''Sclerocactus johnsonii'' (

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

including ''Echinomastus johnsonii'') is a species of

cactus 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, ...

known by the common names Johnson's beehive cactus and Johnson's fishhook cactus. It is native to the southwestern United States from eastern

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

and northwestern

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, where it can be found in

desert scrub Deserts and xeric shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Deserts and xeric (Ancient Greek 'dry') shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. Ecoregions in this habitat ...

habitat. It produces an egg-shaped or cylindrical stem up to tall by wide. It is covered densely in straight and curving spines which may be up to long and come in shades of yellow, gray, lavender, and pink or red, with up to 24 per

areole In botany, areoles are small light- to dark-colored bumps on cactus, cacti out of which grow clusters of Thorns, spines, and prickles, spines. Areoles are important diagnostic features of cactus, cacti, and identify them as a family distinct fr ...

. The cactus may have yellow or pink flowers; the species is sometimes divided into two varieties on the basis of flower color.Flora of North America
/ref> Flowers are up to wide. The scaly, fleshy fruit is up to long.

Subspecies

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 ...

accepted three subspecies: *''Sclerocactus johnsonii'' subsp. ''acunensis'' (W.T.Marshall) M.A.Baker & J.M.Porter * ''Sclerocactus johnsonii'' subsp. ''erectocentrus'' (J.M.Coult.) M.A.Baker *''Sclerocactus johnsonii'' subsp. ''johnsonii''

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfilePhoto gallery
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q28975988, from2=Q289673, from3=Q14943217 johnsonii Plants described in 1871 Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of Northwestern Mexico