''Sclerocactus glaucus'' is a rare 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 Greek ...

known by the common name Colorado hookless cactus. 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 elsew ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

in the United States, where it is known only from the area between Grand Junction and Montrose.''Sclerocactus glaucus''.
Flora of North America. It is a federally listed threatened species. The description of this species formerly included plants now belonging to '' Sclerocactus brevispinus'' and ''

Sclerocactus wetlandicus ''Sclerocactus wetlandicus'' is a rare species of cactus known by the common name Uinta Basin hookless cactus. It is endemic to Utah in the United States, where it is known only from the Uinta Basin.Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. When the second of the two species was separated in 1994, the name ''S. glaucus'' was applied only to plants found in Colorado; it made the common name Uinta Basin hookless cactus a

misnomer A misnomer is a name that is incorrectly or unsuitably applied. Misnomers often arise because something was named long before its correct nature was known, or because an earlier form of something has been replaced by a later form to which the name ...

, because now this species does not occur in the

Uinta Basin The Uinta Basin (also known as the Uintah Basin) is a physiographic section of the larger Colorado Plateaus province, which in turn is part of the larger Intermontane Plateaus physiographic division. It is also a geologic structural basin in ...

of Utah.USFWS
Taxonomic Change of ''Sclerocactus glaucus'' to Three Separate Species.
''Federal Register'' September 15, 2009. The two new species retained their federally threatened status, which they had received while members of ''S. glaucus''.USFWS
12-month Finding on a Petition To List Sclerocactus brevispinus (Pariette cactus) as an Endangered or Threatened Species; Taxonomic Change From ''Sclerocactus glaucus'' to ''Sclerocactus brevispinus'', ''S. glaucus'', and ''S. wetlandicus''.
''Federal Register'' September 18, 2007. Sources vary in whether they recognize the separation of these species from ''S. glaucus''; Anderson (2001) does not. p. 626 This cactus is cylindrical in shape and measures up to 28 centimeters tall by 9 wide, though it is usually much shorter. During the dry season it may shrink so much it disappears beneath the soil surface. There are up to 12 white radial spines on each of its

areole In botany, areoles are small light- to dark-colored bumps on cacti out of which grow clusters of spines. Areoles are important diagnostic features of cacti, and identify them as a family distinct from other succulent plants. Gordon Rowley - W ...

s, and several straight whitish, reddish, or black central spines pointing in various directions. The central spines may be 1 to 2 centimeters long or more. The fragrant funnel- or bell-shaped flower is up to 5 or 6 centimeters long and has pink

tepal A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

s. The

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s have white or green filaments and yellow anthers. The fruit is

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, ...

-shaped and up to 2 or 3 centimeters in length. This plant grows on exposed stretches of

gravel Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gravel is classifi ...

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

, including

alluvial Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...

benches above

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

s and on

mesa A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by ...

slopes. Nearby rivers include the

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

and

Gunnison River The Gunnison River is located in western Colorado, United States and is one of the largest tributaries of the Colorado River. Description The river flows east to west and has a drainage area of according to the USGS. The drainage basin of ...

s.''Sclerocactus glaucus''.
Center for Plant Conservation. It is part of

saltbush Saltbush is a vernacular plant name that most often refers to ''Atriplex'', a genus of about 250 plants distributed worldwide from subtropical to subarctic regions. ''Atriplex'' species are native to Australia, North and South America, and Eurasia. ...

and

sagebrush Sagebrush is the common name of several woody and herbaceous species of plants in the genus ''Artemisia''. The best known sagebrush is the shrub ''Artemisia tridentata''. Sagebrushes are native to the North American west. Following is an alph ...

-dominated desert shrub

plant communities A plant community is a collection or association of plant species within a designated geographical unit, which forms a relatively uniform patch, distinguishable from neighboring patches of different vegetation types. The components of each plant ...

, or pinyon-juniper woodlands. Other plants in the habitat include

shadscale ''Atriplex confertifolia'', the shadscale or spiny saltbush, is a species of evergreen shrub in the family Amaranthaceae, which is native to the western United States and northern Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Me ...

(''Atriplex confertifolia''), galleta (''Hilaria jamesii''), black sagebrush (''Artemisia nova''), Indian rice grass (''Stipa hymenoides''), strawberry hedgehog cactus (''Echinocereus triglochidiatus'' var. ''melanacanthus''), Simpson's pincushion cactus (''Pediocactus simpsonii''),

prickly pear cactus ''Opuntia'', commonly called prickly pear or pear cactus, is a genus of flowering plants in the cactus family Cactaceae. Prickly pears are also known as ''tuna'' (fruit), ''sabra'', ''nopal'' (paddle, plural ''nopales'') from the Nahuatl word f ...

(''Opuntia polyacantha''),

winterfat ''Krascheninnikovia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae known as winterfat, so-called because it is a nutritious livestock forage. They are known from Eurasia and western North America. Th ...

(''Krascheninnikovia lanata''),

yucca ''Yucca'' is a genus of perennial shrubs and trees in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. Its 40–50 species are notable for their rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped leaves and large terminal panicles of white or whitish flo ...

(''Yucca harrimaniae''), snakeweed (''Gutierrezia sarothrae''), low rabbitbrush (''Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus''), sand dropseed (''Sporobolus cryptandrus''), and Salina wildrye (''Leymus salinus'').''Sclerocactus glaucus''.
The Nature Conservancy. This cactus faces a number of threats. Almost all of the populations are threatened by habitat loss and degradation due to human activities such as

hydrocarbon exploration Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for deposits of hydrocarbons, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth using petroleum geology. Exploration methods Vis ...

, residential development, rock mining, and the introduction of

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

to the area. It has been affected by the TransColorado Pipeline. The petroleum industry is expected to attract a large population to this rural area.USFW
''Sclerocactus glaucus'' Five-year Review.
March 2008.

Poaching Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...

is also a problem.

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile of ''Sclerocactus glaucus''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q972017

glaucus In Greek mythology, Glaucus (; grc, Γλαῦκος, Glaûkos, glimmering) was a Greek prophetic sea-god, born mortal and turned immortal upon eating a magical herb. It was believed that he came to the rescue of sailors and fishermen in storms ...

Cacti of the United States Flora of Colorado Endemic flora of the United States Endangered flora of the United States