Mammillaria

Mammillaria
Mammillaria spinosissima
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Core eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Cactaceae
Subfamily:	Cactoideae
Tribe:	Cacteae
Subtribe:	Cactinae
Genus:	Mammillaria Haw.
Species
About 170 species: see text
Synonyms
Bartschella Britton & Rose Cactus L. Chilita Orcutt Cochemia (lapsus) Cochemiea (K.Brandegee) Walton Dolichothele (K.Schum.) Britton & Rose Ebnerella Buxb. Haagea Fric Krainzia Backeb. Lactomammillaria Fric (nom. inval.) Leptocladia Buxb. Leptocladodia Buxb. Mamillaria F.Rchb. (orth. var.) Mamillopsis (E.Morren) F.A.C.Weber ex Britton & Rose Mammariella Shafer (nom. inval.) Mammilaria Torr. & A.Gray (orth. var.) Neomammillaria Britton & Rose Oehmea Buxb. Phellosperma Britton & Rose Porfiria Boed. Pseudomammillaria Buxb. Solisia Britton & Rose

The genus Mammillaria is one of the largest in the cactus family (Cactaceae), with currently 200 known species and varieties recognized.^[1] Most of the mammillarias are native to Mexico, but some come from the southwest United States, the Caribbean, Colombia, Venezuela, Guatemala and Honduras.^[2] The common name "pincushion cactus" refers to this and the closely related genus Escobaria.

The first species was described by Carl Linnaeus as Cactus mammillaris in 1753, deriving its name from Latin mammilla, "nipple", referring to the tubercles that are among the distinctive features of the genus. In 1812, the cactus specialist Adrian Haworth described the genus Mammillaria to contain this and related species. Numerous species are commonly known as globe cactus, nipple cactus, fishhook cactus or pincushion cactus though such terms may also be used for related taxa, particularly Escobaria.

Description

Flowers

The distinctive feature of the genus is the possession of an areole split into two clearly separated parts, one occurring at the apex of the tubercle, the other at its base. The apex part is spine bearing, and the base part is always spineless, but usually bears some bristles or wool. The base part of the areole bears the flowers and fruits, and is a branching point. The apex part of the areole does not carry flowers, but in certain conditions can function as a branching point as well.

The plants are usually small, globose to elongated, the stems from 1 cm to 20 cm in diameter and from 1 cm to 40 cm tall, clearly tuberculate, solitary to clumping forming mounds of up to 100 heads and with radial symmetry. Tubercles can be conical, cylindrical, pyramidal or round. The roots are fibrous, fleshy or tuberous. The flowers are funnel-shaped and range from 7 mm to 40 mm and more in length and in diameter, from white and greenish to yellow, pink and red in colour, often with a darker mid-stripe; the reddish hues are due to betalain pigments as usual for Caryophyllales. The fruit is berry-like, club-shaped or elongated, usually red but sometimes white, magenta, yellow or green. Some species have the fruit embedded into the plant body. The seeds are black or brown, from 1 to 3 mm in size.

Cultivation

Mammillarias have extremely variable spination from species to species, and attractive flowers, making them attractive for cactus hobbyists. Most mammillarias are considered easy to cultivate,^[2] though some species are among the hardest cacti to grow. Several taxa are threatened with extinction at least in the wild, due to habitat destruction and especially overcollecting for the pot plant trade. Cactus fanciers can assist conservation of these rare plants by choosing nursery-bred specimens (wild-collected ones are illegal to possess for the rarest species). Several mammillarias are relatively easy (for cacti) to grow from seeds. One such species, popular and widely available from nursery stock but endangered in the wild, is Mammillaria zeilmanniana.

Systematics

Mammillaria cluster in Arizona.

The large and diverse genus Mammillaria has seen multiple attempts to subdivide the species in it into smaller groups within the genus or attempts to split it into multiple genera for better understanding of the plants' relationship. Early classifications were performed by Pfeiffer (1837), Salm-Dick (1845) and Engelmann (1856). The genus Mammillaria included members of some modern genera like Coryphantha and Ariocarpus at that time. Classifications by Schumann (1898), Britton and Rose (1923), Berger (1929) Buxbaum (1951–56) and Moran (1953) followed, splitting the genus in parts and combining it back together again.

Later classification was performed by the cactus specialists Hunt, Reppenhagen and Luthy, with much work focusing on researching the meanings and value of the original plant descriptions, synchronizing them with modern taxonomic requirements and studying the morphology of plants and seeds, as well as ecological aspects of the genus. These works helped to expand the understanding of Mammillaria taxa.

Currently the classification of Mammillaria is in a state where few newly discovered species are likely, though some new species may yet be found when the chaos of names created earlier by commercial plant collectors is sorted out. Many names that were introduced for plants barely differentiated by a shade of flower colour or variation in spination were eliminated in attempt to make the use of names consistent with the rest of the botanical world. The number of taxa, which at one time numbered above 500, is now below 200. Some genera (Dolichothele, Mammillopsis, Krainzia and others) have been merged back into Mammillaria, and others like Coryphantha, Escobaria and Mammilloydia were confirmed as separate.

Intense studies of DNA of the genus are being conducted, with preliminary results published for over a hundred taxa, and this promising approach might soon end the arguments. Based on DNA research results, the genus does not seem to be monophyletic and is likely to be split into two large genera, one of them possibly including certain species of other closely related genera like Coryphantha, Ortegocactus and Neolloydia.

Selected species

Mammillaria microhelia

As noted above, some might not belong into this genus.

Mammillaria albicoma Mammillaria albiflora Mammillaria albilanata Mammillaria angelensis Mammillaria anniana Mammillaria aureilanata Mammillaria backebergiana Mammillaria barbata – Green Fishhook Cactus Mammillaria baumii Mammillaria berkiana Mammillaria blossfeldiana Mammillaria bocasana Mammillaria bocasana f. multilanata – Powder-puff Pincushion Mammillaria bocasana ssp. eschauzieri – Eschauzier's Pincushion Mammillaria bombycina – Silken Pincushion Mammillaria boolii Mammillaria brachytrichion Mammillaria brandegeei Mammillaria candida Mammillaria carmenae Mammillaria carnea Mammillaria celsiana Mammillaria centricirrha Mammillaria columbiana Mammillaria compressa – Mother of Hundreds Mammillaria crinita – Rose Pincushion Cactus Mammillaria crocidata Mammillaria crucigera Mammillaria decipiens Mammillaria deherdtiana Mammillaria dioica – Strawberry Cactus, California Fishhook Cactus Mammillaria discolor Mammillaria dixanthocentron Mammillaria duwei Mammillaria elongata – Ladyfinger Cactus Mammillaria fraileana Mammillaria gasseriana Mammillaria geminispina – Twin-spined Cactus Mammillaria geminispina f. cristate – Crested Twin-spined Cactus Mammillaria gigantea Mammillaria glassii Mammillaria glochidiata – extinct in the wild Mammillaria goodridgei Mammillaria goodridgei var. goodridgei Mammillaria goodridgei var. rectispina Mammillaria grahamii – Arizona Fishhook Cactus Mammillaria grahamii var. oliviae – Pitahayita Mammillaria grusonii Mammillaria guelzowiana Mammillaria guerreronis Mammillaria guillauminiana – extinct in the wild Mammillaria haageana Mammillaria hahniana – Old Lady Cactus Mammillaria hernandezii Mammillaria herrerae Mammillaria heyderi Mammillaria huitzilopochtli Mammillaria humboldtii Mammillaria johnstonii Mammillaria karwinskiana – Royal Cross Mammillaria Mammillaria klissingiana Mammillaria kraehenbuehlii Mammillaria krameri Mammillaria lasiacantha – Golf-ball Pincushion Cactus Mammillaria lauii Mammillaria lenta Mammillaria longiflora Mammillaria longimamma – Finger Cactus Mammillaria longimamma var. sphaerica – Longimamma Nipple Cactus

Mammillaria luethyi Mammillaria magnifica Mammillaria magnihahha Mammillaria mainiae – Counterclockwise Pincushion Mammillaria magnimamma – Mexican Pincushion Mammillaria mammillaris Mammillaria marcosii Mammillaria marksiana – Cabeza de Viejo Mammillaria mathildae Mammillaria matudae Mammillaria meicantha, photographed at Bedugul Botanical Garden, Bali, Indonesia Mammillaria meicantha Mammillaria melaleuca Mammillaria melanocentra Mammillaria mercadensis Mammillaria microhelia Mammillaria microthele Mammillaria muehlenpfordtii Mammillaria morganiana Mammillaria bombycina Mammillaria multidigitata Mammillaria mystax Mammillaria neopalmeri Mammillaria nivosa – Woolly Nipple Cactus Mammillaria nunezii Mammillaria obconella Mammillaria painteri Mammillaria parkinsonii – Owl's Eyes Mammillaria plumosa Mammillaria pectinifera – Conchilinque Mammillaria pennispinosa Mammillaria perbella Mammillaria perezdelarosae Mammillaria petrophila Mammillaria petterssonii Mammillaria plumosa – Feather Cactus Mammillaria polythele Mammillaria vetula Mammillaria pondii Mammillaria poselgeri Mammillaria pottsii – Rattail Cactus Mammillaria prolifera – Texas Nipple Cactus Mammillaria rekoi Mammillaria rettigiana Mammillaria rhodantha – Rainbow Pincushion Mammillaria saboae Mammillaria sanchez-mejoradae Mammillaria sartorii Mammillaria schiedeana Mammillaria schumannii Mammillaria schwarzii Mammillaria sempervivi Mammillaria senilis - a.k.a. Cochemia senilis, a.k.a. Mamillopsis senilis, a.k.a. Mamillopsis diguetii, a.k.a. Mammillaria diguetii Mammillaria sheldonii Mammillaria sheldonii – Sheldon's Pincushion Mammillaria sonorensis Mammillaria spinosissima – Red-headed Irishman Mammillaria spinosissima ssp. pilcayensis – Bristle Brush Cactus Mammillaria standleyi Mammillaria stella-de-tacubaya Mammillaria supertexta Mammillaria surculosa Mammillaria tetrancistra Mammillaria tetrancistra – California Pincushion Mammillaria theresae Mammillaria thornberi – Clustered Fishhook Pincushion Mammillaria uncinata Mammillaria vetula Mammillaria voburnensis Mammillaria weingartiana Mammillaria wiesingeri Mammillaria winterae Mammillaria wrightii – Brown Pincushion Mammillaria wrightii ssp. wilcoxii – Wilcox's Nipple Cactus Mammillaria zeilmanniana

References

Mammillaria elongata

1. "Notes for the Genus: Mammillaria".
2. Anderson, Miles (2008). The Complete Illustrated Guide to Growing Cacti & Succulents. London: Lorenz Books. p. 84. ISBN 9780754818427.

Further reading

• Anderson, Edward F. (1991): The Cactus Family
• Butterworth, Charles A. & Wallace, Robert S. (2004): Phylogenetic studies of Mammillaria (Cactaceae) - insights from chloroplast sequence variation and hypothesis testing using the parametric bootstrap. Am. J. Bot. 91(7): 1086-1098. PDF fulltext Supplementary data

External links

• cactiguide.com is the main source for the species list, and in turn sourced from several books which are listed on that site.
• mammillarias.net is the main up-to-date internet resource, with complete species and varieties description, distribution maps and a large selection of photographs of all Mammillaria species both in nature and cultivated.
• SucculentCity Mammillaria Page: Cultivation Data and Photographs