Badmin: Created page with "{{Taxobox | name = Sclerocactus | image = Sclerocactus_polyancistrus.jpg | kingdom = Plantae | family = Cactaceae | subfamily = Cactoideae | tribe = Cacteae | genus = '''Sclerocactus''' | authority = Britton & Rose (1922) | notes = Taxonomy follows Joël Lodé (2015). The genus is provisionally accepted in a narrow sense, including ''Toumeya''. }} == Etymology == The name means "hard or cruel cactus", referring to the strongly hooked spines which readily..."

2026-04-18T12:38:52Z

Created page with "{{Taxobox | name = Sclerocactus | image = Sclerocactus_polyancistrus.jpg | kingdom = Plantae | family = Cactaceae | subfamily = Cactoideae | tribe = Cacteae | genus = '''Sclerocactus''' | authority = Britton & Rose (1922) | notes = Taxonomy follows Joël Lodé (2015). The genus is provisionally accepted in a narrow sense, including ''Toumeya''. }} == Etymology == The name means "hard or cruel cactus", referring to the strongly hooked spines which readily..."

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{{Taxobox
| name = Sclerocactus
| image = Sclerocactus_polyancistrus.jpg
| kingdom = [[Plantae]]
| family = [[Cactaceae]]
| subfamily = [[Cactoideae]]
| tribe = [[Cacteae]]
| genus = '''Sclerocactus'''
| authority = Britton & Rose (1922)
| notes = Taxonomy follows Joël Lodé (2015). The genus is provisionally accepted in a narrow sense, including ''Toumeya''.
}}

== Etymology ==
The name means "hard or cruel cactus", referring to the strongly hooked spines which readily attach and are difficult to remove.

== Description ==
'''Sclerocactus''' is a genus of small to medium-sized cacti adapted to arid and often extreme environments.

* '''Habit''': Globose to elongated cylindrical plants, solitary or forming clumps, with usually depressed apex.
* '''Roots''': Strongly fleshy, branched or napiform root system.
* '''Stems''': Ribbed, with distinctly tuberculate ribs.
* '''Spines''': Dense; radial spines spreading; central spine typically hooked, often very robust.
* '''Flowers''': Diurnal, funnel-shaped, often large; yellow, greenish-yellow, pink, magenta, purple or rarely white; self-sterile.
* '''Fruits''': Cylindrical to elongated; dehiscent (longitudinal or lateral) or indehiscent.
* '''Seeds''': Large, tuberculate, black, with sunken hilum; dispersal by ants (myrmecochory) and water (hydrochory).

== Habitat ==
The genus occupies a wide range of arid habitats:

* Grasslands and desert plains
* Juniper and pine woodlands
* Limestone, gravelly and alluvial soils
* Clayey desert substrates and rocky slopes

Altitude range: from about 500 m up to 2350 m.

Some species tolerate severe frost (down to approximately −26°C).

== Distribution ==
* '''United States''':
Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah

== Taxonomy ==
The genus ''Sclerocactus'' was established by Britton & Rose (1922).

Its circumscription has long been controversial. Various authors have proposed broad concepts including genera such as ''Ancistrocactus'', ''Echinomastus'', ''Glandulicactus'' and ''Toumeya''.

Molecular studies (Porter et al. 2000; Nyffeler 2002; Crozier 2005; Vázquez-Sánchez et al. 2013) show complex relationships within the tribe Cacteae, and indicate that some broadly defined groupings would be polyphyletic.

In a narrower concept, supported by several studies, ''Sclerocactus'' is considered monophyletic when including ''Toumeya''.

According to Joël Lodé (2015), the genus is provisionally accepted with this circumscription.

== Species ==
Following the classification of Joël Lodé (2015).

* [[Sclerocactus glaucus]]
** [[Sclerocactus glaucus subsp. wetlandicus]]
* [[Sclerocactus mesae-verdae]]
* [[Sclerocactus nyensis]]
* [[Sclerocactus papyracanthus]]
* [[Sclerocactus parviflorus]]
** [[Sclerocactus parviflorus subsp. havasupaiensis]]
** [[Sclerocactus parviflorus subsp. intermedius]]
** [[Sclerocactus parviflorus subsp. terrae-canyonae]]
* [[Sclerocactus polyancistrus]]
* [[Sclerocactus pubispinus]]
* [[Sclerocactus sileri]]
* [[Sclerocactus spinosior]]
** [[Sclerocactus spinosior subsp. blainei]]
** [[Sclerocactus spinosior subsp. nyensis]]
* [[Sclerocactus whipplei]]
** [[Sclerocactus whipplei subsp. heilii]]
* [[Sclerocactus wrightiae]]

== Notes ==
* The genus remains taxonomically complex and under revision.
* Some species have been previously placed in other genera such as ''Echinomastus'' or ''Glandulicactus''.
* ''Sclerocactus sileri'' is not synonymous with ''Pediocactus sileri'', despite historical confusion.

[[Category:Cactaceae]]
[[Category:Cactoideae]]
[[Category:Cacteae]]
[[Category:Sclerocactus]]

Sclerocactus - Revision history