The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

biznaga de Wright, Wright's nipple cactus, Wright's pincushion cactus

Habit Plants usually unbranched.
Roots

upper portion of primary root somewhat thickened and succulent proximally, otherwise fibrous.

Stems

flat-topped or spheric, 4–8 × 4–8 cm, ± flaccid;

tubercles 6–24 mm;

axils appearing naked;

cortex and pith mucilaginous;

latex absent.

Spines

9–31(–34) per areole, white, usually tipped brown;

radial spines 8–30 per areole, in 1 series, glabrous (puberulent in first year flowering plants);

lateral spines bristlelike, 7–11 mm, stiff, longest and thickest of spines;

adaxial spines often darker;

central spines 1–4(–7) per areole, porrect or strongly projecting, 1 or all hooked, (5–)12–14(–21) mm;

subcentral spines 0.

Flowers

2.5–3.5(–5.2) × 2.2–4.5(–7.5) cm;

outer tepal margins conspicuously fringed;

inner tepals rose-pink or magenta [white], margins often paler;

stigma lobes yellow or pale green (rarely reddish).

Fruits

green or dull purple, spheric to ovoid or obovoid, (9–)13–20(–28) × (6–)7–1.9(–26) mm, juicy throughout;

floral remnant persistent.

Seeds

black, 1.3–1.5 mm, pitted;

testa hard, anticlinal cell walls straight (not undulate);

interstices conspicuously narrower than pit diameters;

pits bowl-shaped.

2n

= 22.

Mammillaria wrightii

Distribution
from FNA
AZ; NM; TX; Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 3 (2 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Radial spines usually 8-15 per areole; fruits 12.5-26 mm diam
var. wrightii
1. Radial spines usually 16-30 per areole; fruits 6-15 mm diam
var. wilcoxii
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 250.
Parent taxa Cactaceae > subfam. Cactoideae > Mammillaria
Sibling taxa
M. dioica, M. grahamii, M. heyderi, M. lasiacantha, M. macdougalii, M. mainiae, M. meiacantha, M. pottsii, M. prolifera, M. sphaerica, M. tetrancistra, M. thornberi, M. viridiflora
Subordinate taxa
M. wrightii var. wilcoxii, M. wrightii var. wrightii
Name authority Engelmann: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 3: 262. (1856)
Web links