Publication: Mammillaria Postscripts 6: 7 7 1997
Description
Mammillaria polythele ssp durispina Plants solitary.
Stem: Subglobose or shortly columnar, blue green, seldom more than about 20 cm high, usually 5-6 cm in diameter.
Tubercles: Prominent, globular conical with latex. Axil woolly at first, later naked. Usually in 8-13 series (but also in 21-34).
Radial spines: 6-8 radiating spines that vary in length to 15 mm long, pale to dark brown, occasionally reddish brown.
Central spines: Absent.
Flower: Carmine, to 15 mm long.
Fruit:: Club shaped, red.
Seed: Dark brown.
Origin and Habitat
Guanajuato and Queretaro, Mexico.
Altitude range: 2.000 - 2350 metres above sea level.
Habitat and Ecology: The species grows among quite dense vegetation often in semishade. Accompanying succulent species can be: Echinocactus horizonthalonius, Ferocactus histrix, Ferocactus latispinus, Mammillaria uncinata, Coryphantha erecta, Myrtillocactus geometrizans, Opuntia robusta, Opuntia imbricata, Opuntia cantabrigiensis, Opuntia streptacantha, and Agave ferox.
Bibliography
Major references and further lectures
-
Gómez-Hinostrosa, C., Sánchez , E., Bárcenas Luna, R. & Guadalupe Martínez, J. 2013. Mammillaria polythele. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 09 May 2015.
-
Mammillaria polythele in: Bradleya 4: 52 1986
-
David Hunt, Nigel Taylor “The New Cactus Lexicon” DH Books, 2006
-
John Pilbeam (1999) “Mammillaria The Cactus File Handbook” Nuffield Press.
-
Edward F. Anderson “The Cactus Family” Timber Press, 2001
-
James Cullen, Sabina G. Knees, H. Suzanne Cubey “The European Garden Flora Flowering Plants: A Manual for the Identification of Plants Cultivated in Europe, Both Out-of-Doors and Under Glass”Cambridge University Press, 11/August/2011