Bunched Cory Cactus

(Coryphantha ramillosa ssp. ramillosa)

Date of Listing: Threatened, 1979

© Photo courtesy Paul M. Montgomery

Note: Special thanks to the photographers for providing images of Texas endangered and threatened plants. All rights to these images are reserved. Educational use permitted.

Growing within Big Bend National Park and on large private ranches, this cactus is fairly well protected from cactus collectors due to the remoteness of its habitat. However several sites within Big Bend National Park are well known, and even though these sites are monitored, a few individuals of bunched cory cactus still fall prey to cactus poachers.

Size:

Cactus with rounded, usually single stems to 4 inches tall.

Habitat (where it lives):

Slopes, ledges, and flats on sparsely vegetated limestone rock outcrops (most commonly of the Boquillas or Santa Elena Formations) in the lechuguilla shrublands of the Chihuahuan Desert.

Range (where found in Texas):

This species occurs in one of the most remote and inaccessible areas of the state, the arid lands surrounding the Lower Canyons of the Rio Grande River. Global range includes Brewster and Terrell counties in Texas, and the state of Coahuila in Mexico.

Reproduction:

Flowering July-September (as late as October, and reportedly as early as April; probably dependent on rainfall); fruit maturing from late August-November.

Population Status:

Known from about 25 sites, many within Big Bend National Park in southern Brewster County.