Pediocactus nigrispinus

(Hochstätter) Hochstätter

Succulenta (Netherlands) 71: 99. 1992.

Common names: Snowball cactus
Endemic
Basionym: Pediocactus simpsonii var. nigrispinus Hochstätter Succulenta (Netherlands) 69: 178, figs. 1–6. 1990
Synonyms: Pediocactus nigrispinus var. beastonii Hochstätter Pediocactus nigrispinus subsp. beastonii (Hochstätter) Hochstätter Pediocactus nigrispinus subsp. puebloensis Hochstätter
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 4. Mentioned on page 214.

Plants typically branched. Stems depressed-ovoid to elongate-ovoid, 5–30 × 5–15 cm; areoles oval, villous. Spines smooth, hard and rigid, distinguishable as radial and central; radial spines 10–30 per areole, spreading at right angles to tubercles, nearly straight, white to dull reddish-brown, 8–20 mm; central spines 6–12 per areole, widely spreading or nearly erect, reddish-brown to nearly black, rigid, straight or slightly curved, base yellow or cream, 15–35 mm, less than 1 mm diam. at base. Flowers 1–3.5 × 2.5–5 cm; scales and outer tepals of flower tube minutely toothed, laciniate, or entire and undulate; outer tepals with greenish brown midstripes, oblong-cuneate, 12–25 × 4.5–9 mm; inner tepals white, pink, magenta, yellow, or yellow-green, 19–27 × 5–10 mm. Fruits green tinged with red, drying reddish-brown, short cylindric, 6–11 × 5–10 mm. Seeds gray to black, 2–3 × 1.5–2 mm, papillate but not rugose.


Phenology: Flowering spring.
Habitat: Great Basin desert scrub, sagebrush, grasslands, coniferous forests
Elevation: 400-2000 m

Discussion

No known morphologic character supports the taxonomic recognition of infraspecific taxa within Pediocactus nigrispinus. Characteristics used to distinguish the three described subspecies almost completely overlap. Pediocactus nigrispinus has been referred to P. simpsonii var. robustior (J. M. Coulter) L. D. Benson, which remains well within the range of variation for P. simpsonii. An unpublished study by J. M. Porter et al. of noncoding chloroplast DNA sequences shows P. simpsonii is less closely related to P. nigripsinus than to P. knowltonii, P. winkleri, and P. despainii.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"thin" is not a number. "broad" is not a number.

... more about "Pediocactus nigrispinus"
cushionlike +
circular to linear +
deciduous +  and persistent +
Kenneth D. Heil +  and J. Mark Porter +
(Hochstätter) Hochstätter +
hardened +
cream +  and yellow +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br />) +
1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br /> (?) +  and 3.5 cm35 mm <br />0.035 m <br /> (?) +
Pediocactus simpsonii var. nigrispinus +
triangular +
reddish-brown +  and nearly black +
curved +  and straight +
erect +  and spreading +
terete +  and flat +
proliferating +
flattened +  and cylindric +
Snowball cactus +
mucilaginous +
Idaho +, Oreg. +  and Wash. +
400-2000 m +
not separating +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (3.5 cm35 mm <br />0.035 m <br />) +
tubular +, urceolate +  and salverform +
15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br /> (30 cm300 mm <br />0.3 m <br />) +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br />) +
2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br /> (5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br />) +
reddish-brown;green tinged with red +
persistent +, long +  and deciduous +
0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br /> (1.1 cm11 mm <br />0.011 m <br />) +
cylindric +
dry +, fleshy +  and juicy +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
Great Basin desert scrub, sagebrush, grasslands, coniferous forests +
1.9 cm19 mm <br />0.019 m <br /> (2.7 cm27 mm <br />0.027 m <br />) +
deciduous +  and persistent +
rudimentary +
flat +  and terete +
nearly +  and microscopic +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br />) +
tuberculate +
fluted;spheric;depressed-spheric or club-shaped +
entire +  and fimbriate +
greenish brown +
1.2 cm12 mm <br />0.012 m <br /> (2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br />) +
deciduous +  and persistent +
Flowering spring. +
mucilaginous +
ridgelike +  and nipple--shaped +
Succulenta (Netherlands) +
greenish +  and white +
3;2;2;30 +
triangular +
arillate +  and strophiolate +
gray +  and black +
0.4mm;12mm +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br />) +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br />) +
not rugose +  and papillate +
pyriform;obovoid +
0.04 cm0.4 mm <br />4.0e-4 m <br /> (0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br />) +
0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br /> (0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br />) +
white +  and dull reddish-brown +
straight +
deciduous +  and persistent +
6mm +  and 30mm +
distinguishable +
finely puberulent +  and glabrous +
10 (?) +  and 30 (?) +
pectinate +, awl-shaped +  and hairlike +
0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br /> (2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br />) +
rigid +  and hard +
0.03 cm0.3 mm <br />3.0e-4 m <br /> (0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br />) +
decurrent +
unsegmented +
gray-green +  and green +
5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br /> (30 cm300 mm <br />0.3 m <br />) +
depressed-ovoid +  and elongate-ovoid +
succulent +
5cm;15cm +
yellow +  and green +
0.07 cm0.7 mm <br />7.0e-4 m <br /> (0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br />) +
tuberculate +
Pediocactus nigrispinus var. beastonii +, Pediocactus nigrispinus subsp. beastonii +  and Pediocactus nigrispinus subsp. puebloensis +
adventitious +
tuberlike +
epipetric +  and epiphytic +
Pediocactus nigrispinus +
Pediocactus +
species +
dull +  and glossy +
undulate +, entire +, laciniate +  and toothed +
not confluent +
mammillate +, cylindroid +, truncate-conic +, conic +  and pyramidal +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
epiphytic;epiphytic;epiphytic +
hanging +  and erect to prostrate +
barrel-shaped +  and spheric +