Short-spined cactus aka Pariette cactus

Description:

Sclerocactus brevispinus Heil & Martin. Does not continue to grow/elongate but instead remains globose and may offset. Has rounded, reddish-brown buds with pink flowers. Central spines are short, almost absent or fully absent. Also known as Pariette cactus (a name that the Utah Native Plant Society helped to recommend to the USFWS). It should not be referred to as a "fishhook" cactus as many sources do. (Also the illustration of this species in final volume of the Intermountain Flora series, Vol. 2A and published in 2012, is somewhat confusing and seems to depict a hybrid.)This is a federally listed species under the Endangered Species Act (listed as "threatened" - in Sept of 2007 it was recommend to be listed as endangered but that action was considered "warranted but precluded" and its listing has not been "upgraded"). Its habitat is under seige for oil and gas mining yet it is only know from three main occurrences within a very short area. It has only relatively recently been separated recognized as a separate species and was once lumped under the umbrella of S. glaucus (which only occurs in Colorado as presently understood) and S. wetlandicus which like S. brevispinus only occurs in Utah and the two hybridize. S. wetlandicus has a larger range (although it still a highly restricted endemic) and is generally large and adults are differently shaped, and there are bud and seed differences, and to some degree their habitats also differ.May 6, 2006, Duchesne Co., Utah.