Homalocephala polycephala
| Cotton top cactus | |
|---|---|
| File:Echinocactus polycephalus, Section 6 BLM 8197 RobbHannawacker.jpg | |
| Scientific classification Edit this classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Cactaceae |
| Subfamily: | Cactoideae |
| Genus: | Homalocephala |
| Species: | H. polycephala
|
| Binomial name | |
| Homalocephala polycephala Engelm. & J.M.Bigelow[1]
| |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Homalocephala polycephala, synonym Echinocactus polycephalus, is a cactus that is native to the United States and Mexico.[1] It occurs in the Mojave Desert region of Arizona, California, and Nevada, and also occurs in the Sonoran Desert region of southern California and northern Sonora, Mexico.[citation needed]
The plants grow in some of the most extreme arid environments in the American Southwest, such as Death Valley National Park, and the Mojave National Preserve of Southern California.[citation needed]
Description
[edit | edit source]The stems of Homalocephala polycephala are sometimes solitary, but more often in clusters of as many as 30, each up to 0.6 m tall. The spines are yellow to red. The fruits are densely woolly, giving the common name cotton top cactus. The tendency of the cactus to cluster causes it to also be called many-headed barrel cactus.[2]
They have a reputation for being difficult in cultivation, and are rarely seen in cactus collections.[citation needed]
References
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- ^ UC/JEPS: Jepson Manual treatment for ECHINOCACTUS polycephalus var. polycephalus
External links
[edit | edit source]- Error creating thumbnail: File missing Media related to Lua error in Module:Commons_link at line 62: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). at Wikimedia Commons
- File:Wikispecies-logo.svg Data related to Homalocephala polycephala at Wikispecies
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- IUCN Red List least concern species
- Cactoideae
- Cacti of Mexico
- Cacti of the United States
- Flora of Arizona
- Flora of California
- Flora of Nevada
- Flora of Sonora
- North American desert flora
- Flora of the California desert regions
- Flora of the Sonoran Deserts
- Natural history of the Colorado Desert
- Natural history of the Mojave Desert
- Death Valley National Park
- Mojave National Preserve
- Plants described in 1856