Escobaria vivipara

Escobaria 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.[2]

Escobaria vivipara
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Cactaceae
Subfamily: Cactoideae
Genus: Escobaria
Species:
E. vivipara
Binomial name
Escobaria vivipara
Synonyms[1]
List
    • 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.

Description

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.[3][4]

Varieties

Varieties include:[5]

  • Escobaria vivipara var. arizonica (Arizona spinystar) – native to the desert southwest of the United States
  • Escobaria vivipara var. bisbeeana (Bisbee spinystar) – native to Arizona and New Mexico
  • Escobaria vivipara var. deserti (Desert spinystar) – found in the desert southwest
  • Escobaria vivipara var. kaibabensis (Kaibab spinystar) – mostly limited to Arizona
  • Escobaria vivipara var. neomexicana (New Mexico spinystar) – native to New Mexico and Texas
  • Escobaria 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.[6] 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, Escobaria 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.[7]

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.[4] 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.[4] The remaining plants are also threatened by illegal harvesting by cactus fanciers, who plant it in rock gardens and windowsills.[4]

Notably, Escobaria vivipara is one of only four cactus species native to Canada, growing in the southern prairies of Alberta, Saskatchewan and southwestern Manitoba.[8]

  • Flowering specimen near Phillips, Montana, USA
    Flowering specimen near Phillips, Montana, USA
  • Characteristic reddish spines
    Characteristic reddish spines

Notes
  1. "Escobaria vivipara (Nutt.) Buxb". www.worldfloraonline.org. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  2. "Search Tree Collections". apps.cals.arizona.edu. Retrieved 2022-05-06.
  3. Jepson Manual. 1993
  4. Barbara Coffin; Lee Pfannmuller (1988). Minnesota's Endangered Flora and Fauna. U of Minnesota Press. p. 82. ISBN 978-0-8166-1689-3.
  5. USDA. 2009
  6. "Pincushion Cactus - Escobaria vivipara". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  7. C. Michael Hogan. 2009
  8. "Cactus | The Canadian Encyclopedia". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 2022-04-16.

References
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.