Jepson Herbarium
		University of California, Berkeley

Directory       News       Site Map       Home

Indexes to all accepted names and synonyms: | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |

Perennial, shrub, tree, generally fleshy.
Stem: cylindric to spheric, or flat; surface smooth, tubercled, or ribbed (grooved); nodal areoles bearing flowers.
Leaf: generally 0 or early- deciduous, flat to ± cylindric.
Spines: areoles generally with central, radial spines, occasionally with glochids.
Flower: generally 1 per areole, bisexual [ unisexual], sessile, radial [ bilateral]; perianth parts generally many [5], scale-like to petal-like; stamens many; ovary inferior [superior], style 1, stigma lobes generally several [many].
Fruit: dry to fleshy or juicy, indehiscent to variously dehiscent, spiny, scaly, or naked; tubercled or smooth.
Seed: generally many, occasionally 0–few.
± 125 genera, ± 1800 species: Am (especially deserts), Africa; many cultivated, some edible. [Parfitt & Gibson 2004 FNANM 4:92–257] Spines smaller, fewer (0) in shade forms; yellow spines blacken in age. Introduced species increasingly escape cultivation. Hybridization common in some genera. Taxa of Escobaria in TJM (1993) moved to Coryphantha. —Scientific Editors: Bruce D. Parfitt, Douglas H. Goldman, Bruce G. Baldwin.
Unabridged references: [Hunt 2006 The New Cactus Lexicon, DH Books, Milborne Port, England]

Key to Cactaceae

Erect or leaning, branches 0, occasionally branched from tip-injury.
Stem: (0)10–200(300) cm, 10–35 cm diam, depressed-spheric to short-columnar, hard, glabrous, not segmented; ribs 13–31, prominent; tubercles not conspicuous on ribs.
Spines: [6]10–32 per areole, 2–4.5 mm wide, generally awl-shaped, generally flat, ringed with conspicuous ridges, straight to curved or ± hooked, some bristle-like; central spines generally 4 per areole.
Flower: ± terminal, near distal edge of spine cluster, 3–6 cm diam; perianth yellow to red [or purple, or white with ± purple midstripes]; ovary glabrous, spines 0, scales numerous, generally rounded, margins minutely fringed or toothed.
Fruit: spheric, ovoid, or cylindric, glabrous, spineless, dehiscent by basal pore.
Seed: [1]1.5–3 mm, spheric to subreniform, pitted, black.
25 species: sw US, Mex. (Latin: fierce cactus) [Taylor 1984 Bradleya 2:19–38]

Stem: generally not taller than wide, depressed-spheric to cylindric.
Spines: 10–24, generally spreading, longest straight or ± curved, red, pink or ± yellow, ± gray or yellow in age.
Flower: inner perianth occasionally with red-brown midstripes; style 6–9 mm, ovary 5–7 mm, scales fringed- dentate.
Fruit: yellow (to ± red).
Seed: 1.5–2 mm.
2n=22. Sandy to rocky areas; 10–150 m. South Coast (San Diego Co.);

Previous taxon: Ferocactus cylindraceus
Next taxon: Grusonia

Contact/Feedback

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) [year] Jepson eFlora, http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/IJM.html [accessed on month, day, year]
Citation for an individual treatment: [Author of taxon treatment] [year]. [Taxon name] in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, [URL for treatment]. Accessed on [month, day, year].

Copyright © 2012 Regents of the University of California
We encourage links to these pages, but the content may not be downloaded for reposting, repackaging, redistributing, or sale in any form, without written permission from The Jepson Herbarium.

Bioregions in which taxon occurs	Red area (if present) is the part of the bioregion lying between the upper and lower elevation limits of the taxon; markers link to CCH specimen records. If the markers are obscured, reload the page [or change window size and reload]. Yellow markers indicate records that may have georeferencing or identification issues.
Chart based on elevation range in Manual and elevations and coordinates of CCH records. Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria. Note: About half of the CCH records include both elevation and coordinates.	Map made in collaboration with Scott Loarie. Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria. View all CCH records   CCH collections by month Duplicates counted once; synonyms included. Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa. Blue line denotes Manual flowering time.