Common name: Pincushion Cactus, Mammillaria, Nipple Cactus, Fishhook Cactus
Scientific name: Mammillaria microcarpa

Description: Very small barrel-like cactus with showy pink flowers, short white spines, and long curved reddish-brown spines.

Uses: Among the Papago and Pima, used as a water supplement (when opened and chewed). The red cactus fruit may be rubbed on arrowshafts as coloring/dye.

Author

Kimberley A. Ryan, Northern Arizona University Anthropology Laboratories

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