E. engelmannii in habitat

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angelo
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Post by angelo »

ok, Petre,who knows that one day cannot come true this desire of mine to see the plants in their habitat even if I imagine him/it it has to especially be an unique emotion for me that I cultivate above all this species for it dares I am satisfied me with to dream :)

best regards
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Peterthecactusguy
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Post by Peterthecactusguy »

Well, Angelo if you ever make out here let me know :)

And I hope you get to come out here. I cannot say how lucky I am to be able to go a few miles and see them in habitat!
Here's to you, all you insidious creatures of green..er I mean cacti.
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angelo
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Post by angelo »

I thank you Peter, the world it is small and in the life he/she is never known that one day visits the states :)
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Peterthecactusguy
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Post by Peterthecactusguy »

of course Angelo. I have no idea if I will ever be able to travel anywhere else. I haven't even been in all the U.S. states yet.. I have been to Canada so I haven't totally only stayed in the US, but it's very true. :)
Here's to you, all you insidious creatures of green..er I mean cacti.
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Peterthecactusguy
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UPDATE! More E. engelmannii in habitat (a year later)

Post by Peterthecactusguy »

Ok, I took my annual walk through Echinocereus territory today. IT was a very windy day but was sunny, unlike yesterday. Many have already bloom, and some hadn't bloomed yet or won't bloom this year.

I will go out tomorrow possibly at a different area, but all of these pictures are from the same trail that I took them from last year, however I went along the Northern path so that I could sneak a peak at some Dudleya.

Image ok first one, is not in habitat but.. it's pretty. (also the mother plant of the cutting I took that I am re-rooting since the stems fell over:()

ImageFirst one, I think I took a pic of this same cactus last year!

ImageE. engelmannii in habitat. (further down the trail!)

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ImageThe mother plant cholla is still dead and still there, although sadly some kids smashed some plants along the trail, (some alive still, others dead) and this was one of them that was hit.

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Image This one is growing out of a rock!

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Close up of the roots of the cactus from above.

ImageA youngster in bloom! there were many of the single stemmed youngsters in bloom this year.

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ImageE. engelmannii weren't the only things in bloom. This Ocotillo was in bloom too! :)

Imageanother pic of the ocotillo.

ImageM. grahamii I think I just missed it's flower! :( I have always wanted to see one in habitat blooming. (yet to see it)

ImageBack to the E. engelmannii :)

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ImageA small fero growing next to a dead twin, near a spot where another bigger fero fell down and rotted. I wonder if they came from seeds off the dead fero?

ImageThe mess of spines left by the fallen fero.

ImageA hybrid Opuntia engelmannii? Nope, it's an E. engelmannii behind the Opuntia! :)

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ImageThis is a smaller one with several stems that has very cool and very striking dark spines. I wonder if it's one of the subspecies of E. engelmannii or even a different species? Whatever it is I want one like it! :)

ImageMy favorite one along the trail! It's growing out of crack in the rocks. It's a late bloomer too :)
(was last year too if I remember correctly!)

ImageOne of the smallest bloomers I spotted. It's around maybe 4-5 inches tall!

ImageThe smallest that I saw. Around maybe 2-3 inches tall and about a half inch around. It's cute :)

ImageNotice the small flowers. I forget the name of them but they are in the Phlox family.

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ImageM. grahamii with a fruit. I was tempted to take it and get the seeds from it or eat it, but.. I didn't want to disturb it in it's habitat! :)

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ImageCows in the Aqua Fria River.

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ImageA cute little seedling Fero. Maybe around 4-6 inches around! :)

Image area of habitat that faces more westerly. There are still a lot of E. engelmannii bit not as many as the more Eastern facing hillsides.

ImageHiding under a tree! :)

ImageThis one is near the trail.

Imageanother one that is near the trail.

Image an S. eruca that escaped? Nope. It's a E. engelmannii that is recumbent apparently! :)

Image One of the larger saguaros in the area. Also gives general habitat. I was heading back along the trail and moving quicker but more carefully due to the time of day. It was getting late and into the time period where snakes are out!

So that is the last picture from today. I might head out tomorrow and add some more!

(edits were to fix double postings. If I made any others let me know!)
Here's to you, all you insidious creatures of green..er I mean cacti.
peterb
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Post by peterb »

Almost all of the plants are what used to be called Echinocereus boyce-thompsonii. This form is a fairly weakly defined geographical form that has been placed under both engelmannii and fendleri (and maybe fasciculatus?) at different times. I think it is not recognized in the Flora of North America, but I'm not sure what these populations up your way are formally called now. Maybe Dean or someone will chime in.

The ones with darker spines and the slightly different colored flowers are fasciculatus proper, as far as I can tell.

peterb
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Peterthecactusguy
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Post by Peterthecactusguy »

PeterB,
once again, thanks. I thought they were all E. engelmannii and I can't tell the difference between those and the others.

And thanks for putting a name on the darker spined ones. There are a few around, but not as many!
Maybe someone like Dean will know what they have become. I get so lost in the endless reclassification of plants. :)
Here's to you, all you insidious creatures of green..er I mean cacti.
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Arjen
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Post by Arjen »

great pics!
With apologies to the late Professor C. D. Darlington the following misquotation springs to
mind ‘cactus taxonomy is the pursuit of the impossible by the incompetent’ - Fearn & Pearcy, Rebutia (1981)
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angelo
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Post by angelo »

always wonderful the pictures in habitat.
Thanks for sharing, Peter.
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Peterthecactusguy
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Post by Peterthecactusguy »

Angelo no problem. I like seeing cacti in habitat and I know not everyone can see them so I share what I see :)

Arjen,
Thanks :)
Here's to you, all you insidious creatures of green..er I mean cacti.
Tony
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Post by Tony »

More great stuff! I love the little fero wedged in that crack. :)
Forget the dog...Beware of the plants!!!

Tony
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Post by daiv »

I like this picture the best:

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All Cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are Cacti
Tony
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Post by Tony »

Yep, thats the one. :)
Forget the dog...Beware of the plants!!!

Tony
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Peterthecactusguy
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Post by Peterthecactusguy »

heh, yeah I Saw that and couldn't resist taking a picture of it. :) I love how cacti can grow out of rocks. (and trees too)
Here's to you, all you insidious creatures of green..er I mean cacti.
A. Dean Stock
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Post by A. Dean Stock »

The characteristics distinguishing E. fasciculatus from E. engelmannii are poorly documented in the easterm portion of the range of E. engelmannii. The history of names in this group is complex and one of the most recent treatments (Blum, et al. 1998) listed E. fasciculatus as a subspecies of E. engelmannii. I'm not an expert on this group and I regard Marc Baker as the best person to ask. I'll take a shot at it from the context of what is accepted in FNA. Currently, E. engelmannii and E. fasciculatus are regarded as separate species with fasciculatus having a small, narrow range in south/central Arizona and Mexico. Both species are tetraploids and may hybridize where they meet making things even more difficult. The name E. boyce-thompsonii is now included in synonomy under E.faciculatus. E. fendleri is another part of the puzzle and it occurs mainly to the east of the other two species but may prove to also occur in areas of northern Arizona not yet recognized. It is a diploid species and there is some evidence that a diploid population of this complex exists in northern Arizona and perhaps extreme southern Utah.
E. fasciculatus tends to have fewer spines per areole than E. engelmannii but there is considerable overlap. Color of the spines won't buy you much in this group as spine color varies greatly and dark spined forms occur in both species.

I've never been able to readily distinguish between the two recognized species in central Arizona although O. engelmannii is supposed to have the abaxial central spine long, flat to sharply angled "dagger-like" while that of E. fasciculatus is terete, but this character doesn't hold true in northern Arizona where the cental spine of E.engelmannii can be terete. However, where the ranges of E. fasciculatus and E. engelmannii meet the shape of the the central spine "should" serve to distinguish them.
That helped a lot didn't it??

Next time you make that walk, take a small hand lens and look at the shape of the central spines. I'd be interested in knowing what you find. The plants look quite different from the E. engelmannii around southern Utah as the spines are less dense.
Dean
Albert Dean Stock,Ph.D.
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