What is "ariocarpus"

Ariocarpus \Ariocarpus\ prop. n. 1. 1 a genus of slow-growing geophytic cacti; northern and eastern Mexico; southern Texas.

Syn: genus Ariocarpus.

Ariocarpus is a genus of 8 species of succulent, subtropical plants of the Cactaceae family.

The name comes from the ancient Greek "aria" (an oak type) and "carpos" (=fruit) because of the resemblance of the fruit of the two genus in acorn form. Another possibility for the origin of the name is the work Scheidweiler did on the tree Sorbus aria at the time he described the genus Ariocarpus. He might have meant the fruits of Ariocarpus plants look like the fruits of the Sorbus aria.

It comes from limestone hills of Rio Grande in the south of Texas (Ariocarpus fissuratus) and also the north and the center of Mexico (all other species including A. fissuratus forms known as A. loydii and A. fissuratus var. intermedius) with strong sunshine exposures.

Ariocarpus are endangered and quite rare in the wild.