BERBERIDACEAE -- Barberry Family - New Mexico Flores

Scientific Name:
Pediocactus simpsonii var. simpsonii
Size:
3 - 15 cm (diameter)
CACTACEAE -- Cactus Family
Description:
Stems solitary or clumped, ovoid to spherical,
somewhat concave on top, 3 - 15 cm in
diameter, surface covered ungrooved, conical,
spirally arranged tubercles, 2 - 12 mm long, 2 -
11 mm wide. Spines at tubercle apex, obscuring
stems. Central spines 4 - 10, tips reddish-brown
to blackish, diverging, straight, 5 - 25 mm long.
Radial spines 15 - 35, slender, straight, white, 3
- 15 mm long. Flowers borne at the highest
point of the stem (before central depression),
often forming a ring in robust plants. Flowers
bell-shaped, 12 - 30 mm long, 15 - 25 mm in
diameter. Inner petaloid parts pointed, bent
back; outer sepaloid parts brownish with whitish
margin, without spines. Fruit cylindrical, 5 - 10
mm in diameter, dry at maturity.
176
Common Name:
Mountain ball cactus, mountain cactus
Color:
Pink (sometimes white, magenta, yellow)
Notes:
The genus Pediocactus has only 8 species.
They are all more or less spherical, small cacti.
They tend to occupy peculiar and obscure
ecological niches. They are rarely observed by
most people. New Mexico has 2 species, P.
simpsonii and P. knowltonii. Pediocactus
knowltonii is one of the rarest cacti in the world,
known only from one very small area near the
Los Pinos River in San Juan County.
Pediocactus simpsonii is the widest ranging of
the genus. It blooms from early May into June
between 6000 and 10000 ft.
New Mexico Native