''Ariocarpus kotschoubeyanus'' is a species of

plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

in the family

Cactaceae 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, ...

Description

The ''Ariocarpus koschoubeyanus'' usually grows alone and remains below the soil surface. Its dark olive-green shoots, which are flattened at the tip and slightly sunken in the middle, have a diameter of . The warts are spirally arranged, elongated at the base, becoming broadly triangular and tapering towards the tip. They measure long and wide. A woolly furrow extends across the middle of the areoles, and there are no thorns. The flowers are typically crimson red and in diameter, though there is at least one population with white flowers. The sepals are green or brownish, somewhat fleshy, and often split into two columns. The petals are lanceolate-spatulate, pointed, blunt, or edged. The stamens, style, and stigma are white. The elongated fruits are long. File:Ariocarpus kotschoubeyanus flor cropped.jpg, Close up on flower File:IMG 3396-Ariocarpus kotschoubeyanus.jpg, Leaves File:Ariocarpus kotschoubeyanus v.albiflorus.jpg, White flower form File:IMG 3104-Ariocarpus kotschoubeyanus.jpg, Pink flower form

Distribution

The distribution of ''Ariocarpus koschoubeyanus'' ranges from the Mexican state of

Coahuila Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza, is one of the 31 states of Mexico. The largest city and State Capital is the city of Saltillo; the second largest is Torreón and the thi ...

south to

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 ...

, including parts of

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 ...

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 ...

Nuevo León Nuevo León, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nuevo León, is a Administrative divisions of Mexico, state in northeastern Mexico. The state borders the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí, San Luis ...

, and

Tamaulipas Tamaulipas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas, is a state in Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 43 municipalities. It is located in nor ...

, where it grows in the Chihuahuan Desert in loamy plains growing at elevations of 1000 to 1900 meters. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

. Plants are found growing along '' Dasylirion longissimum'', '' Thelocactus bicolor'', ''

Mammillaria elongata ''Mammillaria elongata'', the gold lace cactus or ladyfinger cactus, is a species of flowering plant in the family (biology), family Cactaceae, native plant, native to central Mexico. Growing to tall by wide, it consists of densely packed clust ...

'', '' Agave stricta'', ''

Lophophora williamsii The peyote (; ''Lophophora williamsii'' ) is a small, spineless cactus which contains Psychoactive cactus, psychoactive alkaloids, particularly mescaline. is a Spanish word derived from the Nahuatl (), meaning "caterpillar Pupa#Cocoon, cocoon" ...

'', '' Ferocactus uncinatus '', and '' Echinocereus schmollii''. File:Ariocarpus kotschoubeyanus flor.jpg, Plant growing in Nuevo Leon, Mexico File:Ariocarpus kotschoubeyanus (5660816762).jpg, Plant growing in Estacion Marte,Coahuila File:Ariocarpus kotschoubeyanus.jpg, Plant growing near Dr. Arroyo, Nuevo Leon, Mexico

Taxonomy

The species was first collected around 1840 by Wilhelm Friedrich von Karwinsky and sent to Europe. Charles Lemaire described it in 1842 as ''Anhalonium kotschoubeyanum''. The specific epithet honors Prince Wassili Viktorovich Kochubey. Karl Moritz Schumann reassigned the species to the genus Ariocarpus in 1898.

Pharmacology

Hordenine and N-methyltyramine were found in ''Ariocarpus kotschoubeyanus''.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q138384 Kotschoubeyanus Cacti of Mexico Endemic flora of Mexico Flora of Coahuila Flora of Nuevo León Flora of Querétaro Near threatened biota of Mexico Taxonomy articles created by Polbot