Pelecyphora alversonii
{{Short description|Species of cactus}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Coryphantha alversonii.jpg
| image_caption =
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| taxon = Pelecyphora alversonii
| authority = (J.M.Coult.) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez
| synonyms =
- Cactus radiosus var. alversonii {{au|J.M.Coult. 1894}}
- Coryphantha alversonii {{au|(J.M.Coult.) Orcutt 1926}}
- Coryphantha vivipara var. alversonii {{au|(J.M.Coult.) L.D.Benson 1969}}
- Escobaria alversonii {{au|(J.M.Coult.) N.P.Taylor 1997}}
- Escobaria vivipara var. alversonii {{au|(J.M.Coult.) D.R.Hunt 1978}}
- Mammillaria alversonii {{au|(J.M.Coult.) Zeiss. 1895}}
- Mammillaria radiosa var. alversonii {{au|(J.M.Coult.) K.Schum. 1898}}
- Mammillaria vivipara var. alversonii {{au|(J.M.Coult.) L.D.Benson 1950}}
}}
Pelecyphora alversonii commonly known as cushion foxtail cactus or cushion fox-tail cactus, is a species of flowering plant in the family Cactaceae, native to the southwestern United States.{{cite web | title=Pelecyphora alversonii (J.M.Coult.) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez | website=Plants of the World Online | url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77248943-1#distributions | access-date=2023-11-23}}
Description
Pelecyphora alversonii usually grows sprouting and forms underground, cylindrical offshoots with a diameter of 6–9 cm. The more or less spherical shoots reach heights of up to 7-25 centimeters. The plants have 18-33 radial spines per areoles. The eight to ten central spines have a white to dark red or black tip and are 1.2 to 1.6 centimeters long. The twelve to 18 white marginal spines are 1.2 to 2 centimeters long.{{cite web | author=The American Southwest | title=Escobaria alversonii, Cushion foxtail cactus | website=National Parks and National Monuments of the American Southwest and West | date=2014-05-02 | url=https://www.americansouthwest.net/plants/cacti/escobaria-alversonii.html | access-date=2023-11-24}}
The flowers are magenta to pink and reach a diameter of around 3.2 centimeters. The ellipsoid fruits are green.{{cite book | last1=Anderson | first1=Edward F. | last2=Eggli | first2=Urs | title=Das grosse Kakteen-Lexikon | publisher=Ulmer | publication-place=Stuttgart (Hohenheim) | date=2005 | isbn=3-8001-4573-1 | language=de | page=272}} Chromosome count is 2n = 22.{{cite web | title=Coryphantha alversonii | website=University and Jepson Herbaria Home Page | date=2023-11-24 | url=https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=25220 | access-date=2023-11-24}}
File:Escobaria alversonii - Lone Cactus.jpg| P. alversonii in Joshua Tree National Park, California
Distribution
Pelecyphora alversonii is widespread in the United States in southeastern California in the Mojave Desert and neighboring Arizona at elevations around 75–600 meters.
Taxonomy
The first description as Cactus radiosus var. alversonii by John Merle Coulter was published in 1894.{{cite journal | last=Ewan | first=Joseph | title=ANDREW ALVERSON (1845-1916) OF CALIFORNIA AND HIS CACTUS CATALOGUE | journal=Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History | publisher=Edinburgh University Press | volume=4 | issue=3 | year=1963 | issn=0037-9778 | doi=10.3366/jsbnh.1963.4.3.170 | pages=170–177}} The specific epithet alversonii honors the mineral explorer Andrew H. Alverson (1845–1916). Nigel Paul Taylor placed the variety as a species in the genus Escobaria in 1997.{{cite book | last=States. | first=United | title=Contributions from the United States National Herbarium | publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press | volume=v.3 (1892-1896) | date=1892 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/363889 | access-date=2023-11-24}} David Aquino & Daniel Sánchez moved the species to Pelecyphora based on phylogenetic studies in 2022.{{cite journal | last1=Sánchez | first1=Daniel | last2=Vázquez-Benítez | first2=Balbina | last3=Vázquez-Sánchez | first3=Monserrat | last4=Aquino | first4=David | last5=Arias | first5=Salvador | title=Phylogenetic relationships in Coryphantha and implications on Pelecyphora and Escobaria (Cacteae, Cactoideae, Cactaceae) | journal=PhytoKeys | publisher=Pensoft Publishers | issue=188 | date=2022-01-21 | issn=1314-2003 | doi=10.3897/phytokeys.188.75739 | pages=115–165| doi-access=free | pmid=35106054 | pmc=8799629 }} Further nomenclature synonyms are Mammillaria alversonii (J.M.Coult.) Zeiss. (1895), Mammillaria radiosa var. alversonii (J.M.Coult.) K.Schum. (1898), Mammillaria arizonica var. alversonii (J.M.Coult.) Davidson & Moxley (1923), Coryphantha alversonii (J.M.Coult.) Orcutt (1926), Mammillaria vivipara var vivipara var. alversonii (J.M.Coult.) L.D.Benson (1969), Escobaria vivipara var. alversonii (J.M.Coult.) D.R.Hunt (1978) and Escobaria alversonii (J.M.Coult.) N.P.Taylor (1997).
Conservation status
It is vulnerable species on the California Native Plant Society Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants.{{cite web|url=http://www.rareplants.cnps.org/detail/515.html |title=California Native Plant Society Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants (online edition, v8-02): Coryphantha alversonii|publisher=cnps.org|accessdate=2015-05-17}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Wikispecies-inline|Pelecyphora alversonii|Pelecyphora alversonii}}
{{Taxonbar|from1=Q119735228|from2=Q1367220|from3=Q19859006}}
Category:Flora of the Southwestern United States