Ferocactus pilosus

Ferocactus pilosus, also known as Mexican lime cactus (Biznaga De Lima) or Mexican fire barrel, is a species of cactus in North America.

Description
Ferocactus pilosus grows singly or forms large clumps, reaching heights up to 3 meters with diameters of 50 cm. It has 13 to 20 non-humped ribs, initially sharp-edged in young plants and later becoming rounded. The areoles are close together, giving the appearance of almost merging into one another. The bright red or yellow, spreading spines are pubescent and slightly curved, making it difficult to distinguish between central and radial spines. The mostly red, six to 12 central spines are strong, reaching up to 5 cm in length, while the radial spines are typically reduced to numerous, whitish bristles.

The yellow to red flowers appear in circles around the shoot tip, measuring up to 4 cm in length and 2.5 cm in diameter. The yellow fruits are egg-shaped, about 3 to 4 cm long.

Distribution
The cactus is endemic to the Chihuahuan Desert, located in northeastern Mexico.

It is native to the Méxican states of Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosí, and Tamaulipas, found growing on rocky limestone slopes.

Taxonomy
First described as Echinocactus pilosus in 1850 by Henri Guillaume Galeotti in Joseph zu Salm-Reifferscheidt-Dyck's Cacteae in horto Dyckensi cultae anno 1849, the specific epithet pilosus, meaning 'hairy' in Latin, refers to the species' thorns. Erich Werdermann transferred the species to the genus Ferocactus in 1933.