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Escobaria minima
Also called Nellie cory cactus, Birdfoot cactus, Nellie's pincushion cactus, Small Coryphantha
Pelecyphora minima (syn. Coryphantha minima, Escobaria minima) is a rare species of cactus known by the common names Nellie cory cactus, Nellie's pincushion cactus, birdfoot cactus, and others. It is a very popular species among cactus collectors. This is one reason why it is a highly endangered species in the wild today. This cactus is found only in Brewster County, Texas, in the United States, where there are three populations remaining near Marathon. The cactus is limited to one outcrop in the Marathon Uplift, where it grows in rocky novaculite soils. It was added to the endangered species list in 1979.
This cactus is tiny, interesting, and attractive, and it is a favorite of cactus hobbyists. Collectors have long visited the small patch of land where the cactus occurs. Much of this land is privately owned and not open to surveys or visitors, and the exact abundance of the cactus is not known. The cactus was once found on a ranch in the area, but the owner of the ranch allowed cactus collectors to scour the land for specimens and this species was extirpated from the site. It has also been eliminated from easy-to-reach highway margins where it used to grow.
The plant is propagated by growers today.
The cactus' natural habitat is the Chihuahuan desert scrub, where it grows in mats of Selaginella in rock crevices. It occurs in association with Echinocereus viridiflorus var. davisii, another cactus variety on the endangered species list.
Pelecyphora duncanii · Pelecyphora lloydii · Pelecyphora missouriensis · Pelecyphora sneedii · Pelecyphora tuberculosa · Pelecyphora zilziana · Pelecyphora abdita · Pelecyphora alversonii · Hatchet Cactus · Pelecyphora chihuahuensis · Pelecyphora chlorantha · Pelecyphora cubensis
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Pelecyphora minima by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
