Escobaria vivipara


Escobaria 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. This is a small cactus growing to a maximum height of about, often remaining smaller and oblong or spherical. It is densely covered in a mat of star-shaped arrays of straight white spines long. It flowers in yellow, pink, or purple blooms across.
Varieties include:
While the species presently has a broad range across the western part of North America, its distribution in the early Holocene era is known to have been a different one. From pollen core data, a portion of the prehistoric distribution of this species has been mapped; for example in the Late Wisconsin period, Escobaria vivipara occurred in the Waterman Mountains of northern Arizona,, although the species does not occur in this location in the present time.