Missouri Foxtail Cactus

Creative Commons, 2.0

Do you have Christmas cactus? These holiday plants are usually known as Schlumbergera, a coastal plant originally from Brazil.

A cactus that Meriwether Lewis carefully documented was the Missouri Foxtail Cactus, which he first observed in July 1805 near today’s Three Forks, Montana. Lewis originally called it a “globular prickly pear” but then provided sufficient details to identify it as a new and different species.

Escobaria missouriensis is low growing and found along the Missouri River in the tallgrass and shortgrass regions. It’s also found as far south as Texas and in the lower elevations of Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. The plant grows to about 12 inches high and forms clumps of 12 inches in diameter.