Cacti of Texas
Mammilaria heyderi
This is merely a checklist of the cacti, or cactus, or cactuses, found within the State of Texas. It includes general ranges and counties of known occurrence, including distribution into adjacent areas or entire range. Information is taken from Lyman Benson's, Cacti of the United States and Canada, 1982 and are current to that date. Some names have recently been changed or amended, I am working on that, therefore, some genera are changed from that of Benson.
Species in Red were endangered species according to Benson, 1982. Those with links are species currently listed according to the Federal and Texas Endangered Species lists. If a species with varieties is red (like Cylindropuntia imbricata), then one or more of the varieties (like var. argentea) are listed as threatened or endangered, in which case the variety is highlighted in Red.
Most of the links are to CactiGuide.com, with many thanks to Daiv Freeman, plus a few of my own photos.
Links to some points of interest, mostly maps.
Explanations:
Locations: The locations listed in the distributions below are generally
listed as counties in Texas, unless otherwise noted;
TP: Trans-Pecos, the far western
region of Texas west of the Pecos River including Pecos, Reeves, Brewster,
Presidio, Jeff Davis, Culberson, Hudspeth, and El Paso counties. The Chihuahuan
Desert extends into this area from Mexico;
BBNP: Big Bend National Park, located
at the southern end of Brewster County in Trans-Pecos, Texas;
PH: Panhandle of
Texas, the uppermost 26 counties of Texas;
S, W, E, N, C, and
combinations preceding a county or location are directional, i.e., South, West,
East, North, SouthEast (SE), etc., C being Central.
Stockton Plateau: A limestone rich area of SW Texas that
generally encompasses the following counties: S Pecos, Terrell, Val Verde, and
Crockett.
Edwards Plateau: A limestone rich area of central Texas, bounded on the east by the Balcones Escarpment, from Georgetown to Austin to San Antonio westward to Edwards, E Val Verde, Schleicher, and Sutton counties, north to San Saba, Mills, and Lampasas counties. In the middle of this region is the Llano Uplift, a massive exposure of Precambrian granite in Burnet, Llano, Gillespie (Enchanted Rock State Natural Area is here), and N Blanco counties.
Order Cactales/Family Cactaceae
Tribe 2. Opuntiae
Cylindropuntia tunicata
Genus Cylindropuntia
The Chollas
Section 1. Cylindraceae
Series Imbricatae
Distribution: N Brewster in the Glass Mtns, ?Endangered.
var. davisii
Distribution:
Rare but locally abundant in
sandy soils throughout its range: Hansford, SW Potter, S Swisher, Parmer,
Bailey, Cochran, Nolan, Childress, Mitchell, Kent, Tom Green, Coryell,
McCulloch, Gillespie, Brewster, Presidio, Jeff Davis, Culberson; OK in Greer
and Harmon; E NM.
Cylindropuntia
imbricata
Tree cholla, coyonostole
var. imbricata
Distribution: Grasslands in West TX in and west of San Saba, Burnet, Bexar, Victoria, to SE AZ, S CO, SW KS and Cimarron Co., OK.
var. argentea
Distribution: S Brewster in BBNP, Threatened.
Series Leptocaules
In Palo Duro Canyon State Park, Randall Co., Texas, (c) 2004 Kari J McWest
Desert Christmas cactus, pencil cholla, tasajillo, tesajo
Distribution: Widespread west of a line from Oldham to Clay to Walker to Victoria to Cameron, west to Mohave, AZ; also in Murray, OK.
Cylindropuntia kleiniae var. kleiniae
Klein cholla
Distribution: TP: Brewster, Presidio, Jeff Davis, Culberson, Hudspeth; to San Miguel and Hidalgo, NM; also in Eastland and Lampasas, TX, and in Kingfisher, OK.
Section 2. Clavatae
Series Clavatae
The Club Chollas
Cylindropuntia schottii
Clavellina
var. schottii
Distribution: SW TX in Brown, Cameron, Starr, Zapata, Webb, Val Verde, Schleicher, Brewster, Presidio, El Paso.
var. grahami
Distribution: Brewster, Hudspeth, El Paso, and S Otero and S Dona Ana, NM.
Genus Opuntia
The Prickly Pears
Section 1. Opuntia
Series 1. Polyacanthae
Opuntia polyacantha
Plains prickly pear
var. rufispina
Distribution: TP: NE Presidio, Jeff Davis, N Culberson, N Hudspeth, El Paso, to SW Wyoming, W Nevada and San Bernardino, CA.
var. trichophora
Distribution: TP: N Brewster, Culberson, Hudspeth; PH: Potter, Armstrong, Hutchinson, to NM, CO, SE UT and N AZ.
Opuntia fragilis
var. fragilis
Little prickly pear
Distribution: PH: Potter, Hutchinson; to Curry Co., NM, Coconino Co., AZ, extreme N CA, into Canada, to the Upper Peninsula MI, WI, to Cimarron Co., OK. This northernmost cactus occurs near Ft St John, British Columbia, Canada.
Opuntia arenaria
Distribution: In sands along the Rio Grande from extreme SW Hudspeth to W El Paso and into Dona Ana, NM to Las Cruces. Threatened.
Series 2. Basilares
Beavertail Cacti
Opuntia rufida
Blind prickly pear
Distribution: TP: Big Bend Region of NW Presidio to S Brewster near Rio Grande.
Series 3. Opuntiae
Opuntia pusilla
Distribution: Coastal SE United States in dunes. Isolated records in Texas are Chambers at Anahuac, Galveston at Baffle Point of Bolivar Peninsula, Aransas at Rockport, and eastward along Gulf Coast to N FL (not S of Sarasota) to NC islands, also south central GA.
Opuntia humifusa
Eastern prickly pear
var. humifusa
Distribution: E of line from Cameron-Kerr-Archer in TX, to Kansas City, MO, WI, MI, to Cape Cod, MA, to S FL.
var. austrina
Distribution: Galveston (intergrades with Opuntia stricta), Harris (Harrisburg), TX, to C AL and Mobile Bay.
Opuntia macrorhiza
Plains prickly pear
var. macrorhiza
Distribution: Widespread in TX, absent from Stockton Plateau and Pecos River Valley (in Pecos Valley of S NM), to MI and S ID, to Yuma, AZ and extreme NE San Bernardino Co., CA, also in Lake Charles, LA, C AR.
var. pottsii
Distribution: Potter (Amarillo), Mitchell, Maverick, and TP, to Santa Cruz (Nogales) and Pinal (Superstition Mountains) AZ, to Bernalillo (Albuquerque), NM.
Opuntia atrispina
Distribution: Presidio, Brewster, Mitchell, Nolan, Taylor, Bee, Terrell, Val Verde, and Uvalde in western Texas.
Opuntia violacea
Purple prickly pear
var. violacea
Distribution: Hudspeth, to Gila and Pima, AZ.
var. santa-rita
Distribution: TP, Brewster from BBNP to Jeff Davis, north and west to Organ Pipe National Monument, Pima, and N Gila, AZ.
var. castetteri
Distribution: Rare, Reeves, El Paso, Crane, Presidio, Brewster of Texas, to Otero, NM, and Cochise, AZ.
var. macrocentra
Distribution: TP (except Pecos Co.), and SW Webb and SW LaSalle, TX, north and west to Pima and Graham, AZ, and Lincoln and Eddy, NM.
Opuntia phaeacantha
var. phaeacantha
Distribution: From vicinity of towns of Sanderson (Terrell Co.) and Alpine (Brewster Co)., to S Hudspeth, El Paso, to along NM/TX border in Lea and Union Co., NM to Jefferson (Denver), and Mesa (Grand Junction), CO, to Washington (St. George), UT, south and southeast to Mohave, Yavapai, and Cochise (Huachuca Mtns), AZ.
var. camanchica
Distribution: Uncommon. PH: from Randall, Hutchinson, Briscoe, Floyd, Guadalupe Co., NM, to W OK.
var. spinosibacca
Distribution: Throughout Brewster, but Presidio only near Ruidosa and Candelaria.
var. discata
Distribution: Floyd to Travis to Atascosa westward, including Tom Green, to San Diego, Orange, and Inyo, CA and Washington, UT, to Bernalillo, NM.
In Palo Duro Canyon State Park, Randall Co., Texas, (c) 2004 Kari J McWestDistribution: Widespread. W of Trego, KS-Dallas-San Patricio-Hidalgo, includes PH: Potter, Deaf Smith, Swisher, Briscoe, to San Diego to San Luis Obispo, CA to Boulder, CO, and in Fall River, SD.
Opuntia lindheimeri
Texas prickly pear
var. lindheimeri
Distribution: Tom Green-Lampasas-Smith-Galveston/Bolivar south and west to Hidalgo, NM and in Guadalupe and Quay, NM, and in Murray, Pontotoc, and Johnston, OK.
var. linguiformis
Cow’s tongue
Distribution: ?Extinct, native populations from Bexar (San Antonio). Benson (p. 495): "The variety was introduced into cultivation by David Griffiths about 1908, and it has escaped in various localities. During 66 years the plant has not been demonstrated to occur still as a native variety." Commonly cultivated throughout the southwest.
var. tricolor
Distribution: Rio Grande Valley from Cameron (Port Isabel) to Zapata, Webb, and W Duval.
var. lehmannii
Distribution: Rio Grande Plain from S Cameron, South Padre Island, Nueces, Kleberg, McMullen.
Opuntia stricta
vars. stricta
Southern spineless cactus
Distribution: Rare. From Nueces east to Galveston Island, S Chambers, S Lee, W to FL, inc. Key West, and SC.
var. dillenii
Distribution: Cameron, Chambers, Galveston on Bolivar Peninsula and Galveston Island, and in coastal FL to SC.
Opuntia strigil
var. strigil
Distribution: Pecos, Terrell, E Crockett, Nolan, El Paso.
var. flexospina
Distribution: Extinct? San Patricio and Webb.
Opuntia ficus-indica
Indian Fig, nopal
Opuntia
"dillei" (= f.i. + Opuntia phaeacantha major)
Distribution: Jeff
Davis, N Brewster (Alpine), Val Verde (Del Rio), Dona Ana (Las Cruces), NM, Alamogordo, NM, Guadalupe Mtns, NM.
Opuntia
"subarmata" (= f.i. + Opuntia lindheimeri)
Distribution: BBNP, Val Verde (Del Rio), Webb/La Salle corner, Coryell-Hays.
Tribe 3. Cacteae (Cereae)
Subtribe 1. Cereinae
Group A
Former Genus Cereus :
Genus Acanthocereus (Britton & Rose)
Acanthocereus pentagonus
Barbed-wire cactus
Distribution: Cameron, and in S FL, including the Keys.
Genus Peniocereus (Britton & Rose)
Peniocereus greggii
Desert night-blooming cereus
var. greggii
Distribution: TP: Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, Presidio, Brewster, Pecos, Terrell near Sanderson, to E Hidalgo and S Grant, NM, E Cochise, AZ.
(Wilcoxia B&R)
Cereus poselgeri
Sacasil
Distribution: Lower Rio Grande Valley/Plain in SW Webb, W Zapata, SW Starr, SE Cameron, E Duval.
Genus Echinocereus
Echinocereus triglochidiatus
claret cup, red-flowered hedgehog
var. neomexicanus
Distribution: TP and Stockton Plateau: El Paso, Hudspeth, Culberson, Jeff Davis, Brewster, Presidio, Val Verde, W Sutton, Kimball, Uvalde, and west to Pima, AZ and McKinley, NM, N to Bernalillo, NM.
var. gurneyi
Distribution: TP: W Terrell, Brewster, Presidio, Culberson, Hudspeth, El Paso, N to Dona Ana, Otero, and Eddy, NM. Possibly in Jeff Davis, TX, although rare above 5,000 feet elevation (prefers Chihuahuan Desert and associated grasslands).
var. melanocanthus
Distribution: Widespread from Central Texas to AZ, CA (E Inyo), NV, UT, CO, and NM: In Texas: TP and Edwards Plateau: Burnet, Llano, Gillespie, Kerr, Edwards, Hays, Uvalde, Zavala, Jeff Davis, Presidio, Brewster, and N of McAllen in Hidalgo; also in Curry, NM, near Clovis.
Note: The epithet melanocanthus means "black spined", specimens with which are actually rare, but some occur near the type locality of 15 mi SE Santa Fe, NM
var. paucispinus
Distribution: Edwards Plateau to TP: Lampasas, Kimble, Uvalde, Val Verde, Pecos, Jeff Davis.
Echinocereus berlandieri
Distribution (general): Rio Grande Plain.
var. berlandieri
Distribution: From Cameron (Port Isabel) to Webb (Laredo).
var. papillosus
Distribution: Bexar (San Antonio), McMullen, Jim Wells, Duval, Webb, N Cameron
var. angusticeps
Distribution: ?Extinct, near Linn, Hidalgo.
Echinocereus pentalophus
Distribution: S TX in Bexar (San Antonio), N McMullen, and along Rio Grande in Starr, Hidalgo, to E Cameron.
Echinocereus fendleri
var. fendleri
Distribution: El Paso, W Hudspeth, into New Mexico, S CO, AZ.
var. rectispinus
Distribution: SE Culberson, Hudspeth, El Paso, S NM to Pima and S Pinal, Greenlee, AZ.
Echinocereus enneacanthus
Hedgehog, pitaya, pitahaya
var. enneacanthus
Distribution: SW Tom Green-Travis-Cameron and west to Ash Canyon, Organ Mountains, Dona Ana, NM.
var. brevispinus
Distribution: Real-Bexar-Jim Wells-Hidalgo west to Val Verde.
var. stramineus
strawberry hedgehog, strawberry pitaya
Distribution: SW Tom Green, W Val Verde-El Paso to the Guadalupe (Eddy), Sacramento (Otero), and Organ (Dona Ana) mountains, NM.
var. dubius
Distribution: Val Verde, Big Bend Region of Brewster and Presidio, W Hudspeth-El Paso.
Echinocereus lloydii
Distribution: Pecos, and Dona Ana and Eddy, NM; Endangered.
Echinocereus pectinatus
Rainbow Cactus
var. pectinatus
Distribution: Rare in TX: El Paso, Brewster, S Pecos, Maverick, and S Cochise in AZ.
var. wenigeri
Distribution: Terrell, Val Verde, Sutton, Brewster.
var. minor
Distribution: S Brewster, El Paso, and S Dona Ana
var. neomexicanus
Yellow-flowered rainbow
Distribution: TP (except Reeves and Jeff Davis), Mitchell, Midland, Maverick, to near Benson, W Cochise, AZ, and SC Cibola, S Lincoln and Chaves, NM, southward. Possibly in Pima and Santa Cruz, AZ.
Echinocereus reichenbachii
Lace Cactus
var. reichenbachii
Distribution: Dallam, Ochiltree, Roberts, Hemphill, Potter (also near Borger, Hutchinson Co., KJM), to Edwards Palteau and Central Texas E to Fayette, S and W to Duval and Uvalde. Also to C andW OK.
Baby one in Palo Duro Canyon State Park, (c)2004 Kari J McWest.Distribution: Randall, Armstrong, Bailey, Dickens, Howard, Mitchell, Jones, Taylor, Sutton, to Otero, Lea, Chaves, Union, NM, and S CO.
var. albertii
Distribution: Jim Wells, near Alice, Endangered. "Kleberg, Jim Wells, and Refugio counties of south Texas." -- TPWD
var. fitchii
Distribution: RGV Webb to Starr, Threatened
var. chisosensis Echinocereus chisoensis var. chisoensis in TPWD list.
Distribution: BBNP, Threatened
var. albispinus
Distribution: NW Childress Co., 10 mi E of Memphis = hybrid swarm w/perbellus?
Echinocereus viridiflorus
var. viridiflorus
Distribution: SE Potter, SE Oldham, ?Threatened
var. davisii
Distribution: S of Marathon, Brewster Co., Endangered
var. correllii
Distribution: near Ft. Stockton, Pecos Co., and Marathon, Brewster Co., Threatened
var. cylindricus
Distribution: El Paso, Culberson, Brewster
Echinocereus chloranthus
var. chloranthus
Distribution: BBNP N to Jeff Davis to Cornudas Mtns, El Paso in Franklin Mtns
var. neocapillus
Distribution: near Marathon, Brewster Co., Endangered
Subtribe 2. Cactineae
Group C
Genus Lophophora
Lophophora williamsii
Distribution: Starr, S Zapata, NW Jim Hogg, SE Webb, BBNP in Brewster Co., near Presidio, Presidio Co.
Genus Ferocactus
Ferocactus wislizenii
Southwestern Barrel Cactus
Distribution: El Paso
Ferocactus hamatacanthus
var. hamatacanthus
Distribution: El Paso, TP to Port Isabel, Kleburg, Jim Wells, Duval
var. sinuatus
Distribution: W San Patricio
Ferocactus setispinus
Distribution: San Saba, Balcones Escarpment from Val Verde to Williamson and southward
Genus Echinocactus
Echinocactus horizonthalonius
Turks’ Head Cactus
var. horizonthalonius
Distribution: TP, Val Verde, Kinney, and Duval
Echinocactus texensis
Horse crippler, devil’s head
Distribution: "from Pecos Valley and N Brewster Co. NE to Garza, Young, and Tarrant Cos., and S and E to Travis, Refugio, and Cameron Cos." Benson, p. 723
Genus Astrophytum
Star cactus
Distribution: Starr
Genus Epithelantha
Epithelantha micromeris
Button cactus
Distribution: Medina, Val Verde, Pecos, Brewster, W Hudspeth, El Paso, into S NM
Epithelantha bokei
Big Bend button cactus
Distribution: S Brewster Co., Threatened
Genus Thelocactus
Thelocactus bicolor
var. schottii
Distribution: Starr, Brewster near Marathon and Lajitas
var. flavidispinus
Distribution: Starr, Brewster near Marathon, Threatened
Genus Neolloydia/Sclerocactus
Neolloydia conoidea
Distribution: Edwards, Terrell, Pecos, Brewster, Culberson, El Paso
Neolloydia warnockii
Distribution: Brewster, Presidio, Culberson, Hudspeth, Threatened
Neolloydia gautii
Distribution: Sour Lake, Hardin Co., Endangered
Sclerocactus mariposensis
Distribution: SW Brewster, Threatened
Neolloydia intertexta
var. intertexta
Distribution: Common, N Brewster, Solitario & NW Presidio Co., Jeff Davis near Ft Davis "the Limpia", El Paso
var. dasyacantha
Distribution: BBNP to Marathon in Brewster, El Paso
Genus Ancistrocactus
tobuschii Sclerocactus brevihamatus var. tobuschiiDistribution: Bandera Co., near Vanderpool, Endangered. "Western Edwards Plateau in Bandera, Edwards, Kerr, Kimble, Kinney, Real, Uvalde, and Val Verde Counties." -- TPWD
Ancistrocactus scheeri
Distribution: RGV from Val Verde to Hidalgo, N and W to Jim Wells and Frio
Ancistrocactus uncinatus
var. wrightii
Distribution: TP from Val Verde-Crockett-Reeves and west, also Starr
Genus Coryphantha/Escobaria
Escobaria minima
Distribution: near Marathon, Brewster Co., Endangered
Coryphantha macromeris
var. macromeris
Distribution: Zapata, Ector, and TP
var. runyunii
Distribution: Zapata
Coryphantha scheeri
var. scheeri
Distribution: Maverick, Brewster, Reeves
var. valida
Distribution: NW Brewster, Jeff Davis, S Hudspeth, El Paso
var. uncinata
Distribution: El Paso, Threatened
var. robustispina
Distribution: El Paso, Threatened
Coryphantha vivipara
Beehive
C. vivipara var. "neomexicana", an intermediate swarm, from Chihuahuan Desert near White's City, Eddy Co., NM, in bloom, July 2002 (c)2002 W.M. Burrell/K.J. McWest. In cultivation. Bloom is about 10 mm in diameter.
var. vivipara
Distribution: Potter, Randall, Archer, to Canada.
C. vivipara var. vivipara from grasslands near Canyon, Randall Co., TX, in bloom, June 2002 (c)2002 W.M. Burrell; same specimen, detail (c)2002 W.M. Burrell. In cultivation.
var. radiosa
Distribution:
Potter, Moore, S to San Saba, and in TP Texas
Coryphantha hesteri
Distribution: N Brewster Co., Threatened
Distribution: Stockton Plateau of E Brewster Co., W Terrell Co., Endangered
Coryphantha sulcata
var. sulcata
Distribution: Tarrant, Central TX Uvalde-Austin Co.-Mills, Duval
var. nickelsiae
Distribution: Maverick, Threatened
Coryphantha cornifera
var. echinus
Distribution: TP, Val Verde, Maverick, Howard, and Cooke
Coryphantha strobiliformis
var. strobiliformis
Distribution: TP SW Terrell/Pecos N and W to El Paso, not Jeff Davis
var. durispina
Distribution: SW Brewster, Endangered
var. sneedii
Distribution: Franklin Mtns, El Paso, Threatened
Coryphantha dasyacantha
var. dasyacantha
Distribution: Pecos, Brewster, S Hudspeth, El Paso
var. varicolor
Distribution: S Jeff Davis, Brewster, W Presidio, Threatened
Coryphantha robertii
Distribution: S Val Verde to W Hidalgo, NW Duval
Coryphantha duncanii
Distribution: SE Presidio, Chisos Mtns Brewster, Threatened
Coryphantha missouriensis
var. caespitosa
Distribution: Kerr, Blanco, Lampsas, Walker, Austin Co. (near Industry), Bexar, Tarrant, Dallas, Kaufman
var. robustior
Distribution: Benson says "from Canadian River…" p. 860, Hale, Young, Denton, Bexar, Travis
Genus Ariocarpus
Ariocarpus fissuratus
Living rock
Distribution: From Cameron to Pecos to Presidio
Genus Mammilaria
Mammilaria longimamma
var. sphaerica
Distribution:
Mammilaria longimamma
var. sphaerica
Distribution: Maverick, Webb, Starr, Cameron, Duval, Kleburg, Nueces, San Patricio
Mammilaria heyderi
var. heyderi
Distribution: E Randall in Palo Duro Canyon State Park, and Burnet, San Saba to San Patricio and El Paso southward
var. hemisphaerica
Distribution: Rio Grande Plain: Starr, Hidalgo, Cameron, Willacy, Kleberg, Nueces, Jim Wells, ?Jim Hogg LB p. 871
var. meiacantha
Distribution: TP: El Paso, Jeff Davis, Presidio, Brewster
Mammilaria prolifera
var. texana
Distribution: S. TX: Val Verde, Real, Bexar, Kinney. Webb, Hidalgo, Brooks
Mammilaria lasiacantha
Distribution: TP: Val Verde, Pecos, Brewster, Presidio, Culberson, Hudspeth, El Paso
Mammilaria pottsi
Distribution: W Brewster, Presidio, and Webb
Mammilaria grahami
var. grahami
Distribution: NW Presidio, El Paso, to C and W AZ
Mammilaria wrightii
var. wrightii
Distribution: Franklin Mtns, El Paso, to N NM