Spring is running a wee bit late in Utah's High Desert Mountain climate, but it has finally arrived after a record 900 inches of snowfall. And the math for you, that's - 75 feet or 22.86 meters. Yeah, we're ready for a break from the white stuff.

This little beauty is a Pediocactus simpsonii or in English - Simpson's Plains Cactus. The common names are Mountain Ball Cactus, Hedgehog Cactus and sometimes Pincushion Cactus. Xerophile aficionados, like myself, use the Latin names to distinguish them from other cacti with similar common names.

This cactus is very common but rarely seen in its natural habitat due to grasses and other plants obscuring it.
Pediocactus simpsonii distribution:
USA: AZ , CO , ID , MT , NM , NV , OR , SD , UT , WA , WY
Native Distribution: The Rocky Mountains, from south Montana to north New Mexico; also scattered locations in Oregon, Nevada, Utah and Arizona.
Native Habitat: Grassland, sagebrush flats, pinyon-juniper woodland; up to 11,000 feet elevation.
This one was collected by me under the Federal Bureau of Land Management Negotiated Vegetative Material Contract rules a few years ago.
This species is not self fertile so it needs another specimen and a pollinator to create fruit with viable seeds. Usually that's me with a paint brush trading pollen between two separate cacti of the same species....just in case the bees and other flying insects overlook them. Very easy to grow and maintain. Just ignore them, lol! Mother Nature does the rest.

Google Pixel 5 cell phone

Cropped