Coryphantha elephantidens elephantidens

Description

Coryphantha sulcolanata is a species of plant in the genus Coryphantha of the cactus family (Cactaceae). The specific epithet sulcolanata is derived from the Latin words sulcus for 'furrow' and lanatus for 'woolly' and refers to the woolly wart furrows and axillae of the species. Coryphantha sulcolanata usually forms groups. The depressed spherical, bright green shoots reach heights of growth of up to 5 centimeters with a diameter of up to 6 centimeters. The shoot apex is often flattened. The warts, which are up to 20 millimeters long, are somewhat conical in the upper part and pentagonal at their base. The axillae and the furrows on the warts are densely woolly. Central spines are not formed. The nine to ten unequal, 1.2 to 1.6 centimeters long radial spines are initially yellowish white and darker tipped, later they become darker. The top and bottom of them are short, the side longer. The yellow flowers are 4 to 6 centimeters long and reach a diameter of up to 6 centimeters. The light green fruits are up to 3 centimeters long. Coryphantha sulcolanata is distributed in the Mexican states of Hidalgo, Veracruz, and Oaxaca. thefirst descriptionas Mammillaria sulcolanata byCharles Lemairewas published in 1838. Thirty years later he placed the species in the genus Coryphantha. Reto F. DichtotherAdrian D. Lüthytreated Coryphantha sulcolanata in 2001 as asynonymofCoryphantha elephantidens. Othernomenclatural synonymsare Echinocactus sulcolanatus (Lem.) Poselg. (1853) and Cactus sulcolanatus (Lem.) Kuntze (1891).