About Mammillaria heyderi subsp. meiacantha (Engelm.) D.R.Hunt
Mammillaria heyderi, commonly called the Little Nipple cactus, is a pincushion cactus species belonging to the tribe Cacteae. This taxon is endemic to Sonora and Chihuahua in Mexico, as well as New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, and Oklahoma in the United States. Mammillaria heyderi usually grows no more than 1.5 inches above ground level, and it can be difficult to spot during winter, when it sits nearly entirely below ground. It grows on dry hillsides and in semidesert areas at lower to middle elevations. Its defining features include a covering of short stems that reach around 8mm high and 4–5mm wide, with up to around 15 spines extending outward in all directions from the tip of each stem. The species is extremely drought resistant, hardy to at least 10 degrees Fahrenheit, and can thrive in multiple types of dry terrain.
