WILDFLOWERS OF NEW MEXICO

 
 

Infrequent throughout its range, this small hedgehog bursts into bloom with magenta flowers with early summer rains and often again with late summer monsoons. Note the flowers bloom in a ring around the stem below the apex, the filaments are reddish-pink, and each areole has 2 or more dark brown, hooked central spines.


FLOWER: June, August (rain triggered). A dense ring of rose to magenta flowers circle the stem below the apex with numerous narrow, pointed, petal-like tepals; outer tepals have conspicuous fringe, especially near the tips; filaments are reddish-pink, anthers yellow, stigma lobes yellow to pale green. Rounded to oval, grape-like fruits are green to dull purple, juicy.


SPINES: Areoles have 8–30 white radial spines in one series, and 2–4 dark central spines 1/2–5/8-inch long (12–14 mm), all with hooked tips.


HABITAT: Sandy, gravelly soils; hills, plains, mesas, slopes, canyons; semi-desert grasslands, pinyon-juniper woodlands.


ELEVATION: 4,000–7,000 feet.


RANGE: AZ, NM, TX.


SIMILAR SPECIES: Two varieties in the Southwest: The widespread var. wrightii has 8–15 radial spines; in the Boothill region var. wilcoxii has 16–30 radial spines. Green-flowering Nipple Cactus, M. viridiflora, in Grant and Hidalgo cos., has 15–23 radial spines and 1 hooked central spine per areole, and the flowers  are white, pale greenish, or pale rose-pink. Graham’s Fishhook, M. grahamii, has only one fishhook central spine per areole, 19–25 radial spines, and elongated fruit.


NM COUNTIES: Infrequent in the SW quarter of NM in low- to mid-elevation, arid habitats: Bernalillo, Catron, Cibola, Dona Ana, Grant, Guadalupe, Hidalgo, Lincoln, Luna, McKinley, Otero, San Miguel, Sandoval, Sierra, Socorro, Santa Fe, Torrance.

WRIGHT’S  FISHHOOK  (NIPPLE)  CACTUS

MAMMILLARIA  WRIGHTII

Cactus Family, Cactaceae

Perennial cactus

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• Flowers have reddish-pink filaments.

• The widespread var. wrightii has 8–15 radial spines.

Each areole has 2–4 dark-brown, hooked central spines.

Flowers grow in a ring around the stem below the apex.