# Coryphantha

Coryphantha (from Greek, "flowering on the top"), or beehive cactus, is a genus of small to middle-sized, globose or columnar cacti. The genus is native to arid parts of Central America, Mexico, through Arizona, New Mexico, and western Texas and north into southwestern, central, and southeastern Montana. With its two subgenera, 57 species and 20 subspecies, it is one of the largest genera of cactus.

## Description

There are four characteristics that distinguish Coryphantha from other cacti.
* Their bodies do not have ribs, just tubercles.
* The flowers form at the top of the plant (the apex or growing end of the stem).
* The tip (podarium) of each flowering tubercle has three parts, the spiny areole, the groove and the axil. Without the groove it is not a Coryphantha.
* The seed coat (or testa) has a net-like pattern (reticulate).
More than many other cacti, the Coryphantha change in their appearance over their lifespan. The presence or absence of a central spine is not indicative of the genus, even in fully adult plants.

### Name

The name Coryphantha was first applied by George Engelmann in 1856 as a subgenus, the earlier name Aulacothele of Lemaire having been abandoned. In 1868 Lemaire promoted the group to genus level. Before this all Coryphantha had been classified as Mammillaria.

## Species

| Scientific name | Subspecies | Distribution |
| Coryphantha clavata (Scheidw.) Backeb. | Coryphantha clavata subsp. clavata Coryphantha clavata subsp. stipitata (Scheidw.) Dicht & A.Lüthy | Mexico |
| Coryphantha compacta (Engelm.) Orcutt | | Mexico (to Sonora) |
| Coryphantha cornifera (DC.) Lem. | | Mexico |
| Coryphantha delaetiana (Quehl) A.Berger | | Mexico. |
| Coryphantha delicata L.Bremer | | Mexico. |
| Coryphantha difficilis (Quehl) Orcutt | | Mexico (Coahuila, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí) |
| Coryphantha durangensis (Runge ex K.Schum.) Britton & Rose | Coryphantha durangensis subsp. cuencamensis (L.Bremer) Dicht & A.Lüthy Coryphantha durangensis subsp. durangensis | Mexico (Durango, Coahuila). |
| Coryphantha echinoidea (Quehl) Britton & Rose | | Mexico |
| Coryphantha echinus (Engelm.) Britton & Rose | | Central Texas to NE. Mexico |
| Coryphantha elephantidens (Lem.) Lem. | Coryphantha elephantidens subsp. bumamma (Ehrenb.) Dicht & A.Lüthy Coryphantha elephantidens subsp. elephantidens Coryphantha elephantidens subsp. greenwoodii (Bravo) Dicht & A.Lüthy | Mexico. |
| Coryphantha erecta (Lem. ex Pfeiff.) Lem. | | Mexico (to Veracruz) |
| Coryphantha georgii Boed. | | Mexico. |
| Coryphantha glanduligera (Otto & A.Dietr.) Lem. | | Mexico (to Jalisco). |
| Coryphantha glassii Dicht & A.Lüthy | | Mexico (Guanajuato, San Luis Potosí). |
| Coryphantha gracilis Bremer & A.B.Lau | | Mexico (Chihuahua). |
| Coryphantha hintoniorum Dicht & A.Lüthy | Coryphantha hintoniorum subsp. geoffreyi Dicht & A.Lüthy Coryphantha hintoniorum subsp. hintoniorum | Mexico (Coahuila, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí) |
| Coryphantha jalpanensis Buchenau | | Mexico (Querétaro to Hidalgo) |
| Coryphantha kracikii Halda, Chalupa & Kupčák | | Mexico (Durango) |
| Coryphantha longicornis Boed. | | Mexico (Coahuila, Chihuahua, Durango) |
| Coryphantha maiz-tablasensis Fritz Schwarz ex Backeb. | | Mexico (to Jalisco) |
| Coryphantha neglecta L.Bremer | | Mexico (Coahuila, Nuevo León). |
| Coryphantha nickelsiae (K.Brandegee) Britton & Rose | | Texas to Mexico (Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Nuevo León) |
| Coryphantha octacantha (DC.) Britton & Rose | | Mexico (to Jalisco). |
| Coryphantha ottonis (Pfeiff.) Lem. | | Mexico. |
| Coryphantha pallida Britton & Rose | Coryphantha pallida subsp. calipensis (Bravo ex S.Arias, Gama & U.Guzmán) Dicht & A.Lüthy Coryphantha pallida subsp. pallida Coryphantha pallida subsp. pseudoradians (Bravo) U.Guzmán & Vázq.-Ben. | Mexico (Veracruz, Puebla, Oaxaca) |
| Coryphantha poselgeriana (A.Dietr.) Britton & Rose | | Mexico. |
| Coryphantha potosiana (Jacobi) Glass & R.A.Foster | | Mexico (Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas) |
| Coryphantha pseudoechinus Boed. | Coryphantha pseudoechinus subsp. laui (L.Bremer) Dicht & A.Lüthy Coryphantha pseudoechinus subsp. pseudoechinus | Mexico. |
| Coryphantha pseudonickelsiae Backeb. | | Mexico (Durango, Chihuahua, Coahuila) |
| Coryphantha pulleineana (Backeb.) Glass | | Mexico (Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí) |
| Coryphantha pycnacantha (Mart.) Lem. | | Mexico. |
| Coryphantha ramillosa Cutak | Coryphantha ramillosa subsp. ramillosa Coryphantha ramillosa subsp. santarosa Dicht & A.Lüthy | SW. Texas to NE. Mexico |
| Coryphantha recurvata (Engelm.) Britton & Rose | Coryphantha recurvata subsp. canatlanensis Dicht & A.Lüthy Coryphantha recurvata subsp. recurvata | Arizona to Mexico (Sonora) |
| Coryphantha retusa (Pfeiff.) Britton & Rose | | Mexico (Puebla, Oaxaca) |
| Coryphantha robustispina (Schott ex Engelm.) Britton & Rose | Coryphantha robustispina subsp. robustispina Coryphantha robustispina subsp. scheeri (Lem.) N.P.Taylor | Arizona to SW. New Mexico and Mexico (Sonora) |
| Coryphantha salinensis (Poselg.) Dicht & A.Lüthy | | . Mexico |
| Coryphantha sulcata (Engelm.) Britton & Rose | | Texas to Mexico (Coahuila, Tamualipas, Nuevo León) |
| Coryphantha tripugionacantha A.B.Lau | | Mexico (Zacatecas, Jalisco) |
| Coryphantha vaupeliana Boed. | | Mexico (Tamaulipas, Durango, Zacatecas) |
| Coryphantha vogtherriana Werderm. & Boed. | | Mexico (Jalisco to San Luis Potosí) |
| Coryphantha werdermannii Boed. | | Mexico (Coahuila, Chihuahua, Durango) |
| Coryphantha wohlschlageri Holzeis | | Mexico (Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí) |

## Synonymy

The genus has two valid synonyms:
* Cumarinia Buxb. and
* Lepidocoryphantha Backeb.
and three invalid ones:
* Aulacothele Monv. (nom. inval.)
* Glandulifera (Salm-Dyck) Fric (nom. inval.)
* Roseia Fric (nom. inval.)

## Related genera

A number of Coryphantha have previously been classified in other genera, indeed the type species C. sulcata was originally named Mammillaria sulcata Other examples include Echinocactus salinensis Poselger 1853 now Coryphantha salinensis (Poselger) Dicht and A.Lüthy 1998 and Neolloydia pulleineana Blackberg 1948 now Coryphantha pulleineana (Blackberg) Glass 1968.
Similarly, a number of other species have been previously classified as Coryphantha. For example, Escobaria vivipara was called Coryphantha vivipara.

## Gallery

* Coryphantha delicata
* Coryphantha cornifera
* Coryphantha delicata
* Coryphantha pycnacantha