| Astrophytum asterias | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Cactaceae |
| Subfamily: | Cactoideae |
| Genus: | Astrophytum |
| Species: | A. asterias |
| Binomial name | |
| Astrophytum asterias | |
Astrophytum asterias is a species of cactus in the genus Astrophytum , and is native to small parts of Texas in the United States and Mexico. Common names include sand dollar cactus, sea urchin cactus, star cactus and star peyote.
A. asterias (also known as the Star Cactus) is small, round, spineless and squat, reaching a height of 2.5–6 cm (0.98–2.36 in) and a diameter of 5–15 cm (2.0–5.9 in). [4] The disc-shaped body is divided into 7–10 sections, known as ribs; in the middle of each rib there are woolly areoles. [5] The body is a greenish-brown colour and may appear speckled from its covering of white scales (trichomes). [6] The flowers of this cactus are yellow with red bases and the outer parts are very woolly. [5] Green to pink oval fruits are produced; the outside coat is covered with woolly hairs.
Reproduction takes place via sexual outcrossing through cross-pollination; star cacti reach sexual maturity after a few years, when they have attained 2–3 centimetres (0.79–1.18 in) in diameter. [5] Flowers are produced from March to June (the summer season in its native habitat) and fruiting occurs from April to June. The primary pollinators of A. asterias are medium to large size bees with one species, Diadasia rinconis being the most effective. [7]
The plant also bears a superficially close resemblance to the unrelated Euphorbia obesa , which actually is not a cactus; simply put, all cactus are a succulent, and by their very nature they, themselves, are succulent (I.e., storing water for future droughts). But not every succulent is going to be a cactus.
Another key difference between cacti and Euphorbiaceae is origin and wild distribution. Cacti, including Astrophytum, are predominately found on the American continents, with a great variety in South America and Mexico. Though they are diverse, and widespread globally, the majority of Euphorbia succulents are found in Africa, the Middle East, and India. Furthermore, all members of Euphorbiaceae produce a potentially irritating, caustic latex sap that can cause blindness if eye contact is made. Cacti, by comparison, are mostly non-toxic, with many well-known species producing edible fruits (such as prickly pear, dragonfruit, or epiphyllum), eaten by humans and animals alike. One of the very few commercially viable Euphorbias, for humans, would be the poinsettias that are sold each year in November and December.
Star cactus is native to the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas in the United States [6] [8] and the states of Nuevo León and Tamaulipas in Mexico, [3] to the east of the Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range. [5]
Previously more abundant, this species is today restricted to a small portion of Starr County, Texas, [9] [10] and a few localized sites in Tamaulipas. [11] Today this species is associated with thorn scrub, amongst rocky ground; it may have previously occupied richer, flat grasslands that have since been developed. [5] It has probably been extirpated from Nuevo León. [10]
Sand Dollar Cactus has been grown as a houseplant [12] since the 1840s, [5] like other members of its genus and despite its rarity in the wild. It is readily propagated from seed, [5] so most plants encountered in nurseries are seed grown. The popularity of this species among collectors and enthusiasts has ensured that a number of cultivars are available. One such cultivar is the 'Super Kabuto', a clonally propagated variety whose large trichomes congregate into dense spots, arranged in a striking pattern.
As with certain other slowly maturing cacti, A. asterias is listed as endangered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, [6] vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List, [1] and critically imperiled by The Nature Conservancy. [10] It is listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), [13] meaning that commercial international trade in wild-collected specimens is prohibited. [13] Despite this protection, illegal collection continues to threaten the future of this species. [6] and its decline in the wild has been largely attributed to over-collection and poaching. It is sometimes accidentally harvested due to its similarity to the closely related and coexisting peyote (Lophophora williamsii). [14] Other contributing factors are thought to be urban development and herbicides. Habitat destruction has been, and remains, the major cause of the decline in this species; vast areas have been converted to agricultural use and road construction. [9] In Texas, mechanical and chemical bush clearing techniques together with the introduction of invasive grasses have had devastating effects. [9]
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service have drafted a Recovery Plan in an attempt to secure the future of this species. [9] The Recovery Plan highlights the need to protect existing populations, carry out research into possible new populations and to develop a formal conservation agreement between the United States and Mexico. [9]
A cactus is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word cactus derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek word κάκτος (káktos), a name originally used by Theophrastus for a spiny plant whose identity is now not certain. Cacti occur in a wide range of shapes and sizes. They are native to the Americas, ranging from Patagonia in the south to parts of western Canada in the north, with the exception of Rhipsalis baccifera, which is also found in Africa and Sri Lanka. Cacti are adapted to live in very dry environments, including the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth. Because of this, cacti show many adaptations to conserve water. For example, almost all cacti are succulents, meaning they have thickened, fleshy parts adapted to store water. Unlike many other succulents, the stem is the only part of most cacti where this vital process takes place. Most species of cacti have lost true leaves, retaining only spines, which are highly modified leaves. As well as defending against herbivores, spines help prevent water loss by reducing air flow close to the cactus and providing some shade. In the absence of true leaves, cacti's enlarged stems carry out photosynthesis.
Euphorbia is a very large and diverse genus of flowering plants, commonly called spurge, in the family Euphorbiaceae. "Euphorbia" is sometimes used in ordinary English to collectively refer to all members of Euphorbiaceae, not just to members of the genus.
Echinocactus is a genus of cacti in the subfamily Cactoideae. The generic name derives from the Ancient Greek εχινος (echinos), meaning "spiny," and cactus. It and Ferocactus are the two genera of barrel cactus. Members of the genus usually have heavy spination and relatively small flowers. The fruits are copiously woolly, and this is one major distinction between Echinocactus and Ferocactus. Propagation is by seed.
Echinocereus is a genus of ribbed, usually small to medium-sized, cylindrical shaped cacti, comprising about 70 species native to the southern United States and Mexico in very sunny, rocky places. Usually the flowers are large and the fruit edible.
Astrophytum myriostigma, the bishop's cap cactus, bishop's hat or bishop's miter cactus, is a species of cactus native to the highlands of northeastern and central Mexico.
Ariocarpus is a small genus of succulent, subtropical plants of the family Cactaceae.
Obregonia, the artichoke cactus, is a monotypic genus of cacti, containing the species Obregonia denegrii. The species is endemic to the state of Tamaulipas in Mexico.
Pelecyphora is a genus of cacti, comprising 2 species. They originate from Mexico.
Lophophine is a putative psychedelic and entactogen drug of the methylenedioxyphenethylamine class. It is the α-demethylated homologue of MMDA, and is also closely related to mescaline.
Ariocarpus fissuratus is a species of cactus found in small numbers in northern Mexico and Texas in the United States. Common names include living rock cactus, false peyote, chautle, dry whiskey and star cactus.
The Tamaulipan mezquital is a deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregion in the Southern United States and northeastern Mexico. It covers an area of 141,500 km2 (54,600 sq mi), encompassing a portion of the Gulf Coastal Plain in southern Texas, northern Tamaulipas, northeastern Coahuila, and part of Nuevo León.
The Desert Garden Conservatory is a large botanical greenhouse and part of the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, in San Marino, California. It was constructed in 1985. The Desert Garden Conservatory is adjacent to the 10-acre (40,000 m2) Huntington Desert Garden itself. The garden houses one of the most important collections of cacti and other succulent plants in the world, including a large number of rare and endangered species. The 3,000-square-foot (280 m2) Desert Garden Conservatory serves The Huntington and public communities as a conservation facility, research resource and genetic diversity preserve. John N. Trager is the Desert Collection curator.
Lophophora is a genus of spineless, button-like cacti. Its area range covers southern through northeastern and north-central Mexico to Querétaro in central Mexico. The species are extremely slow growing, sometimes taking up to thirty years to reach flowering age in the wild. Cultivated specimens grow considerably faster, usually taking between three and ten years to reach from seedling to mature flowering adult. The slow rate of reproduction and over-harvesting by collectors render the species under threat in the wild.
Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of the type genus of the family. Most spurges, such as Euphorbia paralias, are herbs, but some, especially in the tropics, are shrubs or trees, such as Hevea brasiliensis. Some, such as Euphorbia canariensis, are succulent and resemble cacti because of convergent evolution. This family has a cosmopolitan global distribution. The greatest diversity of species is in the tropics; however, the Euphorbiaceae also have many species in nontropical areas of all continents except Antarctica.
The peyote is a small, spineless cactus which contains psychoactive alkaloids, particularly mescaline. Peyote is a Spanish word derived from the Nahuatl peyōtl, meaning "caterpillar cocoon", from a root peyōni, "to glisten". Peyote is native to Mexico and southwestern Texas. It is found primarily in the Sierra Madre Occidental, the Chihuahuan Desert and in the states of Nayarit, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, and San Luis Potosí among scrub. It flowers from March to May, and sometimes as late as September. The flowers are pink, with thigmotactic anthers.
Euphorbia obesa is a subtropical succulent species of flowering plant in the genus Euphorbia. It comes from South Africa, especially the Cape Province. Sometimes referred to as the baseball plant.
Aztekium ritteri is a species of cactus native to the Mexican state of Nuevo León.
The Huntington Desert Garden is part of The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California. The Desert Garden is one of the world's largest and oldest collections of cacti, succulents and other desert plants, collected from throughout the world. It contains plants from extreme environments, many of which were acquired by Henry E. Huntington and William Hertrich in trips taken to several countries in North, Central and South America. One of the Huntington's most botanically important gardens, the Desert Garden brought together a group of plants largely unknown and unappreciated in the beginning of the 1900s. Containing a broad category of xerophytes, the Desert Garden grew to preeminence and remains today among the world's finest, with more than 5,000 species in the 10 acre garden.
Many cacti are known to be psychoactive, containing phenethylamine alkaloids such as mescaline. However, the two main ritualistic (folkloric) genera are Echinopsis, of which the most psychoactive species occur in the San Pedro cactus group, and Lophophora, with peyote being the most psychoactive species. Several other species pertaining to other genera are also psychoactive, though not always used with a ritualistic intent.
Anna Buck Nickels was an American cactus collector and florist. She was for many years one of the most important collectors, cultivators, and popularizers of the cactus of Mexico and southern Texas. The standard author abbreviation A.B.Nickels is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.
This article incorporates text from the ARKive fact-file "Astrophytum asterias" under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License and the GFDL .
