Spinystar

Pelecyphora vivipara

Spinystar (Pelecyphora vivipara) is a small native cactus, a spiny green ball usually no bigger than a fist, that blooms in June with one to several bright magenta, many-petaled flowers on top. Out of bloom it hides in the grass, and in the Black Hills it is recorded mostly in the dry southern foothills, in Custer, Fall River and Pennington counties.

Free photos from other sources

Spinystar: Low clump of spiny green stems with seven magenta flowers — Spinystar (Pelecyphora vivipara). Brian Finzel, CC BY-SA 4.0, resized. Get it at the source

Spinystar: Two magenta flowers with fringed outer petals and yellow-orange centers — Spinystar (Pelecyphora vivipara). Brian Finzel, CC BY-SA 4.0, resized. Get it at the source

Spinystar: Single spiny ball in the grass, white spines in star-shaped clusters — Spinystar (Pelecyphora vivipara). Brian Dickerson, CC0 1.0. Get it at the source

Spinystar: Green fruits topped with dried flower remains, among reddish central spines — Spinystar (Pelecyphora vivipara). Ryan Donnelly, CC BY 4.0, resized. Get it at the source

Spinystar: Ripe pale green fruits with dark dried flower tips, set among the spines — Spinystar (Pelecyphora vivipara). Colin Croft, CC BY 4.0, resized. Get it at the source

Spinystar: Plant nearly hidden in prairie grass — Spinystar (Pelecyphora vivipara). karissarc, CC0 1.0. Get it at the source

Quick facts
Family	Cactaceae · Cactus
Status	Native perennial
Blooms	June, from late May into July, a few into August
Height	2.5–13 cm (1–5 in)
Where	Dry, sunny grassland, rocky and gravelly slopes and pine-savanna openings
Also called	Pincushion Cactus, Ball Cactus, Beehive Cactus, Viviparous Foxtail Cactus, Pink Pincushion Cactus
Synonym	Escobaria vivipara, Coryphantha vivipara, Mammillaria vivipara, Neomammillaria vivipara, Cactus viviparus
Listed	Wyoming ranks it S3 (vulnerable). South Dakota doesn't rank it.
Traditional use	Hellson (1974) records that the Blackfoot ate the fruit as a sweet, and Hart (1981) that the Northern Cheyenne boiled the fruit, fresh or dried, and ate it.

Roots, seeds & germination

Root: Fibrous and shallow, with thin spreading roots and no big taproot. Older plants make side buds at the base and slowly build a small clump; the name vivipara, "bearing live young," probably refers to these offsets.

Seed: The fruit is a juicy green berry, egg-shaped and about 1.2–2.8 cm (½–1 in) long, topped by the dried flower, and it ripens mostly in August and September. Each one holds roughly 50–100 reddish-brown, comma-shaped seeds about 1.3–2.4 mm long.

Germination: Little is published for wild Plains seed. A University of Washington propagation protocol reports low germination with no special pretreatment, sown after the last spring frost, and offsets cut from the base root more reliably than seed.

How do you identify Spinystar?

Look for a round to egg-shaped green stem 4–8 cm (1½–3 in) across, alone or in a small clump, covered in nipple-like bumps that each end in a star of 10–40 thin white spines spread flat, plus several stouter tan to reddish-brown central spines. The magenta to rose-pink flowers are 2.5–6 cm (1–2½ in) across, with many narrow, pointed petals around a ring of yellow-orange anthers. Missouri Foxtail Cactus has pale greenish-yellow flowers, fewer and paler spines with one central spine or none, and small, shiny scarlet berries in spring, while Spinystar's fruit is a larger green berry. Prickly pears are made of jointed pads with tufts of tiny barbed bristles and have yellow flowers.

When does it bloom?

June, from late May into July, a few into August.

Where does it grow?

Dry, sunny, open ground: mixed-grass and shortgrass prairie, rocky or gravelly hillsides, limestone and shale outcrops, sandy spots and grassy openings in ponderosa pine savanna. It often grows in short or grazed grass, where it is hard to see out of flower. Herbarium specimens from 1909 to 1992 come from Custer, Fall River and Pennington counties, including a 1924 specimen from Custer State Park and a 1910 one from the Black Hills National Forest. iNaturalist records add Wind Cave National Park and a few from Meade County and the Wyoming side of the Hills.