Great basin fishhook cactus

Sclerocactus pubispinus

NatureServe conservation status

Global (G-rank): G2
State (S-rank): S2

External links

• NatureServe species report
• Google image search
• Google web search

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Species range

Estimate from download of data from Utah Rare Plant Database on July 18, 2024.
Geocat 26 observations: Extent of Occurrence: 12,301.930 km2.
Historic observations over 40 years old were not used.

Light colored soils of limestone or dolostone origin, sagebrush and shadscale flats, pinyon-juniper woodlands

Threats or limiting factors

Threats include predation by the cactus borer beetle, drought, grazing, invasive weeds and collection of plants.
"They are badly predated by the cactus beetle borer. Worse than that, they are badly impacted by continued grazing. As long as grazing continues to degrade the environment, this will continue. I am doing a project right now of repeat photography with my 1968 study sites. But just by visiting sites, almost none had any Scleros at all any more. In general, they had no crytogams, or maybe just the black moss that comes back fast. And so much cheat grass and other weeds. Much changed since 1968. Being ignorant of the long term, I thought at that time that the damage had been done by grazing - by the historic immense herds - and didn't realize it was so ongoing. There are many less than there were in 1968. Sites have always been scattered, so without previous information it is now hard to find them. At that time, I knew about where to look for the first one, because Benson had told me where he found spinosior... Also an acquaintance had an uncle in Nephi that collected cacti for his garden. She told me he had complained he could hardly find any Scleros in his favorite site anymore; she told him, "Of course, you have taken them all." I also was able to access the area of the original collection site of S. pubispinus in far western Utah. Pubispinus had been collected for an herbarium once, quite by chance, before I started my work, since the original site. When a cactophile from Las Vegas stopped for the night and happened to find it there. Spinosior had been collected a few times, because it grows near Richfield, and Marcus Jones collected there. Gerhard [a german cactus enthusiast and friend of Dorde's] has noted that all Scleros are more rare since 1998. That was a good year... the big drought was in '03. Some sites are recovering, but they are in the minority. At some of his [sites], there are no longer any Scleros. All of this damage from weather, beetles, and grazing must be recovered from by recruitment, and that is difficult for cacti, their tiny new plants are very vulnerable. Benson added spinosior and pubispinus to the provisional list for listed plants. But Welsh said they were not so rare but scattered. In my opinion, it is global warming that has sent it farther north [from Arizona into Utah]. It was here in the late 60s, but not in such abundance." - Dorde Woodruff 2014