''Mammillaria polythele'' is a

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 Greek ...

in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Mammillaria ''Mammillaria'' is one of the largest genera in the cactus family (Cactaceae), with currently 200 known species and varieties recognized. Most of the mammillaria are native to Mexico, but some come from the southwest United States, the Caribbean ...

'', native to

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 ...

. Solitary plants are cylindrical, with erect stem to about 24 inches (61 centimeter) high and 3 to 4 inches (7.6 to 10.16 centimeter) in diameter. The color is dark green to blue green.

References

Mammillarias.net
page on ''M. polythele''. Accessed 2 May 2009. polythele Cacti of Mexico Garden plants of North America {{Cactus-stub