Pelecyphora aselliformis

Pelecyphora aselliformis
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Cactaceae
Subfamily:	Cactoideae
Genus:	Pelecyphora
Species:	P. aselliformis
Binomial name
Pelecyphora aselliformis C.Ehrenb.
Synonyms
Ariocarpus aselliformis (Ehrenb.) F.A.C.Weber 1898 Mammillaria aselliformis (Ehrenb.) H.P.Kelsey & Dayton 1942 Pelecyphora aselliformis var. concolor Hook.f. 1873

Pelecyphora aselliformis is a species of

Pelecyphora aselliformis grows with globose, spherical or flattened spherical grayish green stems, with fleshy roots that are 2 to 7 centimeters in diameter and about 12 cm high. Their hatchet-shaped tubercles are 2 to 4 millimeters high, 5 to 9 millimeters long and 1 to 2.5 millimeters wide. Its outer part is flattened and the outline is elliptical. The areoles are woolly, 40 to 60 stiff, whitish spines are arranged in a striking comb-like manner and are 0.7 to 4 millimeters long. The magenta-colored flowers appear at the apex, between the wooliness of the young areole reach diameters of 1.3 to 3.5 centimeters.[3]

It grows very slowly and flowers only after many years.

Distribution

Pelecyphora aselliformis is widespread in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosí. It inhabits low hills and flat plains at elevations of 1800 to 2400 meters and grows on nutrient-rich, dark soils and limestone rocks. The range extends over an area of no more than 500 km².

Taxonomy

The first description was made in 1843 by Carl August Ehrenberg.^[4] The specific epithet aselliformis means 'woodlouse-shaped'. Common names are “Peoti”, “Peotillo”, “Peyote” and “Peyotillo”.

When a new highway was built north of the city of San Luis Potosí that passed through a population of Pelecyphora aselliformis, 1226 specimens of the species were relocated to the El Charco del Ingenio Botanical Garden near San Miguel de Allende.^[5]

References