Escobaria

Escobaria, pincushion cactus or foxtail cactus[1] is a genus of low-growing cacti that range from the southernmost parts of central and western Canada through northern Mexico, with one species in Cuba. The genus comprises about 23 species. The term "pincushion cactus" may also refer to the related Mammillaria.

Escobaria
Escobaria vivipara var. radiosa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Eudicots
(unranked):
Core eudicots
Order:
Caryophyllales
Family:
Cactaceae
Subfamily:
Cactoideae
Tribe:
Cacteae
Genus:
Escobaria

Type species
Escobaria tuberculosa
Species

See text

The stems of Escobaria range from globose to cylindrical, and lack nectar-secreting glands; while ribs are absent, tubercles are present, tending to become corky and deciduous as they age. The flowers usually appear in spring and may have a variety of colors, while the fruits are almost always red. The seeds in this genus are notable for being deeply pitted.

Common species include the Missouri foxtail cactus E. missouriensis,[2] widespread in grassland and forest west of the Mississippi, and the spinystar E. vivipara,[3] distributed across the US and into Canada, first described by Nuttall in 1813.

Escobaria was defined by Nathaniel Britton and Joseph Rose in their major work The Cactaceae (1923); they named the genus after Rómulo and Numa Escobar. The cacti of this genus bear many similarities to Coryphantha and Mammillaria. Two species were recently moved to Acharagma.

Taxonomy

The following genera have been brought into synonymy with Escobaria:

  • Cochiseia W.H.Earle
  • Escobesseya Hester
  • Fobea Fric (nom. inval.)
  • Neobesseya Britton & Rose

Species
Section Group Image Scientific name Subspecies Distribution
Pleurantha N.P.Taylor Escobaria chihuahuensis Britton & Rose
  • Escobaria chihuahuensis subsp. chihuahuensis
  • Escobaria chihuahuensis subsp. henricksonii (Glass & R.A.Foster) N.P.Taylor
 Mexico
Escobaria Escobaria tuberculosa (Engelm.) Britton & Rose New Mexico, Mexico
Sneedii Group Escobaria albicolumnaria Hester Big Bend area of west Texas
Escobaria guadalupensis S.Brack & K.D.Heil Texas
Escobaria laredoi (Glass & R.A.Foster) N.P.Taylor Coahuila de Zaragoza - Mexico
Escobaria orcuttii Boed.
  • Escobaria orcuttii var. orcuttii
  • Escobaria orcuttii var. koenigii Castetter, P.Pierce & K.H.Schwer.
  • Escobaria orcuttii var. macraxina Castetter, P.Pierce & K.H.Schwer.
 Arizona, New Mexico - United States
Escobaria organensis (Zimmerman) Castetter, P.Pierce & K.H.Schwer. New Mexico
Escobaria sandbergii Castetter, P.Pierce & K.H.Schwer. New Mexico
Escobaria sneedii Britton & Rose
  • Escobaria sneedii subsp. sneedii
  • Escobaria sneedii subsp. leei (Rose ex Boed.) D.R.Hunt
 New Mexico, Texas
Escobaria villardii Castetter, P.Pierce & K.H.Schwer. New Mexico
Vivipara Group Escobaria alversonii (J.M.Coult.) N.P.Taylor Arizona, California
Escobaria deserti (Engelm. ex S.Watson) Buxb. Arizona, California
Escobaria hesteri (Y.Wright) Buxb. Texas
Escobaria vivipara (Nutt.) Buxb. Canada (Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan ), Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Sonora), United States (Arizona, California (state), Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wyoming)
Neobesseya (Britton & Rose) N.P.Taylor Escobaria emskoetteriana (Quehl) Borg Mexico (Coahuila de Zaragoza, Tamaulipas ), United States (Texas)
Dasyacantha Group Escobaria dasyacantha (Engelm.) Britton & Rose
  • Escobaria dasyacantha subsp. dasyacantha
  • Escobaria dasyacantha subsp. chaffeyi (Britton & Rose) N.P.Taylor
 Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Zacatecas), USA (Texas, New Mexico)
Escobaria duncanii (Hester) Backeb. New Mexico, Texas
Escobaria lloydii Britton & Rose Mexico (Zacatecas)
Escobaria minima (Baird) D.R.Hunt Texas
Escobaria robbinsorum (W.H.Earle) D.R.Hunt Arizona
Missouriensis Group Escobaria cubensis (Britton & Rose) D.R.Hunt Cuba
Escobaria missouriensis (Sweet) D.R.Hunt
  • Escobaria missouriensis subsp. missouriensis
  • Escobaria missouriensis subsp. asperispina (Boed.) N.P.Taylor
 USA ( Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, New Mexico, North Dakota), Mexico (Coahuila de Zaragoza, Nuevo Leon)
Escobaria zilziana (Boed.) Backeb. Mexico (Coahuila de Zaragoza)

Notes
  1. "Escobaria Britton & Rose foxtail cactus" PLANTS database, Natural Resources Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture
  2. "Escobaria missouriensis (Sweet) D.R. Hunt - Missouri foxtail cactus" PLANTS database, Natural Resources Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture
  3. "Escobaria vivipara (Nutt.) Buxbaum - spinystar" PLANTS database, Natural Resources Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture

Sources
  • Anderson, Edward F. (2001) The Cactus Family Timber Press, Portland, Oregon, pp. 307–314, ISBN 0-88192-498-9
  • Genus Escobaria Eng/De/Cz
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