Cochemiea multidigitata

Cochemiea multidigitata is a species of flowering plant in the family Cactaceae that is endemic to San Pedro Nolasco Island in Mexico, growing on steep slopes. Cochemiea multidigitata sprouts a white to cream-colored flower from spring to early summer.^[2]

Cochemiea multidigitata
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Cactaceae
Subfamily:	Cactoideae
Genus:	Cochemiea
Species:	C. multidigitata
Binomial name
Cochemiea multidigitata (Radley & G.E.Linds.) P.B.Breslin
Synonyms
Bartschella multidigitata (Radley ex G.E.Linds.) Doweld 2000 Mammillaria dioica var. multidigitata (Radley ex G.E.Linds.) Neutel. 1986 Mammillaria multidigitata Radley ex G.E.Linds. 1947 Neomammillaria multidigitata (Radley ex G.E.Linds.) Y.Itô 1981

Description

Cochemiea multidigitata grows abundantly and forms large groups of over a hundred individual bodies. The cylindrical, green shoots grow to a height of 5 to 20 cm (2.0 to 7.9 in) and a diameter of 2 to 5 cm (0.79 to 1.97 in). The blunt warts do not produce milky juice. The axillae are covered with some wool. The 4 central spines are straight, or sometimes one hooked, needle-like, white with a brown tip and up to 8 millimeters long. The 15 to 25 spreading marginal spines are white and 6 to 8 mm (0.24 to 0.31 in) long.

The flowers are white to cream colored and up to 1.5 cm (0.59 in) long. The club-shaped fruits are red. They are up to 1.5 cm (0.59 in) long and contain brown seeds.^[3]

Distribution

Cochemiea multidigitata is distributed in the Mexican state of Sonora on the island of San Pedro Nolasco in the Gulf of California.

Taxonomy

It was first described as Mammillaria multidigitata in 1947 by George Edmund Lindsay.^[4] The specific epithet multidigitata is derived from the Latin words multi- for 'many' and digitatus for 'finger' and refers to the growth habit of the species. Peter B. Breslin and Lucas C. Majure placed the species in the genus Cochemiea in 2021^[5]

Gallery

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  Cochemiea multidigitata fruit