Origin and Habitat: Southeastern Arizona, southern New Mexico and Trans-Pecos Texas in the United States, and south into northern Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo León and Zacatecas).
Type locality: Mexico: Chihuahua: Flounce Mountains, below El Paso, below San Elisario on the Río Grande.
Altitude range: Escobaria tuberculosaSN|10187]]SN|10187]] grows at elevations of 600 to 1,600 metres above sea level.
Habitat and Ecology: The species grows in rocky slopes, limestone or igneous, in desert scrub, in crevices and cliffs. It has been reported from limestone soils of hills, canyons, and alluvial fans in deserts and grasslands. Accompanying cactus and succulent species can be Ariocarpus fissuratusSN|2114]]SN|2114]], Echinocereus dasyacanthusSN|5533]]SN|5533]], and Coryphantha muehlenpfordtiiSN|10322]]SN|10322]].
Escobaria tuberculosaSN|10187]]SN|10187]] has a very wide range, is abundant, and there are no threats.

• Escobaria tuberculosa (Engelm.) Britton & Rose
• Cactus tuberculosus (Engelm.) Kuntze
• Coryphantha tuberculosa (Engelm.) A.Berger
• Mammillaria tuberculosa Engelm.

• Escobaria tuberculosa (Engelm.) Britton & Rose
• Cactus tuberculosus (Engelm.) Kuntze
• Coryphantha tuberculosa (Engelm.) A.Berger
• Mammillaria tuberculosa Engelm.
• Escobaria tuberculosa var. durispina (Quehl) Borg
• Coryphantha strobiliformis var. durispina (Quehl) L.D.Benson
• Escobaria strobiliformis var. durispina (Quehl) Bravo
• Mammillaria strobiliformis var. durispina (Quehl) Schelle
• Escobaria tuberculosa f. gigantea n.n.
• Escobaria gigantea n.n.
• Escobaria tuberculosa var. varicolor (Tiegel) S.Brack & K.D.Heil
• Coryphantha dasyacantha var. varicolor (Tiegel) L.D.Benson
• Coryphantha tuberculosa var. varicolor (Tiegel) A.D.Zimmerman
• Coryphantha varicolor Tiegel
• Escobaria tuberculosa subs. varicolor (Tiegel) Lüthy
• Escobaria varicolor Tiegel

Description: Escobaria tuberculosaSN|10187]]SN|10187]] is a small branched and small stemmed cactus(to 50 branches) but sometimes solitary and large stemmed.
Stems: Ovoid to cylindric up to 12 (18) cm tall, 7 cm in diameter.
Tubercles: More or less regularly arranged in spirals, and firm, areolar glands are absent.
Spines: 21-41 per areole, ashy white, grey, or pale tan in colour, with the tips of the largest spines reddish brown or reddish black, all straight. Radial spines numerous (15-41 per areole), 4-15 mm long, grey to white, sometimes as many as 30. Central spines several, stouter than radials, brown to blackish or colored only at tips
Flowers: The flowers are apical or nearly so, pure white, pale rose-pink, or pale lavender-pink, darker centrally, 2,5 to 4 cm in diameter.
Fruit: Oblong, bright red not very succulent; the floral remnant is strongly persistent.

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) Terry, M., Heil, K. & Corral-Díaz, R. 2013. Escobaria tuberculosa. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2015.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 21 July 2015.

Cultivation and Propagation: Easy to cultivate in a very gritty substrate with much drainage. Water regularly in summer, but do not overwater (very rot prone), it prefer a completely dry place during winter. An unheated greenhouse would be perfect. It can survive low temperatures (appr. -12 C). Full sun to light shade.
Propagation: Seeds (no dormancy requirement, they germinate best at 25°C in spring) or usually by offsets (readily available), or occasionally grafted.