(Named in honor of General Timothy A. Wilcox of the United States Army, who collected many plants in Arizona and other western states)
How to identify and how it grows
The Brown Pincushion Cactus grows with flabby stems, two or three inches tall with as great a diameter. It is hemispherical or subglobose, and somewhat depressed at the top. The tubercles are loosely set and spirally placed, narrow and conical. There are eighteen to twenty sharp, slender, needlelike, wide-spreading radial spines which interlock with those of the other spine clusters; they are white with the tips a bright reddish brown. There are two to six slender but much stronger central spines which are spreading and erect with the hooked ends turned in several directions. These are a translucent red-brown throughout, which gives to the plant a reddish brown halo over the mass of the white radials. The light pink flowers are a little more than an inch long, and when full open are wider than they are long. There are from thirty-five to forty petals, narrow lance-shaped and somewhat recurved. The fifteen or twenty white sepals form in fringes.
How to grow
These plants will grow outside in temperatures nearly as low as zero. With colder winter weather they should be covered or grown in greenhouses or conservatories. Plants grow easily from seed in fine sandy soil in pots or flats, with part shade and with occasional watering to keep the soil moist. They transplant readily in gravelly clay with watering twice a month during dry spells, and should be set in partial shade.
Horned Toad Cactus (Mammillaria Mainæ)
(Named for Mrs. F. M. Main, who first collected the plant near Nogales, Mexico)
How to identify and how it grows
The Horned Toad Cactus grows from single stems, or several in loose clumps and is depressed globose or hemispherical, growing as short as two or three inches, with a diameter of three or four inches. The tubercles are of a pale green, arranged in thirteen spiral rows with compressed bases tapering above and upturned. The texture of the plant is flabby and loose. There are not many spines in this species, twelve wide-spreading yellowish radial spines and one central which is much stronger than the radials and somewhat twisted and curved. The flowers are quite slender and about one inch long, both sepals and petals pointed. The former have a brownish center while the latter have reddish centers with white-fringed margins. The style is much longer than the stamens. This plant is not conspicuous because it grows quite close to the ground and is not easily seen with its light-colored spines.