Xerophyte

Habit

It is a clumping columnar cactus, 6-25-branched, ultimately forming somewhat open clumps of stems.

Description

Echinocereus engelmanni var armatus is the most formidably spiny extreme of the species.

Flowers

From purple to lavender. The flowers are up to 7 cm in diameter, 5-8 cm long . Flower tube hairy.

Blooming Season

Spring, flowers are diurnal close at night and reopen in the morning and last for about five days.

Spines

8-20 per areole up to 13 cm long; divergent-porrect, stout, and rigid, straight or curving and somewhat twisted, brownish-pink or (usually) dull golden-yellow.

Ribs

11 to 14 low obtuse, tubercles indistinct, crests slightly undulate.

Stem

Suberect or erect light green, cylindrical or somewhat tapering distally, usually 15-20 cm tall, and about 5 cm in diameter, branching freely from the base;

Radial Spines

Lighter whitish to creamy coloured 8-20 mm long long, spreading.

Fruits

Red or orangish 2,5-4cm long, spherical, fleshy, pulp whitish be-coming infused with pink or red from the skin. The fruit is edible, it is said to taste like strawberry.

Areoles

6-15 mm apart, wool present in first year only.