The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has removed the Lloyd's hedgehog cactus from the endangered species list after determining the cactus was not a distinct species.
That means the cactus no longer will be protected against removal or damage on federal land under the Endangered Species Act.
"This cactus had been accepted by the scientific community as a distinct species ever since it was named in 1922," said Nancy Kaufman, a regional director for the Fish and Wildlife Service.
But she said research by the federal agency has found the hedgehog cactus actually is a mix between the claret cup cactus and the Texas rainbow cactus neither of which is protected by the Endangered Species Act.
The Lloyd's hedgehog cactus, which grows in northern Mexico, New Mexico and Texas, grows about a foot high and about four inches wide.
It produces fruit that is greenish-orange when ripe.
Federal wildlife officials said that because the cactus is an unstable hybrid rather than a distinct genetic line, it can't be recognized as a species and no longer qualifies for protection under the act.
But some regulatory protection for the hedgehog cactus still exists, officials said.
All native cacti are protected under the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna.
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