Astrophytum asterias
| Astrophytum asterias | |
|---|---|
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Core eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Cactaceae |
| Genus: | Astrophytum |
| Species: | A. asterias |
| Binomial name | |
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Astrophytum asterias (Zucc.) Lem. |
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Astrophytum asterias is a species of cactus in the genus Astrophytum, and is native to small parts of Texas in the United States and Mexico. Common names include Sand Dollar Cactus, Sea Urchin Cactus, Star Cactus and Star Peyote.
A. asterias is small, round, spineless and squat, reaching a height of 2.5–6 cm (0.98–2.36 in) and a diameter of 5–15 cm (2.0–5.9 in). The disc-shaped body is divided into 7 - 10 sections, known as ribs; in the middle of each rib there are woolly areoles. The body is a greenish-brown colour and may appear speckled from its covering of white scales (trichomes). The flowers of this cactus are yellow with red bases and the outer parts are very woolly. Green to pink oval fruits are produced; the outside coat is covered with woolly hairs.
Reproduction takes place via sexual outcrossing through cross-pollination; star cacti reach sexual maturity after a few years, when they have attained 2 – 3 cm in diameter. Flowers are produced from March to June (the summer season in its native habitat) and fruiting occurs from April to June; the specific pollinators have not been identified but are thought to be insects. The plant also bears an extremely close resemblance to the relatively unrelated Euphorbia obesa, which, although being a succulent, is not a cactus.
Star cactus is native to the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas in the United States and the states of Nuevo León and Tamaulipas in Mexico, to the east of the Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range.
Previously more abundant, this species is today restricted to a single 200-acre site in Texas, where there are around 2,000 individuals, and a few small sites in Tamaulipas. Today this species is associated with thorn scrub, amongst rocky ground; it may have previously occupied richer, flat grasslands that have since been developed. It has probably been extirpated from Nuevo León.
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Wikipedia