Coryphantha (from Greek, "flowering on the top"), or beehive cactus, is a genus of small to middle-sized, globose or columnar cacti.

Sclerocactus johnsonii) is a species of cactus known by the common names Johnson's beehive cactus and Johnson's fishhook cactus.

Similarly, a number of other species have been previously classified as Coryphantha.

Coryphantha are what most people call ball or barrel cactuses.

There are four characteristics that distinguish Coryphantha from other cacti.

Without the groove it is not a Coryphantha.

More than many other cacti, the Coryphantha change in their appearance over their lifespan.

Before this all Coryphantha had been classified as Mammillaria.

It is also found in certain cactus species of the genera Coryphantha and Dolichothele.

The cacti of this genus bear many similarities to Coryphantha and Mammillaria.

Mr. Spain said there are three main families of cactus that grow in cold climates: echinocereus, coryphantha and opuntia.

For example, Escobaria vivipara was called Coryphantha vivipara.

The genus Mammillaria included members of some modern genera like Coryphantha and Ariocarpus at that time.

Coryphantha elephantidens; macromeris (var.

The name Coryphantha was first applied by Engelmann in 1856 as a subgenus, the earlier name Aulacothele of Lemaire having been abandoned.

Coryphantha robbinsiorum) is a rare species of cactus known by the common names Cochise pincushion cactus and Cochise foxtail cactus.

Since then, Neolloydia has been a dumping ground for species from such diverse genera as Mammillaria, Coryphantha, Escobaria, Echinomastus, Cumarinia, and Thelocactus.

Exceptions to this are Coryphantha elephantidens, Nymphaea odorata, Tillandsia imperialis, Campyloneurum phyllitidis, Cupressus lusitanic and Barkeria scandens.

Google Books Coryphantha: Cacti of Mexico and Southern USA by Reto Dicht, Adrian Lüthy.

It can be synthesized or extracted from the Doñana (Coryphantha macromeris), C. macromeris v. runyonii, C. elephantidens, and other related members of the Cactaceae family.

Some genera (Dolichothele, Mammillopsis, Krainzia and others) have been merged back into Mammillaria, and others like Coryphantha, Escobaria and Mammilloydia were confirmed as separate.

Based on DNA research results, the genus does not seem to be monophyletic and is likely to be split into two large genera, one of them possibly including certain species of other closely related genera like Coryphantha, Ortegocactus and Neolloydia.