Flowers of Coryphantha vivipara are brilliant pink to magenta. Fruits are green to brownish-red. C. vivipara usually has several central spines on each tubercle ("bump"), which are the darker spines in the photos. Tubercles
on Coryphantha are grooved on the upper side and appear to be randomly arranged, in contrast to the longitudinal
ridges with spines in straight lines found on Echinocereus
sp.
Compare to
Coryphantha missouriensis, which has greenish-pinkish flowers, bright red fruits and lacks central spines on the tubercles (sometimes has a single central spine). C. vivipara is the common species on the plains. C. missouriensis is less common and is found mostly on the foothills of the Front Range.
