Xerophyte

Central Spines

Straight; outer central spines 3-14 per areole; appressed or strongly projecting, in "bird’s-foot" arrangement or radiating like spokes, longest spines 9-25 mm.

Seeds

bright reddish brown, comma-shaped or nearly obovoid, (1-)1.3-2.4(-3) mm.

Description

Escobaria viviparaSN|9953]]SN|9953]] is a small solitary or clumping cactus. Some varieties form colonies of over 200 stems. This species is the most widespread, abundant and variable member of the genus. It is densely covered in a mat of star-shaped arrays of spines.

Roots

± diffuse, less than 1/4 of stem diameter.

Tubercles

Grooved, 8-25 × 3-8 mm, stiff or ± flaccid; areolar glands absent.

Flowers

Subapical, 20-65(-90?) mm long; outer tepals conspicuously fringed; pale rose-pink to reddish pink or magenta (or rarely yellow or green) , sometimes with darker midstripes, sometimes shading to white or pale green,

Blooming Season

Spring-late summer; fruiting 2-5 months after flowering.

Spines

11-55 per areole; either bright white, ashy white, pale tan, pale pinkish grey, or reddish brown (rarely straw-yellow), tips dark bright pinkish brown, reddish brown, dark brown, orange-brown, or pinkish orange, purplish gray, pinkish gray, brownish red, sepia dark purplish brown, or stramineous, opaque or vitreous, fading, then blackening with age (dark tips rarely absent).

Stem

Usually more than 1/2 above ground (sometimes deep-seated and flat-topped in winter, in cold climates and/or in immaturity), spheric, ovoid, obovoid, or cylindric with age, 2.5-75 × 3-11 cm tall.

Radial Spines

10-40 per areole, weakly appressed or tightly appressed, pectinately arranged in subadults of some populations, 7-22 mm long. Subcentral spines are sometimes present.

Fruits

Green, exposed portions slowly turning dull brownish red, ovoid to obovoid, 12-28 × 7-20 mm, juicy; floral remnant persistent.