Pediocactus bradyi

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Pediocactus bradyi
Pediocactus bradyi fh 055 AZ in cultur B.jpg
CITES Appendix I (CITES) [2]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Cactaceae
Subfamily: Cactoideae
Genus: Pediocactus
Species:
P. bradyi
Binomial name
Pediocactus bradyi
Synonyms
  • Pediocactus simpsonii subsp. bradyi(L.D.Benson) Halda 1998
  • Puebloa bradyi(L.D.Benson) Doweld 1999
  • Toumeya bradyi(L.D.Benson) Earle 1963

Pediocactus bradyi is a very rare species of cactus known by the common names Brady's pincushion cactus, Brady's hedgehog cactus, and Marble Canyon cactus. It is endemic to Arizona in the US, where it is restricted to Marble Canyon in Coconino County, though its exact distribution is not generally advertised due to poaching concerns. [3] [4] [5] It is limited to a specific type of soil, it has a small distribution, and the species is threatened by a number of human activities. [3] This has been a federally listed endangered species of the United States since 1979. [5]

Contents

Description

This cactus is globose, tubercular, and usually solitary. It is up to about 6 centimeters tall by 5 wide. Each areole has some wool and several slightly curved yellowish to white spines up to half a centimeter long. There are occasionally one or two central spines which are darker in color. The cactus flowers in the early spring. The flower is up to roughly 2 centimeters long by 3 wide and has red or green-striped yellowish outer tepals and straw-colored inner tepals. The fruit is green ripening red-brown and about a centimeter long. [6] The cactus shrinks and retracts under the ground during the dry season, making it very hard to find. [5] The related cacti Pediocactus bradyi subsp. winkleri and Pediocactus bradyi subsp. despainii are included as subspecies. [7]

Subspecies

ImageSubspeciesDistribution
Pediocactus bradyi fh 055 AZ B.jpg Pediocactus bradyi subsp. bradyiN. Arizona.
Pediocactus bradyi ssp despainii fh 0100 0 UT in cultur Sammlung F Hochstaetter B.jpg Pediocactus bradyi subsp. despainii (S.L.Welsh & Goodrich) HochstätterUtah
Winkler pincushion cactus (Pediocactus winkleri) (6803598461).jpg Pediocactus bradyi subsp. winkleri (K.D.Heil) Hochstätter ex D.R.HuntUtah

Distribution and habitat

Pediocactus bradyi is native to Coconino County, Arizona, where it thrives on level hills adorned with limestone gravel at altitudes ranging from 900 to 1300 meters. The cactus grows on sandstone and shale land originating from the Moenkopi Formation, a geologic formation. [3] This rock is covered in chips and gravel of Kaibab limestone, forming the plant's substrate. [3] It is not found in any other soil types. [5] It grows alongside plants such as shadscale (Atriplex confertifolia), snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae), and Mormon tea (Ephedra viridis). [3] This plant is commonly found in the company of Sclerocactus parviflorus, Navajoa peeblesiana subsp. fickeiseniorum, Echinocactus polycephalus var. xeranthemoides, Echinocereus engelmannii var. variegatus, Opuntia nicholii, Opuntia basilaris, and various Yucca species. [8]

This plant was listed as an endangered species because of many threats, including highway construction and maintenance, off-road vehicle use, cattle grazing, and poaching. Natural threats to the species include frost heaving. The small population size limited in distribution makes it vulnerable to extinction. [5] It is also vulnerable to the effects of climate change, especially increased droughts. [9]

Related Research Articles

<i>Yucca baccata</i> Yucca with banana-shaped fruit

Yucca baccata is a common species of yucca native to the deserts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, from southeastern California north to Utah, east to western Texas and south to Sonora and Chihuahua. It is also reported in the wild in Colombia.

<i>Pediocactus</i> Genus of cacti

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

<i>Pediocactus bradyi subsp. winkleri</i> Species of cactus

Pediocactus bradyi subsp. winkleri, commonly known as Winkler's cactus or Winkler's pincushion cactus, is a small cactus endemic to the state of Utah in the United States. It is known only from Emery and Wayne Counties.

<i>Kadenicarpus horripilus</i> Species of cactus

Kadenicarpus horripilus is a species of plant in the family Cactaceae.

<i>Rapicactus mandragora</i> Species of cactus

Rapicactus mandragora, synonym Turbinicarpus mandragora, is a species of plant in the family Cactaceae.

<i>Pelecyphora vivipara</i> Species of cactus

Pelecyphora vivipara is a species of cactus known by several common names, including spinystar, viviparous foxtail cactus, pincushion cactus and ball cactus. It is native to North America, where certain varieties can be found from Mexico to Canada. Most of these varieties are limited to the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts. The species epithet "vivipara" is due to the species' viviparous reproductive habit.

<i>Opuntia basilaris</i> Species of cactus

Opuntia basilaris, the beavertail cactus or beavertail pricklypear, is a cactus species found in the southwest United States. It occurs mostly in the Mojave, Anza-Borrego, and Colorado Deserts, as well as in the Colorado Plateau and northwest Mexico. It is also found throughout the Grand Canyon and Colorado River region as well as into southern Utah and Nevada, and in the western Arizona regions along the Lower Colorado River Valley.

<i>Cylindropuntia echinocarpa</i> Species of cactus

Cylindropuntia echinocarpa is a species of cactus known by the common names silver cholla, golden cholla, and Wiggins' cholla. It was formerly named Opuntia echinocarpa.

<i>Sclerocactus brevihamatus</i> Species of cactus

Sclerocactus brevihamatus is a species of cactus known by the common name shorthook fishhook cactus.

<i>Pelecyphora sneedii</i> Species of cactus

Pelecyphora sneedii is a rare species of cactus known by the common names Sneed's pincushion cactus and carpet foxtail cactus.

<i>Echinocereus viridiflorus</i> Species of cactus

Echinocereus viridiflorus is a species of cactus known by the common names nylon hedgehog cactus, green pitaya, and small-flowered hedgehog cactus. It is native to the central and south-central United States and northern Mexico, where it can be found in varied habitat types, including desert scrub, woodlands, dry grasslands, and short-grass prairie.

<i>Pediocactus sileri</i> Species of cactus

Pediocactus sileri is a rare species of cactus known by the common names Siler's pincushion cactus and gypsum cactus. It is native to southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona in the United States. It is limited to a specific type of soil, individuals are often spaced far apart, and the species is threatened by a number of human activities such as off-road vehicle use, poaching, and uranium mining. This is a federally listed threatened species of the United States.

<i>Pediocactus bradyi subsp. despainii</i> Species of cactus

Pediocactus despainii is a rare species of cactus known by the common names Despain's cactus and San Rafael cactus.

<i>Pediocactus peeblesianus</i> Species of cactus

Pediocactus peeblesianus is a rare species of cactus known by the common names Navajo pincushion cactus. It is endemic to the state of Arizona in the United States. The species is named after the Arizona botanist Robert Hibbs Peebles.

<i>Sclerocactus brevispinus</i> Species of cactus

Sclerocactus brevispinus is a rare species of cactus known by the common name Pariette cactus. It is endemic to Utah in the United States, where it is known only from the Pariette Draw, a draw in Duchesne County. It is threatened by a number of processes and human activities.

<i>Sclerocactus glaucus</i> Species of cactus

Sclerocactus glaucus is a rare species of cactus known by the common name Colorado hookless cactus. It is endemic to Colorado in the United States, where it is known only from the area between Grand Junction and Montrose. It is a federally listed threatened species.

<i>Consolea corallicola</i> Species of cactus

Consolea corallicola is a species of cactus known by the common names Florida semaphore cactus and semaphore pricklypear. It is endemic to Florida in the United States, where it is limited to the Florida Keys.

<i>Sclerocactus sileri</i> Species of cactus

Sclerocactus sileri, the Siler fishhook cactus, is a rare and very small cactus found mostly in mineral-rich desert areas of intermediate elevations, notably in the American states of Utah, Nevada, and northern Arizona.

<i>Pediocactus simpsonii</i> Species of flowering plant in the family

Pediocactus simpsonii, known by the common names mountain cactus, snowball cactus, and mountain ball cactus is a species of Cactus. It the most commonly found species in the small Pediocactus genus and is noted as being one of the most cold hardy of the cactuses and grows at a higher elevation than any other North American species of cactus. It is somewhat often grown in gardens, and collection of plants from the wild threatens this species in some areas.

<i>Pediocactus paradinei</i>

Pediocactus paradinei, also known as bristly plains cactus, Houserock Valley cactus, Kaibab pincushion cactus, Paradine cactus, and Park pincushion cactus is a rare species of cactus found in Arizona.

References

  1. "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010-05-11. Retrieved 2023-12-16.
  2. "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Pediocactus bradyi. The Nature Conservancy.
  4. C.Michael Hogan. 2011. Cactus. Topic ed. Arthur Dawson. Ed.-in-chief Cutler J.Cleveland. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and the Environment. Washington DC
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 USFWS. Determination that Pediocactus bradyi is an Endangered Species. Federal Register October 26, 1979.
  6. Pediocactus bradyi. Flora of North America.
  7. "Pediocactus bradyi L.D.Benson". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
  8. Hochstätter, Fritz (2005). Tribe Cacteae, Family Cactaceae: The genera Pediocactus Navajoa Toumeya. Mannheim: Fritz Hochstätter. ISBN   978-3-00-021244-4.
  9. Shryock, Daniel F.; Esque, Todd C.; Hughes, Lee (2014). "Population viability of Pediocactus bradyi (Cactaceae) in a changing climate". American Journal of Botany. 101 (11): 1944–1953. doi: 10.3732/ajb.1400035 . ISSN   1537-2197. PMID   25366859.