''Pediocactus'' (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: πεδίον (pedion) means "plain", "flat", "field") is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

cacti A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

native to the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...

. The genus comprises between 6 and 11 species, depending upon the authority. Species of this genus are referred to as hedgehog cacti, though that name is also applied to plants from the genera '' Echinocereus'' and ''

Echinopsis ''Echinopsis'' is a genus of Cactus, cacti native plant, native to South America, sometimes known as hedgehog cactus, sea-urchin cactus or Easter lily cactus. , there are about 20 accepted species, ranging from large and treelike types to small ...

''. Species may also be referred to as pincushion cacti, a common name which is also applied to other genera.

Description

The ''Pediocactus'' genus includes small species of cactus that grow either individually or in clusters, reaching heights of up to . The shoots, which can be green or glaucous, come in cylindrical, spherical, or depressed spherical shapes, with diameters ranging from and heights from . Despite lacking ribs, these shoots have warts measuring in length and in diameter. The characteristic appearance is contributed to by the

areoles In botany, areoles are small light- to dark-colored bumps on cacti out of which grow clusters of spines. Areoles are important diagnostic features of cacti, and identify them as a family distinct from other succulent plants. Gordon Rowley - Wh ...

, spaced apart (occasionally up to ). The shoots also have thorns, varying in number, color, and orientation. There can be up to ten light gray or white central spines, measuring , and three to 35 reddish to whitish marginal spines, which can be straight, curved, or comb-shaped, extending in length. The bell-shaped flowers at the top of the shoots come in colors ranging from yellow to magenta to white, with diameters of . The flowers are characterized by a glabrous or nearly glabrous pericarpel and a short floral tube. Flowering typically occurs in spring, but certain species form buds in late autumn, with some capable of flowering even in their juvenile stages. The fruits, initially greenish and cylindrical to spherical, transform into reddish-brown, dry structures upon ripening. Opening with a vertical gap, the fruits may be bare or possess a few scales. As the fruit opens, the remaining flower partially detaches, leaving a residue resembling a cap. The fruits contain blackish-brown, wrinkled to tuberous, obovate, or pear-shaped seeds. These seeds ripen 4 to 6 weeks after flowering and remain viable for an exceptionally long period, lasting at least 10 years.

Species

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

accepts the following species:

Synonyms

The genus has 3 synonyms: * ''Navajoa'' Croizat * ''Pilocanthus'' B.W.Benson &

Backeb. Curt Backeberg (2 August 1894 in Lüneburg, Germany – 14 January 1966) was a German horticulturist especially known for the collection and classification of cacti. Biography He travelled extensively through Central and South America, and publi ...

* ''Utahia'' Britton &

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 ...

'' Sclerocactus'' and ''Pediocactus'' were also at one time reduced to synonymy, but this is not at present considered to be correct.

References

{{Authority control Cactoideae genera Cacti of the United States