Flora of North America species comparison

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Echinocereus dasyacanthus

Echinocereus pectinatus

spiny hedgehog cactus, Texas rainbow cactus

Mexican comb hedgehog, rainbow cactus
Habit Plants unbranched or few branched, forming loose clumps of fewer than 20 stiff branches in old age.
Stems

erect, ovoid, becoming cylindric with age, 11–23(–40) × (4.5–)5.5–7(–10) cm;

ribs (13–)15–19(–21), crests rather sharply undulate;

areoles 5–11 mm apart.

Spines

19–28 per areole, straight, appressed (radial spines) or spreading in all directions (central spines), presenting relatively bristly appearance (except when spines very short, and then having relatively smooth appearance as in E. pectinatus), pink to pale yellow, white, or tan, less often dark brown or purplish, annual growth increments marked (often vaguely) by rings of spines with contrasting colors;

radial spines (16–)17–25(–28) per areole, 5–15(–25) mm;

central spines (2–)8–12(–15) per areole, terete, largest spines 4.5–9.5(–14) mm.

Flowers

7–8.5(–10) × 7–12 cm;

flower tube 10–20 × to 10 mm;

flower tube hairs 1–3 mm;

inner tepals either yellow (rarely orange-yellow, sometimes becoming salmon- or rose-pink with age), or rose-pink to magenta, proximal 5–30% green in either case, (25–)32–69(–77) × 8–23 mm, tips relatively thin and delicate;

anthers yellow;

nectar chamber 2–6 mm.

Fruits

dark dull purplish to maroon (sometimes remaining green), 2–3.5 cm, pulp white to purplish pink.

2n

= 44.

Echinocereus dasyacanthus

Echinocereus pectinatus
Phenology Flowering Mar–May; fruiting Jun–Aug.
Habitat Chihuahuan desert scrub, valleys to rocky canyonsides, limestone
Elevation 600-1500 m (2000-4900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
NM; TX; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
TX; n Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Flower color of Echinocereus dasyacanthus is spectacularly polymorphic. Unlike E. pectinatus var. wenigeri, however, the inner tepals are never white proximally. No hybrids are known to occur where the tetraploid E. dasyacanthus grows sympatrically with the diploid E. pectinatus, near the Pecos River. The names E. pectinatus var. neomexicanus and var. minor pertain to the hybrids with E. coccineus, E. ×roetteri, including E. ×lloydia. L. D. Benson (1969) misapplied the epithet neomexicanus to E. dasyacanthus. In Big Bend National Park, a few populations with unusually short spines are the basis for erroneous reports of E. pectinatus var. wenigeri, E. pectinatus var. pectinatus, and E. ctenoides (Engelmann) Lemaire. Reports from Arizona were apparently misidentifications of E. pseudopectinatus.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Varieties 2 (1 in the flora).

At least in the United States, Echinocereus pectinatus (diploid) has only pink or purple flowers, unlike the polymorphic species E. dasyacanthus (tetraploid). Echinocereus pectinatus differs from the entire E. reichenbachii species group in that the areoles of its relatively thick-walled flower tube have stouter spines and much shorter hairs. Superficially similar species west of the Continental Divide, formerly associated with E. pectinatus (E. pseudopectinatus, E. rigidissimus, and some Sonoran species), are more closely related to the E. reichenbachii species group with densely bristly flower buds and delicate, ephemeral inner tepals. Echinocereus pectinatus var. pectinatus is endemic to Mexico; reports from the United States were misidentifications of var. wenigeri, E. pseudopectinatus (in Arizona), and unusually short-spined plants of E. dasyacanthus.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 4. FNA vol. 4.
Parent taxa Cactaceae > subfam. Cactoideae > Echinocereus Cactaceae > subfam. Cactoideae > Echinocereus
Sibling taxa
E. arizonicus, E. berlandieri, E. bonkerae, E. chisosensis, E. coccineus, E. davisii, E. engelmannii, E. enneacanthus, E. fasciculatus, E. fendleri, E. ledingii, E. nicholii, E. papillosus, E. pectinatus, E. pentalophus, E. poselgeri, E. pseudopectinatus, E. reichenbachii, E. rigidissimus, E. stramineus, E. triglochidiatus, E. viridiflorus
E. arizonicus, E. berlandieri, E. bonkerae, E. chisosensis, E. coccineus, E. dasyacanthus, E. davisii, E. engelmannii, E. enneacanthus, E. fasciculatus, E. fendleri, E. ledingii, E. nicholii, E. papillosus, E. pentalophus, E. poselgeri, E. pseudopectinatus, E. reichenbachii, E. rigidissimus, E. stramineus, E. triglochidiatus, E. viridiflorus
Subordinate taxa
E. pectinatus var. wenigeri
Synonyms E. pectinatus var. dasyacanthus Echinocactus pectinatus
Name authority Engelmann: in F. A. Wislizenus, Mem. Tour N. Mexico, 100. (1848) (Scheidweiler) Engelmann: in F. A. Wislizenus, Mem. Tour N. Mexico, 109. (1848)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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