Pediocactus nigrispinus is a species in the cactus family with the common names snowball cactus, Columbia Plateau cactus, and basalt cactus. It is found in dry areas in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Proposals have tried to make it the Official State Cactus for Washington State.
Initially spherical, the plant transforms into an egg-shaped configuration as it matures into a densely spiny (often flattened) ovoid form. It grows to 25 centimetres (10in) tall[2] and from 5 to 15cm (2 to 6in) wide. It usually develops into a cluster of ribbed stems, which are 7.5–12.5cm (3–5in) wide[2] and green to grayish-blue.
There is a characteristic dense arrangement of 4 to 11 large central spines, measuring 1.5 to 2.5cm (1⁄2 to 1in) long and yellowish to reddish-brown.[2] There are 15–35 smaller, whitish spines up to 1.5 cm long.[2]
The showy pink to magenta flowers appear in the spring and form a cluster near the apex of each stem.[3][4]
Taxonomy
It was described in 1992 by Fritz Hochstätter, who named it after its black spines.
Distribution and habitat
The Columbia Plateau cactus grows in big sagebrush and lower montane dry habitats in eastern Washington and Oregon and extending into Idaho in dry regions, steppes and semi-deserts on hills or rocky outcrops at altitudes between 260 and 1,200 metres (850 and 3,940ft).[3][1][5] It grows in scattered locations but is often locally abundant.[5] Other plants in the habitat include Opuntia polyacantha and O.fragilis.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
