Cochemiea armillata


Cochemiea armillata is an uncommon species of cactus in the genus Cochemiea commonly known as the Los Cabos nipple cactus. This species is endemic to the Cape region of Baja California Sur in Mexico. It is somewhat similar in appearance to the rare Cochemiea capensis and the more common Cochemiea dioica.

Description

Cochemiea armillata initially grows solitary but later forms groups. The plants are slender, cylindrical, and can reach up to in height and in diameter, which usually grows with 3 to 12 stems that emerge at the height of the base or sometimes higher. They have firm, blue-green, conical to cylindrical warts without milky sap. The axillae are covered with wool and bristles. Each plant has 1 to 4 strong, yellowish-gray central spines, which darken with age and are partly hooked, measuring long. The 9 to 15 grayish white radial spines are thin, bristly, straight, and long.
The bell-shaped or funnel-shaped flowers are pink-creamy yellow, long, bell-shaped or funnel-shaped up to in diameter. The filaments are pink with yellow anthers. The stigma is also pink, with 5 to 7 lobes up to long, pinkish red. The red, club-shaped fruits are long and in diameter, containing black seeds, up to long by wide.

Taxonomy

It was first described as Mammillaria armillata in 1900 by Mary Katharine Brandegee. The specific epithet armillata is Latin for 'decorated with clasps,' referring to the species' thorns. In 2021, Peter B. Breslin and Lucas C. Majure reclassified it into the genus Cochemiea.

Distribution and habitat

Cochemiea armillata is endemic to the state of Baja California Sur in Mexico, where it is uncommonly encountered throughout most of the Cape region from La Paz south. It grows in the Gulf Coast desert, the Magdalena Plains, and the Cape lowland ecoregions.