Epithelantha micromeris

(Engelm.) F. A. C. Weber ex Britton & Rose

Common button cactus

CactaceaeFruit

iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) Curren Frasch, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Curren Frasch

iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) Don Verser, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Don Verser

What to Eat

Edible parts: Fruit

The fruit is edible.

Where to Find It

It is a warm temperate plant.

North America, USA,

Countries: Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Jamaica, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Trinidad & Tobago, United States, St Vincent

How to Identify

A cactus. It usually does not have branches. It is ashy grey and rough. The stems are short and cylinder shaped. They are 1-4 cm across. There are 20-35 spines in each section.

Wikipedia

Source ↗

Epithelantha micromeris is a button cactus in the genus Epithelantha, found in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and northeast Mexico. It is characterized by its white-grey spines growing on a globular shaped stem. The density of its white spines give it the illusion of being completely grey, making it very difficult to see the green color beneath. It grows to be 1–5 cm tall, and roughly 2–4 cm in diameter. E. micromeris produces small, pink-white flowers, often considered to be some of the smallest of the cacti. These flowers give way to a bright red, cylindrical fruit which contains several black seeds and also is edible.