Echinocereus bonkerae
Echinocereus fasciculatus
bonker hedgehog, pinkflower hedgehog cactus
pinkflower hedgehog cactus
mostly erect, ovoid to cylindric, 15–30(–50) × 3.5–7 cm;
ribs (11–)12–18(–20), crests slightly undulate;
areoles 8–20 mm apart.
mostly erect, cylindric, (5–)10–40 × 4.5–8 cm;
ribs 10–15, crests slightly undulate;
areoles 10–15 mm apart.
(9–)12–17 per areole, straight in short-spined forms, sometimes curved or twisted in long-spined forms, appressed (radial spines) or porrect to spreading or descending (central spines when present), dull yellowish to brown or white to gray, often brown to black especially at bases or tips;
radial spines (9–)11–16 per areole, 5–18 mm;
central spines (0–)1(–3) per areole, 2–100 mm, white to yellow or brown, often becoming gray, all terete.
8–16 per areole, usually straight, individual spines with broad zones of different colors: yellowish, reddish brown, or gray to black, or white to black, becoming gray;
radial spines 7–15 per areole, 5–15 mm;
central spines 1–3 per areole, divergent-porrect, 15–75 mm, all terete.
5–7 × 4–9 cm;
flower tube 12–20 × 10–30 mm;
flower tube hairs 1 mm;
inner tepals deep magenta (to dark purple) with darker midstripes, proximally green (to very dark purple), 20–60 × 8.5–20 mm, tips relatively thin and delicate;
anthers yellow;
nectar chamber 2–4 mm.
6–10 × 8–10 cm;
flower tube 10–20 × 15–40 mm;
flower tube hairs 2.3–4 mm;
inner tepals rose-pink to magenta [rarely nearly white], with midstripes darker, darker magenta or sometimes purplish maroon near base, (20–)35–52 × 12–20 mm, tips relatively thin and delicate;
anthers yellow;
nectar chamber 3.3–5 mm.
bright red or orange red, 15–25 mm, pulp white (or pale pink).
bright red or orange-red, 20–30 mm, pulp white or sometimes pink.
= 22.
= 44.
Echinocereus bonkerae
Echinocereus fasciculatus
Plants in most populations of Echinocereus bonkerae have radial spines almost pectinately arranged and central spines very short or absent, creating the superficial appearance of E. dasyacanthus, E. pectinatus, or similar species. Formerly, all short-spined plants in central and southern Arizona were treated as E. bonkerae, including unusually short-spined individuals of E. fendleri and E. fasciculatus. Today we recognize that E. bonkerae, E. fendleri, and E. fasciculatus all vary from short-spined to long-spined.
Populations at the lowest altitude for the species have taller stems and unusually long, slender central spines (to 10 cm); they have recently been named Echinocereus apachensis. Such plants were part of the basis for L. D. Benson’s polyphyletic concept (1969, 1982) of E. fasciculatus var. boyce-thompsonii (see 8. E. fasciculatus).
Echinocereus bonkerae is a poorly defined species, frequently lumped with E. fendleri or E. fasciculatus, and it is not always identifiable in the field. Although rib number, blooming season, habitat preference, and, in particular regions, spine length or central spine presence are helpful characteristics, ploidy level is the most objective criterion for distinguishing E. bonkerae from E. fasciculatus. Immature plants of E. bonkerae are like E. fasciculatus and unlike the immature plants of E. fendleri, which are tuberculate with their spines long, few, soft, and often curved or twisted.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
New Mexico records of Echinocereus fasciculatus are at least in part based on vigorous old plants of E. fendleri, which sometimes have 1–2 short supplementary central spines (and which appear very different from younger plants in the same populations). Echinocereus fasciculatus may prove to intergrade clinally with E. engelmannii var. acicularis wherever their geographic ranges approach each other. At its upper altitudinal limit, E. fasciculatus tends to have shorter spines, fewer central spines, shorter stems, and more compact growth habit.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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