Click on the images below to see larger versions.
| Scientific Name | Echinocereus coccineus var. paucispinus | USDA PLANTS Symbol | ECCOP |
| Common Name | Claret Cup | ITIS Taxonomic Serial No. | 912748 |
| Family | Cactaceae (Cactus) | Wildflower Center Ref. | Click Here |
| Description | Habitat: Dry, semi-desert environments; limestone soils in shrublands, mesas, woodlands and alluvial soils of grasslands; from 500 to 2100 ft. Plant: Mounds up to 40 inches across and 4 to 16 inches tall of usually up to 20 stems, but very old plants can have many more. Pads & Spines: Stems with 5 to 7 obvious ribs, 0 to 1 central spine per areole, 1/2-inch to 2 inches long, and 4 to 8 radial spines 5/8-inch to 1-1/4 inches long; spines brownish-brown becoming gray. Inflorescence: Funnel to cup-shaped flowers with rounded, rather stiff, bright crimson tepals with cream-colored bases, 1-1/4 to 2 inches across; male flowers with cream-colored to reddish filaments and pinkish, pollen-filled anthers; female flowers with reduced filaments and empty anther sacs below ~8 green stigma lobes; tepals may be more orange-colored in the Marathon area. Bloom Period: March and April. Fruit: On female plants cross-pollinated by male plants; dull to bright red, obovoid to cylindroid, 1/2 to 1 inch long, with spines. References: "Cacti of Texas" by Powell, Weedin and Powell, "Little Big Bend" by Roy Morey, E. triglochidiatus var. paucispinus in "Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas" by Correll and Johnston and A New Echinocereus Taxon with Red Flowers From the Trans Pecos Area of Texas by Blum and Oldach in "The Cactus Explorers". Note: According to Wolfgang Blum, var. paucipinus does not occur in Big Bend; those plants previously identified as such are actually the very similar ssp. transpecosensis below. |
BONAP Distribution Map |
Texas Status: Native |
| Scientific Name | Echinocereus coccineus ssp. roemeri | USDA PLANTS Symbol | N/A |
| Common Name | Claret Cup | ITIS Taxonomic Serial No. | N/A |
| Family | Cactaceae (Cactus) | SEINet Reference |
N/A |
| Description | Habitat: Dry environments; granitic soils and rocks, primarily in Llano and Gillespie counties. Plant: Mounds up to 40 inches across and 4 to 16 inches tall of usually up to 20 stems, but very old plants can have many more. Pads & Spines: Stems with ~8; areoles close together compared to E. c. paucispinus above; 0, 1 or 2 central spines per areole, 1/2-inch to 2 inches long, and 8 or more radial spines 5/8-inch ~2 inches long. Inflorescence: Funnel to cup-shaped flowers with rounded, rather stiff, bright crimson tepals with cream-colored bases, 1-1/4 to 2 inches across; male flowers with cream-colored to reddish filaments and pinkish, pollen-filled anthers; female flowers with reduced filaments and empty anther sacs below ~8 green stigma lobes. Bloom Period: March and April. Fruit: On female plants cross-pollinated by male plants; dull to bright red, obovoid to cylindroid, 1/2 to 1 inch long. References: iNaturalist, Flora of North America and observation. |
BONAP Distribution Map N/A | Texas Status: Native |
| Scientific Name | Echinocereus coccineus ssp. transpecosensis | USDA PLANTS Symbol | N/A |
| Common Name | Claret Cup | ITIS Taxonomic Serial No. | N/A |
| Family | Cactaceae (Cactus) | SEINet Reference |
Click Here |
| Description | Habitat: Dry, limestone soils in semi-desert shrublands, mountains and rocky areas; 2300 to 7800 ft. Plant: Mounds up to 30 inches across; a few to 20 or more stems. Pads & Spines: Cylindrical to ellipsoidal stems, 2 to 4 inches in diameter and 4 to 16 inches tall with 7 to 11 ribs; dark green to purple surface; round/oval areoles with 1 to 4 central spines 0.4 to 2.4 inches long and 6 to 11 radial spines 0.2 to 1.2 inches long; yellowish to brown becoming gray. Inflorescence: Funnel to cup-shaped flowers with rounded, rather stiff, bright crimson tepals with cream-colored bases, 1.6 to 3 inches across; male flowers with cream-colored filaments and pink-purple pollen-filled anthers; female flowers with short filaments and empty anther sacs below 6 to 14 light-green stigma lobes. Bloom Period: March and April. Fruit: Reddish-brown to pink, round to oval, 1 to 1.5 inches long and almost as wide. References: iNaturalist and A New Echinocereus Taxon with Red Flowers From the Trans Pecos Area of Texas by Blum and Oldach in "The Cactus Explorers". Note: This is a relatively new subspecies that was described in 2015 by Wolfgang Blum, Traute Oldach and Jörn Oldach in the reference above. |
BONAP Distribution Map N/A | Texas Status: Native |
| Scientific Name | Echinocereus enneacanthus ssp. enneacanthus | USDA PLANTS Symbol | ECENE2 |
| Common Name | Strawberry Hedgehog Cactus | ITIS Taxonomic Serial No. | 912751 |
| Family | Cactaceae (Cactus) | SEINet Reference |
Click Here |
| Description | Habitat: Desert environments; gravelly hills, sandy soils, desert mountains from 1800 to 4000 ft; exposed or beneath shrubs. Plant: Clumps of several to many pickle-shaped stems, each about 6 inches long and 2 to 4 inches across, medium to light green or yellowish green. Pads & Spines: Stems with 7 to 10 ribs, 1 to 4 stout central spines up to 3-5/8 inches long, flattened or angular and may be recurved; 6 to 9 radial spines 1-5/8 inches long. Inflorescence: Pink to magenta funnel-shaped flowers on each stem, up to 3-1/8 inches long and 3-1/2 inches across; filaments greenish to pink, anthers yellow; 6 to 10 green stigma lobes. Bloom Period: April and May. References: "Cacti of Texas" by Powell, Weedin and Powell and "Little Big Bend" by Roy Morey. Note: Similar appearance to E. stramineus ssp. stramineus except that it usually has few stems arranged in a flat cluster rather than a congested mound, and that it generally grows at lower elevations. |
BONAP Distribution Map |
Texas Status: Native |
| Scientific Name | Echinocereus reichenbachii (Echinocereus reichenbachii ssp. caespitosus) | USDA PLANTS Symbol | ECRE |
| Common Name | Lace Cactus | ITIS Taxonomic Serial No. | 19814 |
| Family | Cactaceae (Cactus) | SEINet Reference |
Click Here |
| Description |
Habitat: Dry environments; rocky limestone and sandy soils in desert scrub, grasslands and oak-juniper woodlands on mountains, mesas, woodlands and alluvial soils of grasslands; throughout Texas and elsewhere, up to 4000 ft. Plant: Three to 12 simple or branching dark green cylindrical stems 3 to 4 inches tall and 1-1/4 to 2-1/2 inches across. Pads & Spines: Stems with 3 to 15 narrow ribs; small elliptic-oval areoles; long, white, woolly hairs near the stem tips; 0 to 2 very short central spines per areole; 15 to 21 radial spines usually about 1/2-inch long or less, but up to 1 inch long, laying flat and arranged comb-like around the perimeter of the areoles; white to tan, dull pink, dark brown, or purplish black. Inflorescence: Funnel-shaped flowers 2 to 3 inches long and 2 to 2-3/8 inches wide, with thin, delicate silvery pink to magenta tepals; yellow anthers and 8 to 20 green stigma lobes. Bloom Period: April to June. Fruit: Green, round to obovoid, 5/8 to 1 inch long; woolly and spiney. References: "Cacti of Texas" by Powell, Weedin and Powell, "Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas" by Correll and Johnston, SEINet and Echinocereus Status Liste by Wolfgang Blum. Note: Wolfgang Blum has pointed out that these plants are ssp. caespitosus; however, the literature has not included this subspecies at this time. |
BONAP Distribution Map |
Texas Status: Native |
| Scientific Name | Echinocereus stramineus | USDA PLANTS Symbol | ECST2 |
| Common Name | Strawberry Cactus | ITIS Taxonomic Serial No. | 912934 |
| Family | Cactaceae (Cactus) | Flora of North America Ref. | Click Here |
| Description | Habitat: Desert environments; limestone rock outcrops in dry mountains and hillsides from 2500 to 5000 ft. Plant: Clumps or dome-like mounds of 20 to 100+ branches, mounds up to 3 ft. across; stems densely covered with spines. Pads & Spines: Stems erect, long ovoid, up to 12 inches long and 1-3/4 to 4 inches across; 11 to 17 ribs per stem; areoles 1/4 to 5/8-inch apart; 2 to 4 central spines 2 to 3-1/2 inches long and 7 to 10 shorter (3/4 to 1-1/4 inch long) radial spines per areole; spines straight, straw-colored and becoming translucent, glassy-looking. Inflorescence: Many large magenta flowers 3-1/3 to 4-3/4 inches across; reddish filaments, yellow anthers; thick style supporting 10 to 13 green stigma lobes. Bloom Period: March to May. Fruit: Bristly reddish-brown, round to oval, 2 to 2-3/8 inches long. References: "Cacti of Texas" by Powell, Weedin and Powell, "Little Big Bend" by Roy Morey and Flora of North America |
BONAP Distribution Map |
Texas Status: Native |
| Scientific Name | Echinocereus viridiflorus var. russanthus (Echinocereus russanthus, Echinocereus russanthus ssp. russanthus) | USDA PLANTS Symbol | ECVIR ECRU4 |
| Common Name | Rusty Hedgehog Cactus | ITIS Taxonomic Serial No. | N/A 51700 |
| Family | Cactaceae (Cactus) | CactiGuide.com Reference | Click Here |
| Description |
Habitat: Desert environments; limestone and igneous soils in desert scrub, grasslands and mountains; endemic to Big Bend area from 2300 to 6400 ft. Plant: Cylindrical stems 2 to 10 inches tall and 1-1/2 to 3-1/2 inches across and may be branched at bases densely covered with spines. Pads & Spines: Stems with 12 to 18 ribs; 9 to 12 central spines 3/8 to 1-1/2 inches long and 30 to 45 radial spines 1/3 to 5/8-inch long; reddish brown to blackish or white with darler tips. Inflorescence: Comparatively smaller rusty-red funnel-shaped flowers 3/4 to 1-3/8 inches long growing from the sides of the stems; yellow anthers, pale-yellow style with and 8 to 10 green stigma lobes. Bloom Period: February to April. Fruit: Green to dull red, almost round to oval, 3/8 to 1/2-inch long. References: "Cacti of Texas" by Powell, Weedin and Powell and "Little Big Bend" by Roy Morey. Note: There is some disagreement on the naming of the species. The name used here is that cited by the Powell, Weedin and Powell; Blum suggests E. russanthus ssp. russanthus in his Echinocereus Status Liste. |
BONAP Distribution Map E. russanthus |
Texas Status: Native |
Click here for more Echinocereus.
