Cactaceae
Turk's cap
Melocactus intortus
- Family
- Cactaceae
- Genus
- Melocactus
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Common names
By language (4)
- Arabic
- مقلة القاضي المفتولة, صبار الطربوش, مُقلة القاضي, بطيخ شوكي, مقلة القاضي
- Chinese
- 彩云
- Dutch
- Kegelmeloencactus
- English
- Turk's cap, Barrel cactus, Mother-in-law's pincushion, Turk's head, Turk's head cactus
Synonyms
- Cactus antonii Britton
- Cactus communis (W.T.Aiton) Steud.
- Cactus coronatus Lam.
- Cactus intortus Mill.
- Cactus intortus f. desiradensis Stehlé
- Cactus intortus f. quentinianus Stehlé
- Cactus lamarkii Colla
- Cactus melocactus var. communis W.T.Aiton
- Cactus miquelii (Lehm.) Borg
- Echinocactus intortus (Mill.) DC.
- Echinocactus intortus var. purpureus DC.
- Echinocactus rufispinus Bertol.
- Echinocactus xanthacanthus Miq.
- Melocactus antonii (Britton) F.M.Knuth
- Melocactus atrosanguineus Pfeiff.
- Melocactus bradleyi Suringar
- Melocactus brongniartii Lem.
- Melocactus communis (W.T.Aiton) Link & Otto
- Melocactus communis var. grengelii Pfeiff.
- Melocactus communis var. havannensis Pfeiff.
- Melocactus communis var. lanifer Pfeiff.
- Melocactus communis var. oblongus Link & Otto
- Melocactus communis var. viridis Pfeiff.
- Melocactus coronatus (Lam.) Backeb.
- Melocactus croceus Suringar
- Melocactus dichroacanthus Miq.
- Melocactus eustachianus Suringar
- Melocactus eustachius f. vetustior Valck.Sur.
- Melocactus grengelii J.Forbes
- Melocactus havannensis (Pfeiff.) Miq.
- Melocactus hookeri Valck.Sur.
- Melocactus intortus subsp. intortus
- Melocactus intortus var. antonii (Britton) Backeb.
- Melocactus lamarckii (Colla) G.Don
- Melocactus leucaster Hoffmanns.
- Melocactus linkii Valck.Sur.
- Melocactus macracanthoides Miq.
- Melocactus macrocanthus Miq.
- Melocactus meonacanthus Link & Otto
- Melocactus miquelii Lehm.
and 6 more.
Characteristics
- Growth habit
- Shrub, Subshrub
- Lifespan
- Perennial
- In the US and Canada
- Navassa Island: native, Puerto Rico: native, U.S. Virgin Islands: native
Photos
Photo: Alex Doyle, CC BY 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Anneli Salo, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Jules Hermann, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Pl@ntNet via GBIF 
Photo: Anneli Salo, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: christiane Fazer, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Pl@ntNet via GBIF 
Photo: Anneli Salo, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Paul Raymond, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Pl@ntNet via GBIF 
Photo: Josh Noseworthy, CC BY 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Fenotti Adriano, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Pl@ntNet via GBIF 
Photo: Peter Goodspeed, CC BY 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Avery Orren, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Pl@ntNet via GBIF 
Photo: lallen, CC0, from Wikimedia Commons
More in Melocactus
- Melocactus conoideusCactaceae
- CactusMelocactus glaucescensCactaceae
- Melocactus azureusCactaceae
- Melocactus deinacanthusCactaceae
- Dwarf turk's cap cactusMelocactus matanzanusCactaceae
- Melocactus paucispinusCactaceae
- Melocactus lanssensianusCactaceae
- Melocactus macracanthosCactaceae
- CactusMelocactus pachyacanthusCactaceae
- Melocactus caroli-linnaeiCactaceae
- Melocactus curvispinusCactaceae
- Melocactus ernestiiCactaceae
Sources: classification, synonyms from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); common names, US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.