Echinocereus engelmannii and regional forms

[vlani]

What is the other option? With the flower like that?

[A. Dean Stock]

Spine morphology looked more like E. fendleri to me but I'm not very familiar with that species. I've not seen E. engelmannii with spines like that. We are always looking for E. fendleri in southern Utah.
Dean

[MJPapay]

Remember - my thoughts are worth what you are paying for them.

My initial reaction upon seeing the photo of that beautiful and peculiar cactus was - "Is it a hybrid with E. coccineus?"

Possibly a totally irrelevant thought as I do not know if E. coccineus is a nearby cohabitant.

[vlani]

I'd say typical engelmannii in shady location. Below is the JTree plant:

IMG_4970.jpg (168.56 KiB) Viewed 1315 times

[A. Dean Stock]

That was my first reaction but on closer inspection the spine cluster looks quite different. I'm more inclined to think that if its's E. engelmannii then it may be introgressed.
Dean

[peterb]

In particular, the flower color tones caught my eye. Darker purple, without as much of a sheen. I'll keep my eye out for these guys next spring. Vlad, they were all with short spines in this area, even those in full sun. Interesting plants.

peterb

[MJPapay]

Well, it's a beauty to behold and a real treasure to see. I imagine the discovery of that wonder beneath the shrub entailed emotions of the sort a rockhound feels upon finding a fossil - or mineral in its crystalline forms. Botanical exploration has these moments too!

[peterb]

Indeed! We are somewhat spoiled by the vast amount of plant material in cultivation these days and forget sometimes how hard some of these plants are to find. Always a wonderful moment when something hidden or rare or unusual pops up, especially if it has involved years of searching. Yeah, I said years.

peterb

[Peterthecactusguy]

PeterB, I still haven't found all the "local" cacti around me. Gotta keep searching. I also want to find a Peniocereus greggii in the wild. That would be pretty cool, since it's an interesting plant. I know they aren't growing up where I live.. it gets too cold for them...Need to look south, in NW Maricopa county if I am reading the location data right.

[daiv]

Hey Peterb, if you ever want to review this page:

http://www.cactiguide.com/cactus/?genus ... ngelmannii" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'd be glad to reorganize it according to what you are learning about these. I have lots and lots more E. englemannii pics too.

[Peterthecactusguy]

I have pictures of a cristate Echinocereus boyce-thompsonii if you want them Daiv.

[Peterthecactusguy]

http://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/taxa/i ... 2784&cl=22 I found this on SEINET. Interesting they have it listed for Phoenix metro area, but not BCC, nor AFNM, which is what we have up here, for sure, I have one that looks exactly like the ones in the photo.

[peterb]

The SEINet listings are for known herbarium records only. I see a ton of records for Gila and Yavapai Counties, etc. http://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/collec ... e=&reset=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

peterb

[Peterthecactusguy]

PeterB, interesting. I didn't realize that E. boyce-thompsonii was so rare. So maybe those samples were from this area, and yes, I know they are herbarium records, and they pinpoint some of those records on where they go them from, but for some they don't give any information at all. It gets confusing for those of us who are trying to figure out which pant is which, I suck at IDing Echinocereus.

[peterb]

Yeah, I was surprised the location data was not published at SEInet, as boyce-thompsonii is not at all rare, actually. Very common locally, no way it is even close to in danger. I think a lot of the location data at SEInet is blacked out simply on principle.

peterb