Origin and Habitat: USA (western Texas), Mexico (Coahuila, Tamaulipas)

• Escobaria runyonii Britton & Rose

• Escobaria emskoetteriana (Quehl) Borg
• Coryphantha emskoetteriana (Quehl) A.Berger
• Mammillaria emskoetteriana Quehl
• Coryphantha piercei Fosberg
• Coryphantha pottsiana (Poselg.) A.D.Zimmerman
• Echinocactus pottsianus Poselg.
• Coryphantha robertii A.Berger
• Escobaria bella Britton & Rose
• Coryphantha bella (Britton & Rose) Fosberg
• Escobaria muehlbaueriana (Boed.) F.M.Knuth in Backeb. & F.M.Knuth
• Coryphantha muehlbaueriana Boed.
• Neobesseya muehlbaueriana (Boed.) Boed.
• Escobaria runyonii Britton & Rose
• Mammillaria escobaria Cory

Description: Small caespitose cactus thickly covered with small, weak, spines that form low clumps.
Stem: The individual stems are globose to short-cylindric, about 5 cm hight.
Tubercles: Conic, axil naked.
Roots: Fibrous.
Radial spines: 20-25 whitish-gray to pale orange-brownish
Central spines: 6-8, setaceous, white with brown or black tips.
Flowers: Brownish-yellow, pink or flesh coloured, 3cm long.
Fruits: Small elongate, red.
Blooming season: Early April-May.
Remarks: The Escobaria emskoetterianaSN|10015]]SN|10015]] complex (E. emskoetteriana, E. muehlbaueriana, E. runyonii) comprises many different forms.

Cultivation and Propagation: It comes from an area of summer rainfall; keep drier in winter (but for outdoors cultivation it is very resistant to wet conditions, too). Very cold resistant. It can easily be grown outdoors in areas with minimum winter temperatures of - 5° (or less). Needs full sun to light shade.
Propagation: Seeds (no dormancy requirement, they germinate best at 25°C) or usually by offsets (readily available), or occasionally grafted.