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- ›globular cacti, moonlight cacti, torch cacti, and allies
- ›Globular Cactuses
pincushion cactuses
Mammillaria
Mammillaria is one of the largest genera in the cactus family (Cactaceae), with currently about 170 to 190 accepted species and around 99 subspecies. Most of the mammillarias are native to Mexico, while some come from the Southwestern United States, the Caribbean, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Venezuela. The common name "pincushion cactus" refers to this genus and the closely related Escobaria.
The first species was described by Carl Linnaeus as Cactus mammillaris in 1753, deriving its name from the Latin mammilla, "nipple", referring to the tubercles that are among the distinctive features of the genus. Numerous species are commonly known as globe cactus, nipple cactus, birthday cake cactus, fishhook cactus or pincushion cactus (though such terms are also commonly used for related taxa, such as Escobaria or Ferocactus).
60 branches of this genus, most-observed first
little nipple cactus
speciesMammillaria heyderi
Mexican pincushion cactus
speciesMammillaria magnimamma
Gold Lace Cactus
speciesMammillaria elongata
little nipple cactus
speciesMammillaria meiacantha
Mammillaria uncinata
speciesMammillaria uncinata
Silver Cluster Cactus
speciesMammillaria prolifera
Mammillaria haageana
speciesMammillaria haageana
Mammillaria vetula
speciesMammillaria vetula
Rainbow Pincushion
speciesMammillaria rhodantha
Lace-spine Nipple Cactus
speciesMammillaria lasiacantha
Mother of Hundreds
speciesMammillaria compressa
Mammillaria carnea
speciesMammillaria carnea
Rat-tail Nipple Cactus
speciesMammillaria pottsii
Mammillaria geminispina
speciesMammillaria geminispina
Mammillaria formosa
speciesMammillaria formosa
Mammillaria albilanata
speciesMammillaria albilanata
Mammillaria muehlenpfordtii
speciesMammillaria muehlenpfordtii
Pichilingue Nipple Cactus
speciesMammillaria petrophila
Mammillaria geminata
speciesMammillaria geminata
Mammillaria chionocephala
speciesMammillaria chionocephala
Mammillaria polythele
speciesMammillaria polythele
Mammillaria densispina
speciesMammillaria densispina
Mammillaria brandegeei
speciesMammillaria brandegeei
Mammillaria wagneriana
speciesMammillaria wagneriana
Mammillaria scrippsiana
speciesMammillaria scrippsiana
Mammillaria grusonii
speciesMammillaria grusonii
Mammillaria melanocentra
speciesMammillaria melanocentra
Mammillaria sphacelata
speciesMammillaria sphacelata
Mammillaria bocensis
speciesMammillaria bocensis
Mammillaria discolor
speciesMammillaria discolor
Mammillaria jaliscana
speciesMammillaria jaliscana
Mammillaria petterssonii
speciesMammillaria petterssonii
Mammillaria gigantea
speciesMammillaria gigantea
Mammillaria spinosissima
speciesMammillaria spinosissima
Benecke Fishhook Cactus
speciesMammillaria beneckei
old woman cactus
speciesMammillaria hahniana
Feather Cactus
speciesMammillaria plumosa
Mammillaria peninsularis
speciesMammillaria peninsularis
Long Nipple Cactus
speciesMammillaria longimamma
Mammillaria senilis
speciesMammillaria senilis
Woburn Cactus
speciesMammillaria voburnensis
Mammillaria mystax
speciesMammillaria mystax
Mammillaria parkinsonii
speciesMammillaria parkinsonii
Powderpuff Cactus
speciesMammillaria bocasana
Mammillaria winterae
speciesMammillaria winterae
Bird's Nest Cactus
speciesMammillaria decipiens
Mammillaria albiflora
speciesMammillaria albiflora
Longmamma Nipple Cactus
speciesMammillaria sphaerica
Silken Pincushion Cactus
speciesMammillaria bombycina
Mammillaria crinita
speciesMammillaria crinita
Mammillaria schiedeana
speciesMammillaria schiedeana
Mammillaria gilensis
speciesMammillaria gilensis
Mammillaria orcuttii
speciesMammillaria orcuttii
Mammillaria mathildae
speciesMammillaria mathildae
woolly nipple cactus
speciesMammillaria nivosa
Mammillaria gaumeri
speciesMammillaria gaumeri
Mammillaria johnstonii
speciesMammillaria johnstonii
Mammillaria sempervivi
speciesMammillaria sempervivi
Mammillaria dixanthocentron
speciesMammillaria dixanthocentron
Mammillaria columbiana
speciesMammillaria columbiana
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Mammillaria in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 68192.