Common Name:

General Information

Cochemiea grahamii is a spiny, evergreen cylindrical cactus; it often branches basally and can produce one to several globose to cylindrical stems around 50 - 150mm tall and 35 - 65mm in diameter[].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food and medicine.
Cochemiea grahamii is wide-ranging, abundant, and there are no known threats. The plant is classified as 'Least Concern' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2017)[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

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Range

Southwest N. America - southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, western Texas, northern Mexico (Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua)

Habitat

Chihuahuan and Sonoran desert scrub, grasslands, interior chaparral, oak woodlands, alluvial slopes, hills, canyons, silty, sandy, gravelly, or rocky soils of igneous or calcareous origin; at elevations from 300 - 1,500 metres[, ].

Properties

Conservation Status	Least Concern
Edibility Rating
Habit	Evergreen Perennial
Height	0.10 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Cochemia grahamii is a plant of arid and semi-arid regions in southwest N. America. It requires a dry climate and plenty of heat in the growing season. The plant is somewhat cold tolerant, in its native habitat it can withstand short periods with temperatures falling as low as -10°c[].

Edible Uses

Fruit - raw or cooked[]. A tasty fruit that makes good eating[]. It can be dried for later use[]. The fruit is eaten by children as a sweet and by people of all ages as a trail snack[, ]. The fruit is juicy only in the fruit walls[]. The subglobose to club-shaped, red fruits are 12 - 25mm long and 5 - 8mm n diameter[, ].

Pulp - raw[]. Eaten mainly by children as a snack food[]. This is presumably the fruit pulp, though it could be stem pulp[].

Medicinal

The plant is boiled and then placed in the ear whilst still warm to treat earaches and suppurating ears[].
Ear drops prepared from the stems served as a treatment for earache[].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed -