Thelocactus conothelos


Thelocactus conothelos is a species of cactus endemic to Mexico.

Description

Thelocactus conothelos is a solitary, spherical cactus, growing in height and diameter. Its ribs are indistinct, with conical warts that are light green at the base and squared. The areoles are woolly and about wide. It has 7 to 20 glassy, ocher yellow to grayish radial spines, long, and 4 central spines that are long. The large, spreading flowers range from wide and vary in color from white to magenta. Fruits are long and in diameter, with dark reddish to black seeds.

Subspecies

Accepted subspecies:
ImageScientific nameDistribution
Thelocactus conothelos subsp. argenteus Mexico
Thelocactus conothelos subsp. aurantiacus NE. Mexico
Thelocactus conothelos subsp. conothelosNE. Mexico
Thelocactus conothelos subsp. garciae Mexico

Distribution

This species is native to Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, and San Luis Potosí, Mexico at elevations between 1200 and 2200 meters growing in shrubland and limestone slopes. Plants are found growing along Mammillaria candida, Mammillaria picta, Mammillaria formosa subsp. formosa, Mammillaria winterae, Turbinicarpus schmiedickeanus subsp. gracilis, Thelocactus bicolor, Astrophytum myriostigma and ''Echinocactus platyacanthus''

Taxonomy

It was first described as Echinocactus conothelos in 1860 by Eduard von Regel and Edward Klein. The name, derived from Greek, refers to the cone-shaped warts. In 1936, Frederik Marcus Knuth reclassified it as Thelocactus.