Echinocereus dasyacanthus (Golden Rainbow Hedgehog)

Interesting Facts

Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Golden Rainbow Hedgehog, New Mexico Rainbow Cactus, Spiny Hedgehog Cactus, Texas Rainbow, Texas Rainbow Cactus, Texas Rainbow Hedgehog, Yellow Pitaya, Yellow-Flowered Pitaya

Common Names in unspecified:

Spiny Hedgehog Cactus

Description

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Family Cactaceae

Fleshy perennials , shrubs , trees or vines , terrestrial or epiphytic. Stems jointed , terete , globose , flattened, or fluted , mostly leafless and variously spiny . Leaves alternate, flat or subulate to terete, vestigial, or entirely absent; spines, glochids (easily detached, small, bristlelike spines), and flowers always arising from cushionlike, axillary areoles (modified short shoots ) . Flowers solitary, sessile, rarely clustered and stalked (in Pereskia), bisexual , rarely unisexual , actinomorphic or occasionally zygomorphic. Receptacle tube (hypanthium or perianth tube) absent or short to elongate , naked or invested with leaflike bracts, scales , areoles, and hairs , bristles , or spines; perianth segments usually numerous , in a sepaloid to petaloid series. Stamens numerous, variously inserted in throat and tube; anthers 2-loculed, dehiscing longitudinally. Ovary (pericarpel) inferior, rarely superior, 1-loculed, with 3 to many parietal (rarely basal) placentas; ovules usually numerous; style 1; stigmas 2 to numerous, papillate , rarely 2-fid. Fruit juicy or dry, naked, scaly , hairy , bristly , or spiny, indehiscent or dehiscent , when juicy then pulp derived from often deliquescent funicles (except in Pereskia) . Seeds usually numerous, often arillate or strophiolate ; embryo curved or rarely straight; endosperm present or absent; cotyledons reduced or vestigial, rarely leaflike.

About 110 genera and more than 1000 species: temperate and tropical America; Rhipsalis baccifera (J. S. Mueller) Stearn native in tropical Africa, Madagascar, Comoros, Mascarenes, and Sri Lanka; some species of other genera now extensively naturalized in the Old World through human agency; more than 60 genera and 600 species cultivated as ornamentals or hedges in China, of which four genera and seven species more or less naturalized.[1]

Genus Echinocereus

Plants usually erect , ascending , sprawling , pendent, or decumbent , branched or unbranched, sometimes forming dense mounds to 500 branches, usually not deep-seated in substrate. Roots diffuse (usually a fascicle of several, tuberlike roots greatly exceeding stem diameter in E. poselgeri; sometimes adventitious in E. pentalophus). Stems unsegmented , yellow-green to dark green, spheric to long cylindric , sometimes tapering distally, (1-) 2-70(-130) [-200] × (0.6-) 1-15 cm, less than 40 cm at flowering, skin hard and brittle (less often soft), tuberculate (especially on immature plants ) or ribbed ; ribs 4-26, crests indistinctly to prominently undulate (irregularly notched or sharply folded if desiccated ) ; areoles 1-52 mm apart along ribs, circular to linear , never completely confluent ; cortex and pith soft, mucilaginous . Spines (0-) 4-55 per areole, white, yellow, reddish, brown, or black, subulate or acicular to bristlelike, (0-) 3-150 × 0.1-2.5 mm, hard, smooth or microscopically roughened (especially in E. triglochidiatus) ; radial spines (0-) 4-38 (-45) per areole, straight or curved , sometimes pectinately arranged, (0-) 2-40(-50) mm; central spines 0-17 per areole, straight, curved, or twisted, never hooked , terete , elliptic in cross section or variously angled to flattened. Flowers diurnal (a few species remaining open at night) [or nocturnal ], bisexual (at least appearing so) or functionally unisexual , ± lateral on stem from year-old areoles (rarely terminal ), broadly to narrowly funnelform or short tubular , 20-120 × (10-) 15-150 mm; flower tube 5-26[-50] mm (measured from base of innermost tepals to base of nectar chamber) ; inner tepals pink, red, magenta, orange, yellow, brownish, or greenish (rarely white), proximally a darker or contrasting color or similar to distal portion; ovary smooth to tuberculate, scales usually minute, spines very prominent , areoles woolly ; stigma lobes 5-22, green or yellowish green [rarely white or red]. Fruits indehiscent or dehiscent through short longitudinal slits, green, purplish brown, pink, or red, spheric to narrowly obovoid , usually 20-30 mm, juicy, drying quickly, scales minute; areoles spiny , spine clusters usually deciduous at maturity. Seeds black or dark reddish brown, spheric to obovoid, 0.8-2 mm, strongly tuberculate or rugose ; testa cells strongly convex , sometimes irregularly confluent into ridges with interstitial pits. x = 11.

Species ca. 49: temperate to tropical regions of w United States and Mexico.

Echinocereus was treated as a distinct North American tribe Echinocereeae Buxbaum before recent chloroplast DNA analyses demonstrated that Echinocereus is nested within tribe Pachycereeae Buxbaum emend. A. C. Gibson & K . E. Horak, including the dominant columnar cacti of North America (R. S. Wallace and A. C. Gibson 2002). Whether Echinocereus and its closest relatives deserve recognition as a subtribe within the newly defined tribe awaits more extensive and intensive DNA investigations of all clades within the tribe.

Many of the species of Echinocereus are confusingly polytypic , having geographic races (not all of them named), and many populations are polymorphic . One "species" (E. pectinatus as circumscribed by L. D. Benson 1982) is polyphyletic.

Although stem growth is indeterminate and branching is lateral, near their bases stems often shrivel and shorten more or less in pace with apical growth, pulling the branch-attachments down to ground level or below. The distance between areoles (interareolar distance), as employed here, is measured from centers of areoles along rib crests on relatively new growth, i.e. , before ribs wrinkle. In some species, flower buds and stem-branch buds erupt through the epidermis of the stem adaxial to spine clusters, leaving a permanent scar ; a condition referred to as "erumpent."

The vernacular name strawberry cactus , used for several species, refers to the strawberry-like flavor of the ripe fruits, which are avidly harvested by human foragers. The largest and most sought-after fruits are those of Echinocereus stramineus.[2]

Physical Description

Species Echinocereus dasyacanthus

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. [source]

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. [source]

Habit: Subshrub , Shrub

Flowers: Bloom Period: March, April, May, June, July, August. • Flower Color: near white, orange, pink, purple, white, yellow

Size/Age/Growth

Size: 6-12" tall.

Habitat

Chihuahuan desert scrub , valleys to rocky canyonsides, limestone; 600-1500 m [3].

Biology

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Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Culture: Space 3-6" apart.

Soil: Minimum pH: 6.1 • Maximum pH: 7.8

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Moisture: Drought Tolerance: High

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b. (map)

Taxonomy

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Domain: Eukaryota () - Whittaker & Margulis,1978 - eukaryotes
- Kingdom: Plantae () - Haeckel, 1866 - Plants
  - Subkingdom: Viridaeplantae () - Cavalier-Smith, 1981
    - Phylum: Tracheophyta () - Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998 - Vascular Plants
      - Subphylum: Euphyllophytina ()
        Infraphylum: Radiatopses () - Kenrick & Crane, 1997
        Class: Spermatopsida () - Brongniart, 1843
        Subclass: Caryophyllidae () - Takhtajan, 1967
        Superorder: Caryophyllanae () - Takhtajan, 1967
        Order: Caryophyllales () - Perleb, 1826
        Suborder: Portulacineae ()
        Family: Cactaceae () - Durande, 1782 ex A.L. de Jussieu, 1789, nom. cons. - cactus
        Subfamily: Cactoideae ()
        Tribe: Echinocereeae ()
        Genus: Echinocereus () - Engelmann, in Wislizenus, 1848 - Strawberry hedgehog cactus, hedgehog cactus [Greek echinos, spine, and Cereus, a genus of columnar cacti]
        Specific epithet: dasyacanthus - Engelm.
        Botanical name: - Echinocereus dasyacanthus Engelm.

Synonyms

Cereus dasyacanthus (Engelm.) Engelm. • Echinocereus ctenoides (Engelm.) Lem. • Echinocereus dasyacanthus var. hildmannii (Arendt) Weniger • Echinocereus pectinatus (Scheidweiler) Engelmann Var. dasyacanthus (Engelmann) W. Earle Ex N. P. Taylor • Echinocereus pectinatus var. ctenoides (Engelm.) Weniger • Echinocereus pectinatus var. dasyacanthus (Engelm.) N. P. Taylor • Echinocereus pectinatus var. neomexicanus (Coult.) L. Benson

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Echinocereus

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 119 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

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Notes

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Contributors

Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 10, 2012.

Identifiers

Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2671952
Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-512689
Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13731013
Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:132341-1
GRIN Nomen Number: 438347
Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 512689
Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: PDCAC060A5
U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: ECPEN
Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 36589

Footnotes

Zhen-yu Li & Nigel P. Taylor "Cactaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 13 Page 209. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
Allan D. Zimmerman & Bruce D. Parfitt "Echinocereus". in Flora of North America Vol. 4 Page 94, 96, 97, 157. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
"Echinocereus dasyacanthus". in Flora of North America Vol. 4 Page 163. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]

Echinocereus dasyacanthus

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Description

Family Cactaceae

Genus Echinocereus

Physical Description

Species Echinocereus dasyacanthus

Size/Age/Growth

Habitat

Biology

Reproduction

Growth

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Notes

Similar Species

Members of the genus Echinocereus

More Info

Further Reading

Notes

Contributors

Identifiers

Footnotes