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pinkflower hedgehog cactus

Habit Plants 5–30-branched, forming somewhat open clumps.
Stems

mostly erect, cylindric, (5–)10–40 × 4.5–8 cm;

ribs 10–15, crests slightly undulate;

areoles 10–15 mm apart.

Spines

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.

Flowers

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.

Fruits

bright red or orange-red, 20–30 mm, pulp white or sometimes pink.

2n

= 44.

Echinocereus fasciculatus

Phenology Flowering Mar–Jun; fruiting May–Jul.
Habitat Sonoran Desert, flats to steep canyonsides, desert scrub, semidesert grasslands, interior chaparral
Elevation [30-]600-1000(-1500) m ([100-]2000-3300(-4900) ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; Mexico (Sonora)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)

Source FNA vol. 4, p. 165.
Parent taxa Cactaceae > subfam. Cactoideae > Echinocereus
Sibling taxa
E. arizonicus, E. berlandieri, E. bonkerae, E. chisosensis, E. coccineus, E. dasyacanthus, E. davisii, E. engelmannii, E. enneacanthus, 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
Synonyms Mammillaria fasciculata, E. engelmannii subsp. fasciculatus, E. fasciculatus, E. fendleri var. robustus, E. rectispinus var. robustus
Name authority (Engelmann ex S. Watson) L. D. Benson: Cacti Arizona ed. 3, 21. (1969)
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