Flora of North America species comparison

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Echinocereus pectinatus

Echinocereus papillosus

Mexican comb hedgehog, rainbow cactus

allicoche cactus, allicoche hedgehog cactus, yellow-flower alicoche
Habit Plants irregularly forming clumps at or before flowering.
Stems

mostly nearly erect when young, frequently decumbent in old age, cylindric, 4–15 × 2–3(–7) cm;

ribs (6–)7–10, crests strongly undulate;

areoles 10–15 mm apart.
Spines

8–12 per areole, straight, appressed-spreading (radial spines) or projecting to appressed (central spines), white, yellow, or brown and white;

radial spines 7–10 per areole, to 15 mm;

central spines 1(–4) per areole, brown, terete, to 25 mm.
Flowers

funnelform, 7–9 × 7–12 cm;

flower tube 20–30 × 10–30 mm;

flower tube hairs 1 mm;

inner tepals yellow, proximally orange-red to purple, 15–40 × 10–20 mm, tips relatively thin and delicate;

filaments yellowish to orange-red;

anthers yellow;

nectar chamber 4–6 mm.
Fruits

green, 15–25 mm, pulp white.
2n

= 22.

Echinocereus pectinatus

Echinocereus papillosus
Phenology Flowering early spring; fruiting 2 months after flowering.
Habitat Open prairies with mesquite, Tamaulipan thorn scrub, alluvium, red gravel, limestone
Elevation 0–150 m (0–500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
TX; n Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
TX; Mexico (Nuevo León, Tamaulipas)
[BONAP county map]
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.)

Small-stemmed plants were designated as Echinocereus papillosus var. angusticeps (Clover) W. T. Marshall, reportedly endemic near Linn, Texas. The status of the proposed variety remains unresolved but appears weak; W. Blum et al. (1998) and E. F. Anderson (2001) considered the name to be a synonym of typical E. papillosus.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 4. FNA vol. 4, p. 162.
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. chisosensis, E. coccineus, E. dasyacanthus, E. davisii, E. engelmannii, E. enneacanthus, E. fasciculatus, E. fendleri, E. ledingii, E. nicholii, 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. berlandieri var. papillosus, E. papillosus var. angusticeps
Name authority (Scheidweiler) Engelmann: in F. A. Wislizenus, Mem. Tour N. Mexico, 109. (1848) Linke ex Haage: Cact.-Verz., 19. (1859)
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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