Cochemiea phitauiana

Cochemiea phitauiana is a species of Cochemiea found in Mexico.

Description

Cochemiea phitauiana sprouts from the base and forms small groups. Its cylindrical shoots are gray-green, growing up to high and in diameter. The roots are strand-like. The conical, four-sided warts are keeled and contain no milky juice. The axillae have about 20 bristles. The 4 central spines are straight, white with dark tips, and long. A hooked central spine is often seen in juveniles. The 24 radial spines are white, bristle-like, and long.
The white flowers are in diameter and length. The spherical or club-shaped fruits are red and up to 1 centimeter long, containing black seeds.

Distribution

Cochemiea phitauiana is found growing at the tip of Baja California Sur, Mexico growing in open plains with small shrubs at elevations between 90 and 900 meters. It is found growing with Mammillaria petrophila and Ferocactus townsendianus.

Taxonomy

First described in 1931 by Edgar Martin Baxter as Neomammillaria phitauiana who found this species east of Todos Santos, Sierra de la Laguna, the specific epithet honors the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity, to which Baxter belonged. In 2000, Alexander Borissovitch Doweld reclassified the species into the genus Cochemiea.