Plant Name
Scientific Name: Mammillaria grahamii
Synonym: Mammillaria microcarpa
Common Names: Graham's Nipple Cactus, Pincushion Cactus, Arizona Fishhook
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Shrub, Cactus
Arizona Native Status: Native
Habitat: Desert
Flower Color: Pink
Flowering Season: Spring, Summer
Height: Up to 6 inches (15 cm) tall
Description: The 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide flowers are followed by bright red, 1 inch (2.5 cm) long fruit. Desert rodents eat the ripe fruit. Numerous, grayish, radial spines cover the short stems. The fewer upright central spines are dark colored and curved like fishhooks.
Special Characteristics
Legal Status – Protected Native Plant (Salvage Restricted)
Classification
Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Caryophyllidae
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Cactaceae – Cactus family
Genus: Mammillaria Haw. – globe cactus
Species: Mammillaria grahamii Engelm. – Graham's nipple cactus
More About This Plant