Mojave mound cactus (Echinocereus polyacanthus)
Description
Echinocereus polyacanthus grows individually or in branches and often forms groups or pads consisting of up to 400 shoots . The bright green to dark green cylindrical shoots taper to their base as well as to their tip. They are 10 to 30 centimeters long and have diameters of 2 to 7.5 centimeters. There are nine to 13 distinct smooth or bumped ribs . The one to seven brown or yellow-brown middle thorns are thickened at their base. They have lengths of up to 5 cm, but are very variable in their length. The six to 14 dirty white, frequently mutually overlapping edge spines are up to 2 centimeters long.The tubular to funnel-shaped flowers are bright pinkish orange to deep red and have a yellowish or whitish throat. They appear near the shoot tips, are 3 to 14 inches long and reach a diameter of 2 to 8 centimeters. The egg-shaped green fruits contain white flesh and do not crack.
Taxonomic tree
-
Domain: Eukarya
-
-
Kingdom: Plantae
-
-
Phylum: Magnoliophyta
-
-
Class: Magnoliopsida
-
-
Order: Caryophyllales
-
-
Family: Cactaceae
-
-
Genus: Echinocereus
-
-
-
-
-
-
