Echinocactus polycephalus

Cotton top cactus
Echinocactus polycephalus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Cactaceae
Subfamily: Cactoideae
Genus: Echinocactus
Species:
E. polycephalus
Binomial name
Echinocactus polycephalus
Engelm. & J.M. Bigelow
Synonyms[1]
  • Emorycactus polycephalus (Engelm. & J.M.Bigelow) Doweld
  • Homalocephala polycephala (Engelm. & J.M.Bigelow) Vargas & Bárcenas

Echinocactus polycephalus is a cactus that occurs in the Mojave Desert region of Arizona, California, and Nevada. It also occurs in the Sonoran Desert region of southern California and northern Sonora, Mexico.

The plants grow in some of the most extreme arid environments in the American Southwest, such as Death Valley National Park, and the Mojave National Preserve of Southern California.

Description

The stems of Echinocactus polycephalus are sometimes solitary, but more often in clusters of as many as 30, each up to 0.6 m tall. The spines are yellow to red. The fruits are densely woolly, giving the common name cotton top cactus. The tendency of the cactus to cluster causes it to also be called many-headed barrel cactus.[2]

They have a reputation for being difficult in cultivation, and are rarely seen in cactus collections.

References

  1. ^ "Echinocactus polycephalus Engelm. & J.M. Bigelow", Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, retrieved 2022-03-05
  2. ^ UC/JEPS: Jepson Manual treatment for ECHINOCACTUS polycephalus var. polycephalus
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