''Ariocarpus agavoides'' (known commonly as the Tamaulipas living rock cactus) is a species of

cactus A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Gree ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. It grows in dry shrubland in rocky calcareous substrates.

Description

This cactus is a small rosette-shaped succulent plant with short, stiff, dark green tubercles. The subglobose, flattened stem is greenish brown in color and up to 6 centimeters long by 8 centimeters in diameter. The rest of the plant is rootstock growing underground. The divergent, flaccid tubercles are flattened adaxially. The areoles at the tips of the tubercles are up to 1.2 centimeters long. Some individuals lack spines, while others have whitish spines up to a centimeter long. Plants 5 to 8 years of age begin to grow magenta flowers up to 5 centimeters long. The pistils are a deep yellow and the stamens are white. The globose fruit is reddish in color and up to 2.2 centimeters long.

Habitat and distribution

''A. agavoides'' has a narrow distribution in the rocky limestone hills at about 1200 meters in elevation in

Tamaulipas Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entiti ...

and San Luis Potosí in Mexico.

Conservation actions

This cactus is listed as an endangered species by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...

and it is listed on CITES Appendix I. It is illegal to collect the cactus in Mexico as it is protected by the state under the national list of species at risk of extinction, NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010. Despite the restriction, it still shows up in the trade market.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q137206 agavoides Cacti of Mexico Endemic flora of Mexico Flora of San Luis Potosí Flora of Tamaulipas Endangered plants Endangered biota of Mexico Taxonomy articles created by Polbot