Infrequent throughout its range, this small hedgehog bursts into bloom with magenta flowers with early summer rains and often again with late summer monsoons. Note the flowers bloom in a ring around the stem below the apex, the filaments are reddish-pink, and each areole has 2 or more dark brown, hooked central spines.

FLOWER: June, August (rain triggered). A dense ring of rose to magenta flowers circle the stem below the apex with numerous narrow, pointed, petal-like tepals; outer tepals have conspicuous fringe, especially near the tips; filaments are reddish-pink, anthers yellow, stigma lobes yellow to pale green. Rounded to oval, grape-like fruits are green to dull purple, juicy.

SPINES: Areoles have 8–30 white radial spines in one series, and 2–4 dark central spines 1/2–5/8-inch long (12–14 mm), all with hooked tips.

HABITAT: Sandy, gravelly soils; hills, plains, mesas, slopes, canyons; semi-desert grasslands, pinyon-juniper woodlands.

ELEVATION: 4,000–7,000 feet.

RANGE: AZ, NM, TX.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Two varieties in the Southwest: The widespread var. wrightii has 8–15 radial spines; in the Boothill region var. wilcoxii has 16–30 radial spines. Green-flowering Nipple Cactus, M. viridiflora, in Grant and Hidalgo cos., has 15–23 radial spines and 1 hooked central spine per areole, and the flowers  are white, pale greenish, or pale rose-pink. Graham’s Fishhook, M. grahamii, has only one fishhook central spine per areole, 19–25 radial spines, and elongated fruit.

NM COUNTIES: Infrequent in the SW quarter of NM in low- to mid-elevation, arid habitats: Bernalillo, Catron, Cibola, Dona Ana, Grant, Guadalupe, Hidalgo, Lincoln, Luna, McKinley, Otero, San Miguel, Sandoval, Sierra, Socorro, Santa Fe, Torrance.