long.
Its funnel-shaped flowers, white with pink to crimson stripes, are long and in diameter. The club-shaped fruits are orange-red, containing black pitted seeds.[2] [3]
These plants grow in decomposing granite and gravelly soil in Baja California and Guadalupe and Cedros Islands, Mexico, at elevations of 0 to 150 meters. They thrive in arid plains near the coast in the Lower Sonora Desert zone, specifically at Santa Rosalillita, and on steep coastal slopes at Punta Baja, Boca Marrón, and Punta María. Further south, they can be found near Mezquital.
There are two recognized subspecies:
| Image | Subspecies | Distribution |
|---|---|---|
| Cochemiea blossfeldiana subsp. blossfeldiana | Guadalupe and Baja California | |
| Cochemiea blossfeldiana subsp. rectispina | Northern Baja California | |
Friedrich Bödeker first described the plant as Mammillaria blossfeldiana in 1931, who named it in honor of German gardener Robert Blossfeld.[4] Peter B. Breslin and Lucas C. Majure transferred the species to Cochemiea in 2021.[5]