About Cochemiea phitauiana (E.M.Baxter) Doweld
Cochemiea phitauiana sprouts from its base and grows into small groups. It produces cylindrical gray-green shoots that can reach up to 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) in height, with a diameter ranging from 3 to 6 centimeters (1.2 to 2.4 inches). Its roots are strand-like. The plant’s conical, four-sided warts are keeled and do not contain milky juice. Its axillae bear approximately 20 bristles. It has 4 straight central spines that are white with dark tips, measuring 4 to 6 millimeters (0.16 to 0.24 inches) long; juvenile plants often have an additional hooked central spine. There are 24 bristle-like white radial spines, ranging in length from 4 to 12 millimeters (0.16 to 0.47 inches). The flowers of Cochemiea phitauiana are white, with a diameter and length between 1.2 and 1.5 centimeters (0.47 to 0.59 inches). Its fruits are spherical or club-shaped, red, and grow up to 1 centimeter long, and contain black seeds. Cochemiea phitauiana is native to the southern tip of Baja California Sur, Mexico, where it grows on open plains with small shrubs at elevations between 90 and 900 meters. It occurs alongside Mammillaria petrophila and Ferocactus townsendianus.
