# Pelecyphora

Pelecyphora, pincushion cactus or foxtail cactus is a genus of cacti, comprising 20 species. They originate from Mexico and the United States.
Common species include the Missouri foxtail cactus P. missouriensis, widespread in grassland and forest west of the Mississippi, and the spinystar P. vivipara, distributed across the US and into Canada, first described by Nuttall in 1813.

## Description

Pelecyphores are spherical to club-shaped stem succulents up to 6 cm (2.4 in) in diameter and gray-green in color. They branch only sparsely and only at an older age. The areoles standing on the longitudinally or transversely flattened warts have thorns in a pectinate (comb-shaped) arrangement. As we age, the thorns, then the areoles and finally the warts fall off. Between the warts, the plant bodies are initially dense and short-haired, so that the apexes are hidden.
The flowers arise individually from short furrows on the upper surfaces of the youngest areoles. They are bright purple and about 3 cm (1.2 in) long. The greenish fruits that form after the flowers are fertilized dry out when ripe and release the black seeds into the crown wool, from which they are only washed out (in nature) after a long time.

## Taxonomy

Species accepted As of November 2023 by Plants of the World Online with sections from Nigel Paul Taylor from 1986:
| Section | Group | Scientific name | Subspecies | Distribution |
| Pelecyphora | | Pelecyphora aselliformis C.Ehrenb. | | San Luis Potosi, Mexico |
| Pelecyphora | | Pelecyphora strobiliformis (Werderm.) Frič & Schelle ex Kreutz | | Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas states in Mexico |
| Pleurantha N.P.Taylor | | Pelecyphora chihuahuensis (Britton & Rose) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez | Pelecyphora chihuahuensis subsp. chihuahuensis Pelecyphora chihuahuensis subsp. henricksonii (Glass & R.A.Foster) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez | Mexico |
| Pleurantha N.P.Taylor | | Pelecyphora tuberculosa (Engelm.) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez | | New Mexico, Mexico |
| Escobaria Britton & Rose | Sneedii Group | Pelecyphora laredoi (Glass & R.A.Foster) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez | | Coahuila de Zaragoza - Mexico |
| Escobaria Britton & Rose | Sneedii Group | Pelecyphora sneedii (Britton & Rose) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez | Pelecyphora sneedii subsp. sneedii Pelecyphora sneedii subsp. orcuttii (Boed.) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez | Mexico (Chihuahua), United States (Arizona, New Mexico, Texas) |
| Escobaria Britton & Rose | Vivipara Group | Pelecyphora alversonii (J.M.Coult.) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez | | Arizona, California |
| Escobaria Britton & Rose | Vivipara Group | Pelecyphora hesteri (Y.Wright) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez | Pelecyphora hesteri subsp. grata (M.Kaplan, Kunte & Šnicer) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez Pelecyphora hesteri subsp. hesteri | Texas |
| Escobaria Britton & Rose | Vivipara Group | Pelecyphora vivipara (Nutt.) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez | | Canada (Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan ), Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Sonora), United States (Arizona, California, Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wyoming) |
| Neobesseya (Britton & Rose) N.P.Taylor | | Pelecyphora abdita (Řepka & Vaško) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez | Pelecyphora abdita subsp. abdita Pelecyphora abdita subsp. tenuispina (Perez Badillo, Delladdio & Raya Sanchez) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez | Mexico (Coahuila) |
| Neobesseya (Britton & Rose) N.P.Taylor | | Pelecyphora emskoetteriana (Quehl) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez | | Mexico (Coahuila de Zaragoza, Tamaulipas ), United States (Texas) |
| Neobesseya (Britton & Rose) N.P.Taylor | Dasyacantha Group | Pelecyphora dasyacantha (Engelm.) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez | Pelecyphora dasyacantha subsp. dasyacantha Pelecyphora dasyacantha subsp. chaffeyi (Britton & Rose) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez | Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Zacatecas), USA (Texas, New Mexico) |
| Neobesseya (Britton & Rose) N.P.Taylor | Dasyacantha Group | Pelecyphora duncanii (Hester) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez | | New Mexico, Texas |
| Neobesseya (Britton & Rose) N.P.Taylor | Dasyacantha Group | Pelecyphora lloydii (Britton & Rose) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez | | Mexico (Zacatecas) |
| Neobesseya (Britton & Rose) N.P.Taylor | Dasyacantha Group | Pelecyphora minima (Baird) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez | | Texas |
| Neobesseya (Britton & Rose) N.P.Taylor | Dasyacantha Group | Pelecyphora robbinsiorum (W.H.Earle) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez | | Arizona |
| Neobesseya (Britton & Rose) N.P.Taylor | Missouriensis Group | Pelecyphora cubensis (Britton & Rose) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez | | Cuba |
| Neobesseya (Britton & Rose) N.P.Taylor | Missouriensis Group | Pelecyphora macromeris (Engelm.) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez | Pelecyphora macromeris subsp. macromeris Pelecyphora macromeris subsp. runyonii (Britton & Rose) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez | S. New Mexico to W. Texas and NE. Mexico. |
| Neobesseya (Britton & Rose) N.P.Taylor | Missouriensis Group | Pelecyphora missouriensis (Sweet) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez | Pelecyphora missouriensis subsp. missouriensis Pelecyphora missouriensis subsp. asperispina (Boed.) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez | USA ( Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, New Mexico, North Dakota), Mexico (Coahuila de Zaragoza, Nuevo Leon) |
| Neobesseya (Britton & Rose) N.P.Taylor | Missouriensis Group | Pelecyphora zilziana (Boed.) D.Aquino & Dan.Sánchez | | Mexico (Coahuila de Zaragoza) |

## Synonymy

At genus level
* The genus Encephalocarpus A.Berger has been brought into synonymy with Pelecyphora.
At species level
The following are synonyms of species now placed outside of Pelecyphora:
* Pelecyphora aselliformis var. pectinata (= Mammillaria pectinifera)
* Pelecyphora pectinata (= Mammillaria pectinifera)
* Pelecyphora pseudopectinata (= Turbinicarpus pseudopectinatus)
* Pelecyphora valdeziana (= Turbinicarpus valdezianus)
* Pelecyphora plumosa (= Turbinicarpus valdezianus)
* Pelecyphora pulcherrima (= Turbinicarpus pseudopectinatus)

## Psychoactivity

* Pelecyphora aselliformis: Mescaline (Less than 0.00002% in dry weight) Neal et al. 1972

## Conservation status

Both P. aselliformis and P. strobiliformis are classified as being of Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, however both species are contained in Appendix 1 of CITES species (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) as at June 2013.