Homalocephala polycephala

Homalocephala polycephala, synonym Echinocactus polycephalus, is a cactus that is native to the United States and Mexico.^[1] It occurs in the Mojave Desert region of Arizona, California, and Nevada, and also occurs in the Sonoran Desert region of southern California and northern Sonora, Mexico.^{[citation needed]}

Cotton top cactus
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Cactaceae
Subfamily:	Cactoideae
Genus:	Homalocephala
Species:	H. polycephala
Binomial name
Homalocephala polycephala Engelm. & J.M.Bigelow[1]
Synonyms[1]
Echinocactus polycephalus Engelm. & J.M.Bigelow Emorycactus polycephalus (Engelm. & J.M.Bigelow) Doweld

The plants grow in some of the most extreme arid environments in the American Southwest, such as Death Valley National Park, and the Mojave National Preserve of Southern California.^{[citation needed]}

Description

The stems of Homalocephala polycephala are sometimes solitary, but more often in clusters of as many as 30, each up to 0.6 m tall. The spines are yellow to red. The fruits are densely woolly, giving the common name cotton top cactus. The tendency of the cactus to cluster causes it to also be called many-headed barrel cactus.^[2]

They have a reputation for being difficult in cultivation, and are rarely seen in cactus collections.