Autor: Engelmann
• DESCRIPTION
A genus of low bushy plants, solitary or branched, sometimes forming dense cushions, prostrate or erect, globose or cylindrical, ribbed, with fibrous or tuberous roots. Spines more or less robust, highly variable in size and shape.
Flowers diurnal, small to rather large, self sterile, funnel-shaped, often brightly coloured, pink, magenta, red purple, yellow, greenish yellow, brown, sometimes white; stigmas of the pistil mostly green; areoles of the floral tube and the pericarpel bearing spines, bristles and sometimes wool. Some are pollinated by hummingbirds (Archilochus alexandri, Eugenes fulgens, Lampornis clemenciae, Selasphorus platycercus), others by bees (Megachile), rarely by bats (Scobell & Scott 2002, in Emerson 2007). Fruits globose to egg-shaped, longitudinally dehiscent, or indehiscent, juicy, spiny (spines sometimes falling when fruit is ripe). Seeds broadly ovate, tuberculate, rather dull, black. Dispersion performed among others by lizards (saurochory).
• HABITAT
With a wide geographic distribution, the genus Echinocereus grows in very vast and diverse habitats, in the shade or in full sun according to species, in woodlands rich in humus, with pines, oaks, junipers, but also in prairies, mountains where the species living here can withstand frost, deserts, gravelly plains, hills, plateaus, canyons, cliffs and rocky escarpments, arroyos, coastal areas where the plants can receive sea sprays, valleys, dry regions etc., among grasses, bushes or under Mezquites (Prosopis spp.), rocky outcrops and outwash plains, often on limestone, also on granitic, gravelly, sandy or rocky soils, volcanic tuffs, in the Gulf of Mexico or Pacific coast islands, from sea level up to 2700 m in altitude, together with other cacti and succulents.
• DISTRIBUTION
Mexico (Aguascalientes, Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Colima, Durango, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Michoacan, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas), USA (Arizona, California, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wyoming).
currently 67 recognise dspecies,+ 46 subspecies and with one (and more?) natural hybrid:
– Echinocereus acifer (Otto ex Salm-Dyck) F.Haage 1859
– Echinocereus acifer subsp. huitcholensis (F.A.c.Weber) M.Lange 1994
– Echinocereus adustus* Engelm. 1848
– Echinocereus adustus subsp. schwarzii (A.B.Lau) N.P.Taylor 1997
– Echinocereus apachensis Blum & Rutow 1998
– Echinocereus arizonicus Rose ex Orcutt 1926
– Echinocereus barthelowanus* Britton & Rose 1922
– Echinocereus berlandieri* (Engelm.) F.Haage 1859
– Echinocereus bonkerae* Thornb. & Bonker 1932
– Echinocereus brandegeei* (J.M.Coult.) K.Schum. 1897
– Echinocereus bristolii* W.T.Marshall 1938
– Echinocereus chisosensis W.T.Marshall 1940
– Echinocereus chisoensis subsp. fobeanus (Oehme) N.P.Taylor 2005
– Echinocereus cinerascens* (DC.) Lem. 1868
– Echinocereus cinerascens subsp. ehrenbergii (Pfeiffer) W.BIum & Rutow 1998
– Echinocereus cinerascens subsp. septentrionalis (N.P.Taylor) N.P.Taylor 1997
– Echinocereus cinerascens subsp. tulensis (Bravo) N.P.Taylor 1997
– Echinocereus coccineus Engelm. 1848
– Echinocereus coccineus subsp. paucispinus (Engelm.) Blum 1998
– Echinocereus dasyacanthus* Engelm. 1848
– Echinocereus dasyacanthus subsp. ctenoides (Engelm.) J.Lode 2013
– Echinocereus engelmannii* (Parry ex Engelm.) Lem. 1868
– Echinocereus enneacanthus* Engelm. 1848
– Echinocereus enneacanthus subsp. brevispinus* (W.O.Moore) N.P.Taylor 1997
– Echinocereus fasciculatus* (Engelm. ex B.DJackson) L.D.Benson 1969
– Echinocereus fasciculatus subsp. boyce-thompsonii (Orcutt) N.P.Taylor 1997
– Echinocereus fendleri* (Engelm.) F.Seitz 1870
– Echinocereus fendleri subsp. hempelii (Fobe) Blum 1998
– Echinocereus fendleri subsp. rectispinus* (Peebles) N.P.Taylor 1997
– Echinocereus ferreirianus* H.E.Gates 1953
– Echinocereus ferreirianus subsp. lindsayi (J.Meyran) N.P.Taylor 1997
– Echinocereus freudenbergeri* G.Frank 1981
– Echinocereus grandis* Britton & Rose 1922
– Echinocereus klapperi* Blum 1998
– Echinocereus knippelianus* Liebner 1895
– Echinocereus knippelianus subsp. kruegeri (Glass & Foster) Glass 1998
– Echinocereus knippelianus subsp. reyesii (A.B.Lau) Blum & Lange 1998
– Echinocereus kroenleinii (Cartier) Blum & Waldeis 1999
– Echinocereus laui* G.Frank 1978
– Echinocereus ledingii* Peebles 1936
– Echinocereus leucanthus* N.P.Taylor 1985
– Echinocereus longisetus (Engelm.) Lem. 1868
– Echinocereus longisetus subsp. delaetii (Gurke) N.P.Taylor 1997
– Echinocereus mapimiensis* E.F.Anderson, W.Hodgson & P.Quirk 1998
– Echinocereus maritimus* (M.E.Jones) K.Schum. 1897
– Echinocereus maritimus subsp. hancockii (E.Y.Dawson) Blum & Lange 1998
– Echinocereus metornii G.Frank 1990
– Echinocereus mombergerianus* G.Frank 1990
– Echinocereus nicholii* (L.D.Benson) B.D.Parfitt 1987
– Echinocereus nivosus* Glass & Foster 1978
– Echinocereus ortegae* Rose ex J.G.Ortega 1929
– Echinocereus ortegae subsp. koehresianus (G.Frank) W.Rischer & G.Frank 1996
– Echinocereus pacificus (Engelm.) F.Haage 1859
– Echinocereus palmeri* Britton & Rose 1922
– Echinocereus palmeri subsp. mazapil Hernandez & Gomez 2004
– Echinocereus pamanesiorum* A.B.Lau 1981
– Echinocereus pamanesiorum subsp. bonatzii (R.C.Roemer) R.C.Roemer 1997
– Echinocereus papillosus* Linke ex Rumpler 1885
– Echinocereus parkeri* N.P.Taylor 1988
– Echinocereus parkeri subsp. arteagensis Blum & Lange 1998
– Echinocereus parkeri subsp. gonzalezii (N.P.Taylor) N.P.Taylor 1997
– Echinocereus parkeri subsp. mazapilensis Blum & Lange 1998
– Echinocereus pectinatus* (Scheidw.) Engelm. 1948
– Echinocereus pectinatus subsp. wenigeri* (L.D.Benson) Blum & Rutow 1998
– Echinocereus pentalophus* (DC.) Lem. 1868
– Echinocereus pentalophus subsp. leonensis (Mathsson) N.P.Taylor 1997
– Echinocereus pentalophus subsp. procumbens (Engelm.) Blum & Lange 1998
– Echinocereus polyacanthus* Engelm. 1848
– Echinocereus poselgeri* Lem. 1868
– Echinocereus primolanatus Schwarz ex N.P.Taylor 1985
– Echinocereus pseudopectinatus (N.P.Taylor) N.P.Taylor 1989
– Echinocereus pulchellus* (C.Mart.) F.Seitz 1870
– Echinocereus pulchellus subsp. acanthosetus (S.Arias & U.Guzman) N.P.Taylor 1998
– Echinocereus pulchellus subsp. sharpii (N.P.Taylor) N.P.Taylor 1997
– Echinocereus pulchellus subsp. weinbergii (Weing.) N.P.Taylor 1997
– Echinocereus rayonesensis* N.P.Taylor 1988
– Echinocereus reichenbachii* (Terscheck ex Walpers) F.Haage 1859
– Echinocereus reichenbachii subsp. armatus (Poselg.) N.P.Taylor 1997
– Echinocereus reichenbachii subsp. baileyi* (Rose) N.P.Taylor 1997
– Echinocereus reichenbachii subsp. burrensis G.R.w.Frank 2000
– Echinocereus reichenbachii subsp. fitchii* (Britton & Rose) N.P.Taylor 1997
– Echinocereus reichenbachii subsp. perbellus* (Britton & Rose) N.P.Taylor 1997
– Echinocereus rigidissimus* (Engelm.) F.Haage 1897
– Echinocereus rigidissimus subsp. rubispinus (G.Frank & A.B.Lau) N.P.Taylor 1997
– Echinocereus russanthus* Weniger 1969
– Echinocereus salm-dyckianus Scheer 1856
– Echinocereus santaritensis Blum & Rutow 1999
– Echinocereus scheeri* (Salm-Dyck) Scheer 1856
– Echinocereus scheeri subsp. gentryi (Clover) N.P.Taylor 1997
– Echinocereus schereri G. Frank 1990
– Echinocereus schmollii* (Weing.) N.P.Taylor 1985
– Echinocereus sciurus* (K.Brandegee) Dams 1904
– Echinocereus sciurus subsp. floresii (Schwarz ex Backeb.) N.P.Taylor 1997
– Echinocereus scopulorum* Britton & Rose 1922
– Echinocereus spinigemmatus* A.B.Lau 1984
– Echinocereus stoloniferus* W.T.Marshall 1938
– Echinocereus stoloniferus subsp. tayopensis (W.T.Marshall) N.P.Taylor 1997
– Echinocereus stramineus* (Engelm.) F.Seitz 1870
– Echinocereus stramineus subsp. occidentalis (N.P.Taylor) N.P.Taylor 1997
– Echinocereus subinermis* Salm-Dyck ex Scheer 1856
– Echinocereus subinermis subsp. ochoterenae (J.G.Ortega) N.P.Taylor 1997
– Echinocereus tamaulipensis (Werderm.) M.Lange 1995
– Echinocereus triglochidiatus* Engelm. 1848
– Echinocereus triglochidiatus subsp. mojavensis* (Engelm. & Bigelow) Blum & Lange 1998
– Echinocereus viereckii* Werderm. 1934
– Echinocereus viereckii subsp. morricalii (Riha) N.P.Taylor 1997
– Echinocereus viridiflorus* Engelm. 1848
– Echinocereus viridiflorus subsp. chloranthus (Engelm.) N.P.Taylor 1997
– Echinocereus viridiflorus subsp. correllii (L.D.Benson) Blum & Lange 1998
– Echinocereus viridiflorus subsp. cylindricus* (Engelm.) N.P.Taylor 1997
– Echinocereus viridiflorus subsp. davisii* (Houghton) N.P.Taylor 1997
– Echinocereus waldeisii Haugg 1994
– Echinocereus websterianus* G.E.Lindsay 1947
– Echinocereus x roetteri (Engelm.) Rumpler 1886
References: "TAXONOMY of the CACTACEAE" - ISBN 978-84-617-3723-9 (Vol. 1)