Pelecyphora Explained

Pelecyphora, pincushion cactus or foxtail cactus[1] is a genus of cacti, comprising 20 species. They originate from Mexico and the United States.[2] [3]

Common species include the Missouri foxtail cactus P. missouriensis,[4] widespread in grassland and forest west of the Mississippi, and the spinystar P. vivipara,[5] distributed across the US and into Canada, first described by Nuttall in 1813.

Description

Pelecyphores are spherical to club-shaped stem succulents up to 6cm (02inches) in diameter and gray-green in color. They branch only sparsely and only at an older age. The areoles standing on the longitudinally or transversely flattened warts have thorns in a pectinate (comb-shaped) arrangement. As we age, the thorns, then the areoles and finally the warts fall off. Between the warts, the plant bodies are initially dense and short-haired, so that the apexes are hidden.

The flowers arise individually from short furrows on the upper surfaces of the youngest areoles. They are bright purple and about 3cm (01inches) long. The greenish fruits that form after the flowers are fertilized dry out when ripe and release the black seeds into the crown wool, from which they are only washed out (in nature) after a long time.[6]

Taxonomy

Species accepted by Plants of the World Online with sections from Nigel Paul Taylor from 1986:[7] [8]

SectionGroupImageScientific nameSubspeciesDistribution
PelecyphoraPelecyphora aselliformis San Luis Potosi, Mexico
Pelecyphora strobiliformis Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas states in Mexico
Pleurantha Pelecyphora chihuahuensis
  • Pelecyphora chihuahuensis subsp. chihuahuensis
  • Pelecyphora chihuahuensis subsp. henricksonii
Mexico
Pelecyphora tuberculosa New Mexico, Mexico
Escobaria Sneedii GroupPelecyphora laredoi Coahuila de Zaragoza - Mexico
Pelecyphora sneedii
  • Pelecyphora sneedii subsp. sneedii
  • Pelecyphora sneedii subsp. orcuttii
Mexico (Chihuahua), United States (Arizona, New Mexico, Texas)
Vivipara GroupPelecyphora alversonii Arizona, California
Pelecyphora hesteri
  • Pelecyphora hesteri subsp. grata
  • Pelecyphora hesteri subsp. hesteri
Texas
Pelecyphora vivipara Canada (Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan), Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Sonora), United States (Arizona, California, Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wyoming)
Neobesseya Pelecyphora abdita
  • Pelecyphora abdita subsp. abdita
  • Pelecyphora abdita subsp. tenuispina
Mexico (Coahuila)
Pelecyphora emskoetteriana Mexico (Coahuila de Zaragoza, Tamaulipas), United States (Texas)
Dasyacantha GroupPelecyphora dasyacantha
  • Pelecyphora dasyacantha subsp. dasyacantha
  • Pelecyphora dasyacantha subsp. chaffeyi
Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Zacatecas), USA (Texas, New Mexico)
Pelecyphora duncanii New Mexico, Texas
Pelecyphora lloydii Mexico (Zacatecas)
Pelecyphora minima Texas
Pelecyphora robbinsiorum Arizona
Missouriensis GroupPelecyphora cubensis Cuba
Pelecyphora macromeris
  • Pelecyphora macromeris subsp. macromeris
  • Pelecyphora macromeris subsp. runyonii
S. New Mexico to W. Texas and NE. Mexico.
Pelecyphora missouriensis
  • Pelecyphora missouriensis subsp. missouriensis
  • Pelecyphora missouriensis subsp. asperispina
USA (Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, New Mexico, North Dakota), Mexico (Coahuila de Zaragoza, Nuevo Leon)
Pelecyphora zilziana Mexico (Coahuila de Zaragoza)

Synonymy

At genus level

At species level

The following are synonyms of species now placed outside of Pelecyphora:

Psychoactivity

Conservation status

Both P. aselliformis and P. strobiliformis are classified as being of Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, however both species are contained in Appendix 1 of CITES species (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) as at June 2013.

References

Notes and References

  1. http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ESCOB "Escobaria Britton & Rose foxtail cactus"
  2. Sánchez . Daniel . Vázquez-Benítez . Balbina . Vázquez-Sánchez . Monserrat . Aquino . David . Arias . Salvador . 2022-01-21 . Phylogenetic relationships in Coryphantha and implications on Pelecyphora and Escobaria (Cacteae, Cactoideae, Cactaceae) . PhytoKeys . en . 188 . 115–165 . 10.3897/phytokeys.188.75739 . 1314-2003 . 8799629 . 35106054 . free .
  3. Neal . J. M. . Sato . P. T. . Howald . W. N. . McLaughlin . J. L. . 1972-06-09 . Peyote Alkaloids: Identification in the Mexican Cactus Pelecyphora aselliformis Ehrenberg . Science . en . 176 . 4039 . 1131–1133 . 10.1126/science.176.4039.1131 . 17775137 . 1972Sci...176.1131N . 0036-8075.
  4. http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ESMI3 "Escobaria missouriensis (Sweet) D.R. Hunt - Missouri foxtail cactus"
  5. http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ESVI2 "Escobaria vivipara (Nutt.) Buxbaum - spinystar"
  6. Book: Anderson . Edward F. . Eggli . Urs . Das grosse Kakteen-Lexikon . Ulmer . Stuttgart (Hohenheim) . 2005 . 3-8001-4573-1 . de . 520–522.
  7. Sánchez . Daniel . Vázquez-Benítez . Balbina . Vázquez-Sánchez . Monserrat . Aquino . David . Arias . Salvador . Phylogenetic relationships in Coryphantha and implications on Pelecyphora and Escobaria (Cacteae, Cactoideae, Cactaceae) . PhytoKeys . Pensoft Publishers . 188 . 2022-01-21 . 1314-2003 . 10.3897/phytokeys.188.75739 . 115–165. free . 35106054 . 8799629 .
  8. Book: Anderson . Edward F. . Eggli . Urs . Das grosse Kakteen-Lexikon . Ulmer . Stuttgart (Hohenheim) . 2005 . 3-8001-4573-1 . de .