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This page is based on the 1993 Jepson Manual.
Please see the Jepson eFlora for up-to-date information about California vascular plants. |
| Jepson Flora Project: Jepson Interchange |
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TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL |
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Jepson Interchange (more information) |
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©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California
Print edition is available from the University of California Press |
| The second edition of The Jepson Manual (2012) is available from the University of California Press | |
| See also the Jepson eFlora, which parallels the Second Edition |
Perennial, shrub, tree, generally fleshy
Stem cylindric, spheric, or flat; surface smooth, tubercled, or ribbed (fluted); nodal areoles bear flowers, generally bear spines from center ("central spines") and margin ("radial spines") (Opuntia areoles bear small, barbed, deciduous bristles sometimes called glochids, generally also bear spines)
Leaf generally 0
Flower generally solitary, bisexual, sessile, ± radial; perianth parts generally many, grading from scale-like to petal-like; stamens many; ovary appearing inferior, ± submerged in stem, so generally with areoles on surface, style 1, stigma lobes generally many
Fruit generally fleshy, generally indehiscent, spiny, scaly, or smooth
Seeds many
Genera in family: 93 genera, ± 2000 species: especially Am deserts; many cultivated
Etymology: (Greek: thorny plant)
Reference: [Benson 1982 Cacti of US & Can; Hunt & Taylor eds 1990 Bradleya 8:85107]
Stems 1many, often densely clumped, each < 1 m, 210 cm diam, cylindric; ribs 513, prominent; tubercles ± indistinct; spines straight or curved
Flowers on old growth, often near upper margin of spine-bearing areoles; ovary spiny
Fruit spheric to ovoid, glabrous; spines deciduous
Seed ovoid to ± spheric, tubercled, generally black
Species in genus: 47 species: sw US, Mex
Etymology: (Greek: hedgehog candle)
Reference: [Taylor 1985 Genus Echinocereus]
| Native |
Plant branched, forming clumps or mounds < 1 m diam
Stems < 60, ± erect, 560 cm, 49 cm diam, cylindric, green; ribs 1013; tubercles indistinct; areole wool present in first year only; spines variable in color and shape, always present, glabrous; central spines 27, < 8 cm, spreading, straight to twisted; radial spines 614, 220 cm
Flower 57.5 cm diam, short-funnel-shaped; perianth purplish to magenta or lavender, inner parts generally acuminate or bristle-tipped (sometimes round); anthers yellow
Fruit fleshy, 2030 mm, spheric, red, edible; spine clusters deciduous
Chromosomes: 2n=44
Ecology: Many dry habitats
Elevation: < 2400 m.
Bioregional distribution: San Bernardino Mountains, Peninsular Ranges, White and Inyo Mountains, Desert
Distribution outside California: to Utah, Arizona, Mexico
Flowering time: MayJun
Synonyms: E. munzii (Parish) L.D. Benson
Highly variable; sometimes divided into vars., but not satisfactorily. More study neededHorticultural information: DRN, DRY: 2, 3, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.
| YOU CAN HELP US make sure that our distributional information is correct and current. If you know that a plant occurs in a wild, reproducing state in a Jepson bioregion NOT highlighted on the map, please contact us with that information. Please realize that we cannot incorporate range extensions without access to a voucher specimen, which should (ultimately) be deposited in an herbarium. You can send the pressed, dried collection (with complete locality information indicated) to us (e-mail us for details) or refer us to an accessioned herbarium specimen. Non-occurrence of a plant in an indicated area is difficult to document, but we will especially value your input on those types of possible errors (see automatic conversion of distribution data to maps). |
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