Escobaria

Pincushion cactus redirects here. This term is also used for many species of 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 Britton & Rose
Species
Escobaria albicolumnaria Hester - Silver-lace cob cactus, white column Escobaria alversonii Escobaria chihuahuensis Escobaria cubensis Escobaria dasyacantha Escobaria deserti Escobaria duncanii - Duncan's snowball cactus Escobaria emskoetteriana Escobaria guadalupensis Escobaria hesteri Escobaria laredoi Escobaria lloydii Escobaria minima Escobaria missouriensis - ball cactus, cream cactus, Missouri pincushion Escobaria orcuttii Escobaria organensis Escobaria robbinsiorum Escobaria sandbergii Escobaria sneedii Escobaria tuberculosa Escobaria villardii Escobaria vivipara -beehive cactus Escobaria zilziana etc.

Escobaria 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 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

Notes

1. ^ [http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ESCOB "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