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.
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]
Species accepted by Plants of the World Online with sections from Nigel Paul Taylor from 1986:[7] [8]
| Section | Group | Image | Scientific name | Subspecies | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pelecyphora | Pelecyphora aselliformis | San Luis Potosi, Mexico | |||
| Pelecyphora strobiliformis | Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas states in Mexico | ||||
| Pleurantha | Pelecyphora chihuahuensis |
| Mexico | ||
| Pelecyphora tuberculosa | New Mexico, Mexico | ||||
| Escobaria | Sneedii Group | Pelecyphora laredoi | Coahuila de Zaragoza - Mexico | ||
| Pelecyphora sneedii |
| Mexico (Chihuahua), United States (Arizona, New Mexico, Texas) | |||
| Vivipara Group | Pelecyphora alversonii | Arizona, California | |||
| Pelecyphora 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 |
| Mexico (Coahuila) | ||
| Pelecyphora emskoetteriana | Mexico (Coahuila de Zaragoza, Tamaulipas), United States (Texas) | ||||
| Dasyacantha Group | Pelecyphora dasyacantha |
| 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 Group | Pelecyphora cubensis | Cuba | |||
| Pelecyphora macromeris |
| S. New Mexico to W. Texas and NE. Mexico. | |||
| Pelecyphora missouriensis |
| USA (Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, New Mexico, North Dakota), Mexico (Coahuila de Zaragoza, Nuevo Leon) | |||
| Pelecyphora zilziana | Mexico (Coahuila de Zaragoza) | ||||
At genus level
At species level
The following are synonyms of species now placed outside of Pelecyphora:
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.