Echinocereus engelmannii (Calico Cactus)

Overview

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Engelmann's hedgehog cactus. <em>Echinocereus engelmannii</em> Engelmann's hedgehog cactus at the Phoenix Botanical Gardens in Arizona.

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in English:

Calico Cactus, Dagger-Spine Hedgehog, Engelmann Hedgehog, Engelmann Hedgehog-Cactus, Engelmann's Hedgehog Cactus, Engelmanns Hedgehog, Hedgehog Cactus, Howe Hedgehog, Indi, Strawberry Cactus, Strawberry Hedgehog, Strawberry Hedgehog Cactus

Common Names in unspecified:

Engelmann Hedgehog, Engelmann's Hedgehog Cactus, Strawberry 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 engelmannii

Plants 3-60-branched, ultimately forming somewhat open clumps . Stems mostly erect , cylindric or somewhat tapering distally, (5-) 14-45(-70) × 3-9 cm; ribs 10-13, crests slightly undulate ; areoles 6-10(-15) mm apart. Spines (8-) 15-20 per areole, usually straight (curved and twisted in desert mountains and peninsular ranges of California), individual spines with broad zones of different colors: whitish or grayish, dull golden-yellow, or reddish brown to nearly black; radial spines 6-14 per areole, 8-20(-50) mm; central spines (2-) 4-6(-9) per areole, divergent-porrect, 12-70 mm, abaxial central spine often fading whitish, flat to sharply angled (terete or nearly so in north-central Arizona). Flowers 6-9 × 5-9 cm; flower tube 13-30 × 10-30 mm; flower tube hairs 1 mm; inner tepals bright rose-pink to magenta, often varying from paler to darker in same population, proximally darker, 37-75 × (8-) 14-25 mm, tips relatively thin, delicate; anthers yellow; nectar chamber 4-6 mm. Fruits red or orangish, 25-45 mm, pulp whitish be-coming infused with pink or red from the skin . 2n = 44. Flowering Mar-Apr; fruiting May-Jul. [source]

The characteristics distinguishing Echinocereus engelmannii from E. fasciculatus to the east are poorly documented, and W. Blum et al. (1998) combined the two as separate subspecies of E. engelmannii. Historically, E. engelmannii has been characterized as having the abaxial central spine in each areole particularly long, pale , and strongly compressed dorsiventrally (sharply angled, hence daggerlike), contrasting with the other spines. In practice that trait is not always diagnostic. Plants called Echinocereus engelmannii var. acicularis L. D. Benson are essentially morphologically and geographically intermediate between those referred to E. fasciculatus and E. engelmannii var. chrysocentrus. [source]

The history of confusion with Echinocereus nicholii has resulted in misidentification of yellow-spined individuals of E. engelmannii. [source]

Spine color polymorphism , common within Echinocereus engelmannii, provided the original basis for varieties chrysocentrus and purpureus. The well-marked, identifiable extremes often occur in populations that include individuals easily assigned to other named varieties, or not assignable to any. L. D. Benson (1969, 1982) and subsequent authors (e.g. , N. P. Taylor 1985; W. Blum et al. 1998) have attempted to recognize infraspecific taxa within E. engelmannii. However, one of those is clearly a distinct species (E. nicholii), while the remainder are either too poorly defined or too poorly known to treat fully here. At higher elevations beyond the western edge of the desert, E. engelmannii var. munzii (Parish) P. Pierce & Fosberg has been distinguished by its curving, twisting, gray spines, somewhat resembling spines of westernmost plants of E. triglochidiatus var. mojavensis. Plants of the western Sonoran Desert margin in the Mexican boundary region in California are the typical E. engelmannii var. engelmannii. Similar plants from the opposite, eastern, side of the Sonoran Desert, in Arizona, have been called E. engelmannii var. acicularis L. D. Benson. In the intervening Colorado River Valley is spinier E. engelmannii var. chrysocentrus (Engelmann & J. M. Bigelow) RÃ¼mpler. In E. engelmannii var. acicularis at the lowest altitudes , central spines are usually four, in which cases taxonomic segregation from E. engelmannii var. chrysocentrus seems arbitrary . At higher altitudes, plants of E. engelmannii var. acicularis with only one or two central spines per areole are frequent, and the abaxial central spine may be terete instead of angular and daggerlike as in E. engelmannii var. chrysocentrus. The most formidably spiny extremes of the species were segregated as E. engelmannii vars. howei and armatus; however, other individuals in the original populations (type localities) are readily assigned to E. engelmannii var. chrysocentrus. W. Blum et al. (1998) placed all of the above varieties under E. engelmannii subsp. engelmannii. [source]

Plants smaller in all parts and with fewer central spines from north-central Arizona are Echinocereus engelmannii subsp. decumbens (Clover & Jotter) W. Blum & Mich. Lange. L. D. Benson (1969) referred those to var. variegatus (Engelmann & J. M. Bigelow) RÃ¼mpler, but the type locality of var. variegatus is in a different region. The status of E. engelmannii var. purpureus L. D. Benson remains uncertain; its similarity to unidentified diploid material found in northern Arizona suggests that it could be a separate species, but more variable than its original diagnosis allowed. [source]

Habit: Shrub , Subshrub

Flowers: Bloom Period: March, April. • Flower Color: magenta, red-purple

Size/Age/Growth

Size: under 6" tall.

Habitat

Sonoran and Mojave deserts, chaparral , pinyon-juniper woodlands; 200-2400 m [3].

Biology

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Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Culture: Space 12-15" apart.

Soil: Minimum pH: 6.1 • Maximum pH: 7.8

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Moisture: Drought Tolerance: High

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 7a, 7b, 8a, 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: engelmannii - (Parry ex Engelm.) Lem.
        Botanical name: - Echinocereus engelmannii (Parry ex Engelm.) Lem.

Synonyms

Amer. J. Sci. Arts • Cereus engelmannii Parry Ex Engelm. • Cereus engelmannii Parry ex Engelmann

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.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal December 05, 2007:

Berkeley Natural History Museums, University and Jepson Herbaria DiGIR provider
Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden
School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Arizona State University Vascular Plant Herbarium
School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, The Deaver Herbarium, Northern Arizona University
Utah State University, USU-UTC Specimen Database
Utah Valley State College
, Utah Valley State College Herbarium

Identifiers

Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2646253
Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-19806
Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13736995
Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:132349-1
Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 19806
Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: PDCAC06030
U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: ECEN
Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 36601

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 engelmannii". in Flora of North America Vol. 4 Page 167. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]

Echinocereus engelmannii

Overview

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Description

Family Cactaceae

Genus Echinocereus

Physical Description

Species Echinocereus engelmannii

Size/Age/Growth

Habitat

Biology

Reproduction

Growth

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Notes

Similar Species

Members of the genus Echinocereus

More Info

Further Reading

Notes

Contributors

Data Sources

Identifiers

Footnotes