Flora of North America species comparison

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Echinocereus pectinatus

Echinocereus chisosensis

Mexican comb hedgehog, rainbow cactus

Chisos Mountains hedgehog cactus
Habit Plants inconspicuous, unbranched or forming small lax clumps.
Stems

erect or ascending, short cylindric, 12.5–20(–30) × 3–5 cm;

ribs (10–)13–16, crests strongly undulate;

areoles 5–8.5 mm apart.
Spines

11–20 per areole, straight, white, pinkish gray, pale pink, dark brown, or purplish black, tipped brown, central spines darkest (sometimes with annual rings of ± contrasting spine color);

radial spines 10–17 per areole, 5–20 mm;

central spines (1–)2(–6) per areole, appressed to slightly projecting or spreading, terete, 3.5–17 mm.
Flowers

6–9.5 × 5–7 cm;

flower tube 10–30 mm;

flower tube hairs 3–5(–10) mm;

inner tepals white proximally, with basal marks crimson or maroon, bright rose-pink distally, 1.8–5 × 5–16 mm, tips relatively thin and delicate;

anthers yellow;

nectar chamber 1–2 mm.
Fruits

green, 15– 35 mm, pulp white.
2n

= 22.

Echinocereus pectinatus

Echinocereus chisosensis
Phenology Flowering Mar–May; fruiting 2 months after flowering.
Habitat Chihuahuan Desert, usually sheltered by low, perennial vegetation, desert scrub, gravelly alluvium, bajadas
Elevation 600-900 m (2000-3000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
TX; n Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
TX
Discussion

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.)

Of conservation concern.

Echinocereus fobeanus Oehme, of Mexico, sometimes has been considered a variety of E. chisosensis. Both species seem to be relicts and rare.

Echinocereus chisosensis is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s Collection of Endangered Plants.

(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. 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
E. arizonicus, E. berlandieri, E. bonkerae, E. coccineus, E. dasyacanthus, 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
Subordinate taxa
E. pectinatus var. wenigeri
Synonyms Echinocactus pectinatus E. reichenbachii var. chisosensis
Name authority (Scheidweiler) Engelmann: in F. A. Wislizenus, Mem. Tour N. Mexico, 109. (1848) W. T. Marshall: Cact. Succ. J. (Los Angeles) 12: 15, cover, plate 1. (1940)
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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