Mammillaria muehlenpfordtii

Mammillaria muehlenpfordtii is a species of cactus in the subfamily Cactoideae.

Description
Mammillaria muehlenpfordtii is a succulent plant that grows rapidly and forms large clusters. It has gray-green cone-shaped warts covered in drooping bristles and features 30–50 white to whitish-yellow marginal spines, each 4 mm long, crowned with 2 to 6 upright central spines. These central spines vary in color from yellowish to brown and gray, ranging from 2 to 40 mm in length. The plant produces carmine red flowers in a wreath-like arrangement, each reaching a size of 1.5 cm in diameter. Its long fruits are bright red, and its seeds are brown.

Distribution
The plant is native to the Mexican states of Guanajuato, Querétaro, and San Luis Potosí, Mammillaria muehlenpfordtii grows at elevations of 1700 to 2400 meters.

Taxonomy
Mammillaria muehlenpfordtii was first described in 1847 by Carl Friedrich Förster, the plant's specific epithet, muehlenpfordtii, honors the German physician and botanist Philipp August Friedrich Mühlenpfordt from Hanover. Nomenclature synonyms include Cactus muehlenpfordtii (C.F.Först.) Kuntze (1891) and Neomammillaria muehlenpfordtii (C.F.Först.) Y.Itô (1981).