Echinocactus horizonthalonius var. nicholii

• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• Bibliography
• More Info
• Notes

Common Names

Description

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.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.

Genus Echinocactus

Plants erect , branched or unbranched, forming compact mounds of 30+ branches, not deep-seated in substrate (or deep-seated in E. texensis and, if plants immature or at high altitude , in E. horizonthalonius). Roots diffuse or short taproots . Stems unsegmented , gray-blue, gray-green, yellow-green, or grass green, flat-topped spheric to short cylindric , 4-40(-45) [-250] × 8-30[-80] cm, apical region appearing copiously woolly (shortly velvety in E. texensis) [glabrous ]; ribs (7-) 8-27[-60+], very prominent , straight (or only slightly undulate ), sometimes helically curving around stems, broadly rounded to nearly keeled , rib crests uninterrupted or ± constricted between areoles; areoles widely spaced or confluent with age, nearly circular to oblong , with fertile portion as short, broad adaxial prolongation confluent with spine cluster ; areolar glands absent; cortex and pith hard, not mucilaginous . Spines (5-) 7-19 per areole, straw colored , pink, red, gray, tan, or brown, conspicuously annulate-ridged, rigid , stiff; radial spines 5-14 per areole, straight to curved , 2-5 cm; central spines 1-4 per areole, straight to curved, terete , flattened, or abaxially ridged . Flowers diurnal , near stem apex, near adaxial edges of short adaxial extensions of areoles, broadly funnelform to nearly salverform (more narrowly funnelform in E. texensis) ; outer tepals margins entire , apically spinose ; inner tepals yellow or pink to magenta, 2.4-3.2 × 0.3-1.5 cm, margins entire, serrate, toothed , or erose; ovary scaly , spineless, copiously woolly, with white or pale tan hairs from areoles hiding ovary and flower tube at anthesis ; scales 8-60, margins entire or fimbriate, spine-tipped; stigma lobes 6-14(-17), yellow, pink, or olive, 1-4.5 mm. Fruits either indehiscent or rupturing irregularly, or tardily dehiscent through basal abscission pore , whitish tan to pinkish (bright red in E. texensis), spheric to ovoid or ovoid-cylindric, 10-50 × 10-40[-100] mm, usually nearly dry (strongly succulent in E. texensis), many scaled ; axils of scales copiously woolly (wool hiding surface of fruits except in E. texensis), spineless, distal scales spine-tipped; pulp red; floral remnant persistent . Seeds reddish brown to black, spheric, or subreniform to obovoid , 2.4-4.7 mm, shiny or dull ; testa cells convex or flat. x = 11.

Species 6: sw United States, Mexico.

With the exception of the much-branched Echinocactus polycephalus, species of Echinocactus in the flora area are almost never branched, and will die instead of producing a lateral bud when the apex is injured. Smaller than normal fruits of Echinocactus are usually aborted and hollow as the result of infestation by insect larvae (M. Chamberland, pers. comm. ).Allan D. Zimmerman & Bruce D. Parfitt "Echinocactus". in Flora of North America Vol. 4 Page 97, 188, 207. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org.

Physical Description

Biology

Growth

Culture: Space 6-9" apart.

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Moisture: Drought Tolerance: High

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b, 11. (map)

Taxonomy

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000

Similar Species

Members of the genus Echinocactus

There are approximately 1066 species in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

E. grandis polycormus · E. horizonthalonius jarmilae · E. johnsonii lutescens · E. johnsonii octocentrus · E. myriostigma coahuilensis · E. myriostigma potosinus · E. myriostigma quadricostatus · E. wislizeni tiburonensis · E. acanthion · E. acanthodes var. rostii · E. acanthostephes · E. aciculatus · E. acifer · E. acroacanthus · E. acrocanthus · E. acuatus · E. acuatus f. erinacea · E. acuatus f. erinaceus · E. acuatus var. arechavaletae · E. acuatus var. corynodes · E. acuatus var. depressus · E. acuatus var. erinaceus · E. acuatus var. sellowii · E. acuatus var. spinosior · E. acuatus var. tetracantha · E. acuatus var. tetracanthus · E. acutangulus · E. acutissimus · E. adversispinus · E. agglomeratus · E. alamosanus · E. albatus · E. allardtianus · E. alteolens · E. amambayensis · E. amazonicus · E. ambiguus · E. ancylacanthus · E. andreae · E. anfractuosus · E. anfractuosus var. ensiferus · E. anfractuosus var. pentacanthus · E. anfractuosus var. spinosior · E. anisitsii · E. anitaii · E. apricus · E. arachnoideus · E. araneifer · E. araneolarius · E. arcuatus · E. arechavaletae · E. arechavaletai · E. arizonicus · E. armatissimus · E. armatus · E. arrectus · E. arrigens · E. arrigens var. atropurpureus · E. arrigens var. xiphacanthus · E. aspillagae · E. aspillagai · E. asterias var. nudus · E. asterioides · E. aulacogonus · E. aulacogonus var. diacopaulax · E. aurantiacus · E. aurata · E. auratus · E. aureicentrus · E. aureus · E. bahiensis · E. baldianus · E. beguini · E. beguinii · E. beguinii var. senilis · E. berteroi · E. bertinii · E. biceras · E. bicolor f. bolaensis · E. bicolor f. bolansis · E. bicolor f. pottsii · E. bicolor f. tricolor · E. bicolor Galeotti ex Pfeiff. var. pottsii Salm-Dyck · E. bicolor Galeotti ex Pfeiff. var. tricolor K.Schum. · E. bicolor var. bolaensis · E. bicolor var. bolansis · E. bicolor var. pottsii · E. bicolor var. tricolor · E. bicolor var. typicus · E. bodenbenderianus · E. boedekerianus · E. bolaensis · E. bolansis · E. bolivianus · E. borchersii · E. boutillieri · E. brachiatus · E. brachyanthus · E. brachycentrus · E. brachycentrus var. oligacantha

Bibliography

• (2000). Center for Plant Conservation's National Living Collection--Profiles. Desert Botanical Garden. http://www.dbg.org/Collections/cpc.html. Accessed: 2002.
• (2002). Threatened and Endangered Species in Pima County; Priority Vulnerable Species in Pima County. The On-line Sonoran Desert Educational Center. http://www.co.pima.az.us/cmo/sdcp/sdcp2/fsheets/index.html. Accessed: 2002.
• 2001. Draft Report: Priority Vulnerable Species in Pima County, Arizona, as part of the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan. Pima County, Arizona: Board of Supervisors.
• Benson, L. 1982. The Cacti of the United States and Canada. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. 1044p.
• Fonseca, Julia; Scalero, D. 1999. Determining Valuable Species within Pima County, AZ: a discussion paper for the Sonoran desert conservation plan. Tuscon, AZ: Pima County Flood Control District.
• Kartesz, J.T. 1993. Species distribution data for vascular plants of 70 geographical areas, from unpublished data files at the North Carolina Botanical Garden.
• Kartesz, J.T. 1999. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the U.S., Canada, and Greenland. In: Kartesz, J.T.; Meacham, C.A., editors. Synthesis of the North American Flora, Version 1.0. North Carolina Botanical Garden. Chapel Hill, NC.
• Nabhan, G.P.; Saucedo Monarque, E. ; Olwell, P. ; Warren, P. ; Hodgson, W. ; Gallindo-Duarte, C. ; Bittman, R. ; Anderson, S. 1989. Plants at risk in the Sonoran Desert: an international concern. Introduction and a preliminary list. Agave. 3, 3: 14-15.
• USFWS. 1979. Determination That Echinocactus horizonthalonius var. nicholii is an Endangered Species. Federal Register. 44, 209: 61927-61929.
• USFWS. 1986. Recovery Plan for the Nichol Turk's Head Cactus (Echinocactus horizonthalonius var. nicholii). Albuquerque, NM: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. 68p.
• USFWS. 2000. Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan (SDCP) for Pima County, Arizona. Federal Register. 65, 174: 54295-54297.
• .Li Zhenyu. 1999. Cactaceae. In: Ku Tsuechih, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 52(1): 272-285.

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Notes

Contributors

• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed April 6, 2007.
• Center for Plant Conservation Plant Profile for Echinocactus horizonthalonius var. nicholii. Accessed January 15, 2007.

Identifiers

• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13898834
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:87440-2
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 87440-2
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 959862

Footnotes

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