''Ferocactus latispinus'' is a species of

barrel cactus Barrel cacti are various members of the two genera '' Echinocactus'' and '' Ferocactus'', endemic to the deserts of Southwestern North America southward to north central Mexico. Some of the largest specimens are found in the Sonoran Desert. Des ...

native to Mexico.

Description

''Ferocactus latispinus'' grows as a single globular light green cactus reaching the dimensions of to 1 meter in height and across, with 21 acute ribs. Its spines range from reddish to white in color and are flattened. The four central spines growing up to long and wide and 5-15 marginal spines that are straight or recurved. Flowering is in late autumn or early winter. The funnel-shaped flowers are purplish or yellowish and reach 4 cm long, and are followed by oval-shaped scaled fruit which reach long. File:Ferocactus recurvus, a Devil's Tongue Barrel Cactus (9330444754).jpg, Flower File:Ferocactus recurvus 1000.jpg, Spines closeup File:Ferocactus recurvus (5740376228).jpg, Plant File:Ferocactus recurvus.jpg, Clump of plants

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognised, differing in their number of radial spines.

Distribution

The species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to Mexico; the more widely distributed subspecies ''latispinus'' ranges from southeastern

Durango Durango, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Durango, is one of the 31 states which make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in the northwest portion of the country. With a population of 1,832,650 ...

, through

Zacatecas Zacatecas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Zacatecas, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 31 states of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Zacatecas, 58 municipalities and its capital city is Zacatecas City, Zacatec ...

Aguascalientes Aguascalientes, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Aguascalientes, is one of the 32 states which comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. At 22°N and with an average altitude of above sea level it is pre ...

, east to the western parts of

San Luis Potosí San Luis Potosí, officially the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí, is one of the 32 states which compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 59 municipalities and is named after its capital city, San Luis Potosí. It ...

Hidalgo Hidalgo may refer to: People * Hidalgo (nobility), members of the Spanish nobility * Hidalgo (surname) Places Mexico :''Most, if not all, named for Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (1753–1811)'' * Hidalgo (state), in central Mexico * Hidalgo, Coah ...

and

Puebla Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...

, as well as to eastern

Jalisco Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by s ...

Guanajuato Guanajuato, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato, is one of the 32 states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guanajuato, 46 municipalities and its cap ...

Querétaro Querétaro, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Querétaro, 18 municipalities. Its capital city is Querétaro Cit ...

and

Mexico State The State of Mexico, officially just Mexico, is one of the administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of the United Mexican States. Colloquially known as Edomex (from , the abbreviation of , and ), to distinguish it from the name o ...

. Subspecies ''spiralis'' is restricted to the southern parts of

Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...

and Puebla. This species is typically found under nurse plants like tree canopies and shrubs. Plants are found growing in oak forest, grasslands, silt flats, and in rocky outcrops at elevations of . These nurse plants protect these smaller plant species below them from harsh weather conditions; being able to provide shade for the cacti in arid and sunny environments. Córdova-Acosta, E et al. “Reproductive Biology of Ferocactus Recurvus (Mill.) Borg Subsp. Recurvus (Cactaceae) in the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley, Mexico.” Plant biology (Stuttgart, Germany) 19.5 (2017): 798–805. Web. File:Ferocactus recurvus (5754327634).jpg, ''F. recurvus'' habitat in Zapotitlan De Las Salinas, Puebla File:Ferocactus recurvus (5740372218).jpg, Habitat near Concepcion buenavista, Oaxaca File:Ferocactus recurvus (5742102613).jpg, Plants growing in grasslands with oaks near Teotongo, Oaxaca

Taxonomy

Originally described as ''Cactus latispinus'' in 1824 by English naturalist

Adrian Hardy Haworth Adrian Hardy Haworth (19 April 1767, in Kingston upon Hull, Hull – 24 August 1833, in Chelsea, London, Chelsea) was an England, English entomologist, botanist and carcinologist. Family The younger son of Benjamin Haworth, of Haworth Hall and ...

, it gained its current name in 1922 with the erection of the genus ''

Ferocactus ''Ferocactus'' is a genus of large barrel-shaped cacti, mostly with large spines and small flowers. There are about 30 species included in the genus. They are found in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. Description The y ...

'' by American botanists Britton and

Rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

. The species name is derived from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''latus'' "broad", and ''spinus'' "spine". ''Ferocactus recurvus'' is a former name for the species.

Cultivation

''Ferocactus latispinus'' is fairly commonly cultivated as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

. It blooms at an early age which is a desirable horticultural feature. It is hardy to −4 °C, with an average minimum temperature of 10 °C. The

slime mold Slime mold or slime mould is an informal name given to a polyphyletic assemblage of unrelated eukaryotic organisms in the Stramenopiles, Rhizaria, Discoba, Amoebozoa and Holomycota clades. Most are near-microscopic; those in the Myxogastria ...

, ''

Didymium wildpretii ''Didymium wildpretii'' is a species of slime mold which feeds on the decaying remains of various species of cacti. It was first described in 2007 and has been found across Mexico and the Canary Islands, but may be present where other cacti grow. ...

'' feeds on the decaying remains of ''F. latispinus'' in Mexico.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q147501 latispinus Cacti of Mexico Endemic flora of Mexico Flora of Central Mexico Flora of Guanajuato Flora of Hidalgo (state) Flora of Puebla Flora of Jalisco Flora of Querétaro Flora of Oaxaca Flora of the State of Mexico North American desert flora