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Pediocactus nigrispinus

black-spine snowball cactus, Columbia Plateau cactus, dark-spine ball cactus, snowball cactus

Winkler's footcactus, Winkler's pincushion cactus

Habit Plants typically branched. Plants usually unbranched, sometimes clumped.
Stems

depressed-ovoid to elongate-ovoid, 5–30 × 5–15 cm;

areoles oval, villous.

subglobose to obovoid, 3.9–6.8 × 2.7–5 cm;

areoles elliptic to circular, lanate (rarely glabrate).

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.

smooth, relatively hard, all radial, 8–14 per areole, spreading downward, white or whitish to tan, 1.5–4 mm.

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.

1.7–2.2 × 1.7–3 cm;

scales and outer tepals minutely toothed or entire and undulate;

outer tepals peach to pink with reddish brown midstripes, 10–15 × 4–6 mm;

inner tepals peach or pink, oblanceolate, 12–16 × 3–5 mm.

Fruits

green tinged with red, drying reddish brown, short cylindric, 6–11 × 5–10 mm.

green, drying reddish brown, without scales, turbinate, 7–10 × 8–11 mm.

Seeds

gray to black, 2–3 × 1.5–2 mm, papillate but not rugose.

black, to 3 × 2 mm, shiny, papillate and rugose.

Pediocactus nigrispinus

Pediocactus winkleri

Phenology Flowering spring. Flowering early spring.
Habitat Great Basin desert scrub, sagebrush, grasslands, coniferous forests Great Basin desert scrub, pinyon-juniper woodlands, desert pavements of cobble, pebble, or fossil oyster shell and gypsum soils
Elevation 400-2000 m (1300-6600 ft) 1500-2100 m (4900-6900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
ID; OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
UT
[BONAP county map]
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.

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

Of conservation concern.

Pediocactus winkleri (and P. despainii) were recently combined with P. bradyi. Analyses of chloroplast DNA sequences (J. M. Porter et al. unpubl.), however, provide strong evidence of a close relationship among P. winkleri, P. despainii, and P. simpsonii, not P. bradyi. By contrast, P. bradyi is more closely related to P. sileri and P. peeblesianus. The morphologic distinction between P. winkleri and P. despainii is much more tenuous than the key and descriptions indicate (see comments under 9. P. despainii).

Pediocactus winkleri is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants.

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

Source FNA vol. 4. FNA vol. 4, p. 215.
Parent taxa Cactaceae > subfam. Cactoideae > Pediocactus Cactaceae > subfam. Cactoideae > Pediocactus
Sibling taxa
P. bradyi, P. despainii, P. knowltonii, P. paradinei, P. peeblesianus, P. sileri, P. simpsonii, P. winkleri
P. bradyi, P. despainii, P. knowltonii, P. nigrispinus, P. paradinei, P. peeblesianus, P. sileri, P. simpsonii
Synonyms P. simpsonii var. nigrispinus, P. nigrispinus var. beastonii, P. nigrispinus subsp. beastonii, P. nigrispinus subsp. puebloensis Pediocactella bradyi subsp. winkleri, P. bradyi subsp. winkleri, P. bradyi var. winkleri
Name authority (Hochstätter) Hochstätter: Succulenta (Netherlands) 71: 99. (1992) K. D. Heil: Cact. Succ. J. (Los An geles) 51: 28, figs. 5–8. (1979)
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