About Cochemiea barbata (Engelm.) Doweld
Cochemiea barbata may grow alone or form multiple heads, creating dense cushions. Its plant bodies are depressed, ranging from spherical to shortly cylindrical, and reach approximately 3 to 4 cm (1.2 to 1.6 in) in diameter. The soft, spherical to cylindrical warts of this cactus do not contain milky juice, and its axillae are naked. It has 1 to 4 stiff central spines, which are colored brown to reddish-brown or orange-brown and grow up to 2 cm (0.79 in) long; 1 or 2 of these central spines are distinctly hooked. There are 16 to 60 marginal spines arranged in several rows. Most of these marginal spines are hairy, whitish to yellowish with darker tips, and measure 0.6 to 0.8 cm (0.24 to 0.31 in) long. The flowers of Cochemiea barbata are 1.5 to 3 cm (0.59 to 1.18 in) in both length and width, and can come in a wide range of colors: white, light pink to yellowish, pink to orange, or brownish to greenish. Its outer perianth segments are ciliated. The elongated fruits are green to purple or dark red, grow up to 1 cm (0.39 in) in diameter, and hold dark reddish-brown seeds. This species is distributed in mountainous sites of the Sierra Madre Occidental, occurring in Arizona and New Mexico in the United States, and in Chihuahua, Sonora, and Durango in Mexico.
