Pelecyphora

Pelecyphora
Pelecyphora strobiliformis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Cactaceae
Subfamily:	Cactoideae
Tribe:	Cacteae
Genus:	Pelecyphora C.Ehrenb.
Type species
Pelecyphora aselliformis
Species
see text
Synonyms
Cochiseia W.H.Earle Escobesseya Hester Fobea Fric (nom. inval.) Neobesseya Britton & Rose Escobaria Britton & Rose

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.

Description

Pelecyphores are spherical to club-shaped stem succulents up to 6 cm 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 3 cm 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]

Taxonomy

Species accepted As of November 2023^[update] 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 C.Ehrenb.		San Luis Potosi, Mexico
			Pelecyphora strobiliformis (Werderm.) Frič & Schelle ex Kreutz		Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas states in Mexico
Pleurantha N.P.Taylor			Pelecyphora chihuahuensis (Britton & Rose) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez	Pelecyphora chihuahuensis subsp. chihuahuensis Pelecyphora chihuahuensis subsp. henricksonii (Glass & R.A.Foster) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez	Mexico
			Pelecyphora tuberculosa (Engelm.) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez		New Mexico, Mexico
Escobaria Britton & Rose	Sneedii Group		Pelecyphora laredoi (Glass & R.A.Foster) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez		Coahuila de Zaragoza - Mexico
			Pelecyphora sneedii (Britton & Rose) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez	Pelecyphora sneedii subsp. sneedii Pelecyphora sneedii subsp. orcuttii (Boed.) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez	Mexico (Chihuahua), United States (Arizona, New Mexico, Texas)
	Vivipara Group		Pelecyphora alversonii (J.M.Coult.) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez		Arizona, California
			Pelecyphora hesteri (Y.Wright) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez	Pelecyphora hesteri subsp. grata (M.Kaplan, Kunte & Šnicer) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez Pelecyphora hesteri subsp. hesteri	Texas
			Pelecyphora vivipara (Nutt.) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez		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 (Britton & Rose) N.P.Taylor			Pelecyphora abdita (Řepka & Vaško) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez	Pelecyphora abdita subsp. abdita Pelecyphora abdita subsp. tenuispina (Perez Badillo, Delladdio & Raya Sanchez) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez	Mexico (Coahuila)
			Pelecyphora emskoetteriana (Quehl) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez		Mexico (Coahuila de Zaragoza, Tamaulipas ), United States (Texas)
	Dasyacantha Group		Pelecyphora dasyacantha (Engelm.) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez	Pelecyphora dasyacantha subsp. dasyacantha Pelecyphora dasyacantha subsp. chaffeyi (Britton & Rose) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez	Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Zacatecas), USA (Texas, New Mexico)
			Pelecyphora duncanii (Hester) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez		New Mexico, Texas
			Pelecyphora lloydii (Britton & Rose) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez		Mexico (Zacatecas)
			Pelecyphora minima (Baird) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez		Texas
			Pelecyphora robbinsiorum (W.H.Earle) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez		Arizona
	Missouriensis Group		Pelecyphora cubensis (Britton & Rose) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez		Cuba
			Pelecyphora macromeris (Engelm.) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez	Pelecyphora macromeris subsp. macromeris Pelecyphora macromeris subsp. runyonii (Britton & Rose) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez	S. New Mexico to W. Texas and NE. Mexico.
			Pelecyphora missouriensis (Sweet) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez	Pelecyphora missouriensis subsp. missouriensis Pelecyphora missouriensis subsp. asperispina (Boed.) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez	USA ( Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, New Mexico, North Dakota), Mexico (Coahuila de Zaragoza, Nuevo Leon)
			Pelecyphora zilziana (Boed.) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez		Mexico (Coahuila de Zaragoza)

Synonymy

At genus level

• The genus Encephalocarpus
  A.Berger has been brought into synonymy
  with Pelecyphora.

• Pelecyphora aselliformis var. pectinata (= Mammillaria pectinifera)
• Pelecyphora pectinata (= Mammillaria pectinifera)
• Pelecyphora pseudopectinata (= Turbinicarpus pseudopectinatus)
• Pelecyphora valdeziana (= Turbinicarpus valdezianus)
• Pelecyphora plumosa (= Turbinicarpus valdezianus)
• Pelecyphora pulcherrima (= Turbinicarpus pseudopectinatus)

Psychoactivity

• Pelecyphora aselliformis: Mescaline (Less than 0.00002% in dry weight) Neal et al. 1972

Conservation status

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.

References