Escobaria emskoetteriana Photo by: Alexander Arzberger
Origin and Habitat: Escobaria emskoetterianaSN|10015]]SN|10015]] is distributed in Mexico, in the states of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas, and it also occurs in Texas (plain of the Rio Grande), United States. The species is common throughout its range.
Altitude range: It grows at elevations of 332 to 420 metres above sea level.
Habitat and Ecology: The species occurs in thornscrub. It has been reported from limestone of hillsides in desert or grassland. E. emskoetteriana is wide-ranging, abundant, and there are no major threats.
Synonyms:
See all synonyms of Escobaria emskoetteriana
Common Names include:
ENGLISH: Big nipple cactus, Junior Tom Thumb Cactus, Robert's Foxtail Cactus
SPANISH (Español): Biznaga-Escobar de Emskoetter
Description: Escobaria emskoetterianaSN|10015]]SN|10015]] a globose to short-cylindrical cactus, forming clusters 5-10 cm high. It is very variable.
Stems: Globose to short cylindrical, 5-12 cm tall, 2-2.5(-4) cm in diameter and often branching.
Tubercles: 6-10 mm long, conical, often not persistent and their axils naked.
Radial spines: (15-)20 to 25(-30), white, straight, spreading irregularly, to 10 mm.
Central spines: (5-)6 to 8, often appearing as radials, setaceous, white to yellow with dark tips, straight, to 12 mm.
Flowers: Dirty white, greenish yellow, lavender, pale purple or brownish yellow, l, 2-2.5(-3) cm long and in diameter, the perianth-segments with darker or brownish mid-stripes; stigma-lobes greenish, sometimes tipped with brown.
Blooming season: Summer.
Fruits: Spherical to ellipsoidal, red, 6-9 mm in diameter, red or purplish. rarely remaining green.
Seeds: Brown.
Subspecies, varieties, forms and cultivars of plants belonging to the Escobaria emskoetteriana group
Bibliography: Major references and further lectures
1) Edward Anderson "The Cactus family" Timber Press, Incorporated, 2001
2) James Cullen, Sabina G. Knees, H. Suzanne Cubey "The European Garden Flora Flowering Plants: A Manual for the Identification of Plants Cultivated in Europe, Both Out-of-Doors and Under Glass" Cambridge University Press, 11/Aug/2011
3) David R Hunt; Nigel P Taylor; Graham Charles; International Cactaceae Systematics Group. "The New Cactus Lexicon" dh books, 2006
4) N. L. Britton, J. N. Rose "The Cactaceae. Descriptions and Illustrations of Plants of the Cactus Family." Volume 4, The Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington 1923
5) Del Weniger "Cacti of Texas and neighboring states: a field guide" University of Texas Press, 1984 - as Mammillaria roberti
6) Lyman David Benson "The Cacti of the United States and Canada" Stanford University Press, 1982
7) Kakteen und andere Sukkulenten 34: 155, 156 (1983)
8) Heil, K., Terry, M. & Corral-Diaz, R. 2013. Escobaria emskoetteriana. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e.T152135A601168. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T152135A601168.en. Downloaded on 22 August 2017.
9) Martinez-Avalos, J.G. and Jurado, E. 2005. "Geographic distribution and conservation of Cactaceae from Tamaulipas Mexico." Biodiversity and Conservation 14: 2483-2506.