Cochemiea tetrancistra

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Cochemiea tetrancistra, commonly known as the common fishhook cactus, is a cactus found in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It grows in various desert habitats at elevations between about 100 and 1,500 meters.

Description:
- It usually has a single cylindrical stem that is a few centimeters wide, up to about 25 cm tall, and 3–8 cm in diameter, with tuberous roots.
- The surface has warty knobs, and the axils are covered with bristles.
- Each cluster of spines has 3–4 dark hooked central spines and many straight white radial spines, the longest up to 2.5 cm.
- There are 30–60 hair-like radial spines in two rows, white with dark tips, about 6–10 mm long.
- Flowers are 2–4 cm wide and pink to lavender.
- Fruits are red and shiny, about 1.2 cm long, fleshy, with many black seeds coated in corky arils.

Taxonomy:
- It was first described as Mammillaria tetrancistra by George Engelmann in 1852. The name tetrancistra comes from Greek for four and hook, referring to the four hooked central spines.
- In 2021, Peter B. Breslin and Lucas C. Majure moved it to the genus Cochemiea.

Conservation and distribution:
- Its conservation status is Least Concern (IUCN 3.1).
- It is found in California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and in Baja California and Sonora, Mexico.