2019 Natural Hybrid Cacti of Orogrande, NM

hegar · Post by **hegar** » Tue Apr 09, 2019 4:44 am

Well, here it is once again, the time where I am going to present the amazing flowers of the natural hybrid cacti of the Jarilla Mountains near Orogrande, New Mexico.
Yesterday a small, but enthusiastic group of our local Cactus and Rock Club met at a local Walmart location and then headed out to the slopes of the Jarilla Mountains, a small mountain range near a tiny town about one car hour's drive from El Paso. The cacti in bloom, which we went to photograph, are in most cases a hybrid between the claret cup (Echinocereus coccineus ssp. rosei) and the Texas Rainbow Cactus (Echinocereus dasyacanthus).
These two main parents grow in the same area and their flowering does overlap, but only a little. The resulting offspring is called Echinocereus x roetteri. Most of the hybrid plants do resemble the E. coccineus ssp. rosei phenotypically. However, the crossing of that orange-red flowering plant with the yellow-blooming E. dasyacanthus leads to the resulting hybrids blooming in many colors. Those blossoms can range from snow white, to pink, orange, and all the way to red. There are many shades of each individual color present and also some two-toned or multi-colored individual plants.
OK, enough said. I am going to post the first images. As always, I do show scenic views of the surroundings and also plants of all kinds that do grow there, starting with a few wildflowers.

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This will do for today. It is getting late and I need to get up early to go to work. I shall post more images tomorrow.

Harald

hegar · Post by **hegar** » Wed Apr 10, 2019 2:47 am

I am attaching a number of images, showing a little bit more of the vegetation of the place we visited. There seemed to be only two larger plants at that location: the Acacia, which is a small tree and the creosote, which is a bush. The latter emits a delightful aroma, when it rains in the desert. It really does smell fresh and is rejuvenating, making the desert a special place.

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Of the yuccas I only noticed the low to medium growing banana yucca, Yucca baccata. Most of the plants were flowering.

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The assortment of Opuntia spp. was also not very great. I did not even notice the common Opuntia imbricata. However, there were a few species present.

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Another one of my favorite Echinocereus members, E. stramineus, the strawberry pitahaya or beehive cactus, was plentiful, although not yet in bloom. Perhaps I can take another field trip and shoot a few flower images of that plant.

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hegar · Post by **hegar** » Wed Apr 10, 2019 3:27 am

I decided to add a few more images, so tomorrow I can present the main parents of these natural hybrid cacti. First, two images of another pretty common cactus, the eagle claw cactus Echinocactus horizonthalonius.

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The next series of images shows various cacti in groups. I wanted to give the viewer the chance to see how far apart these cacti grow from each other and also to show the plant community a bit. I had mentioned earlier, that I did not see a cholla (Opuntia imbricate). Well, I misspoke. Image 9 of this part does show a small member of that species.

Harald

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spok · Post by **spok** » Wed Apr 10, 2019 10:19 am

Very nice photos. I always enjoy seeing photos with cactus in their habitat. Thanks!

hegar · Post by **hegar** » Thu Apr 11, 2019 3:21 am

Here I am once again. Starting now I shall be concentrating my image presentation exclusively on the two major parents of the hybrid cacti and of course on the hybrids themselves.
First I am showing the parents. For those forum members, who are not familiar with the two species of Echinocereus, i.e. Echinocereus dasyacanthus (Texas Rainbow Cactus) and Echinocereus coccineus ssp. rosei (Claret Cup Cactus), there are a few useful things to know:
1. The plants differ in spine length, number, color, and arrangement. E. dasyacanthus has more numerous, shorter, and oftentimes multicolored spines, with one row being grey, followed by one row which is of a pink color.
2. The flower size and color is different, i.e. the E. dasyacanthus has a larger blossom, which occurs in all shades of yellow, while the E. coccineus ssp. rosei does have an orange-red colored flower.
3. The E. dasyacanthus plant does have perfect flowers, while E. coccineus ssp. rosei produces either male or female flowers on separate plants.
4. The E. dasyacanthus blossom lasts only about two days, while E. coccineus ssp. rosei flowers will remain open day and night for about one week each.
5. The offspring (hybrid) of these plants is usually named Echinocereus x roetteri and can have the characteristics of either parent. A hybrid with the spine structure of the claret cup (E. coccineus) will in most cases have flowers that match or slightly exceed those of the pure-strain E. coccineus ssp. rosei. Those blossoms will last about as long and stay open day and night, just like with E. coccineus ssp. rosei.
The hybrid having the outward appearance of the E. dasyacanthus will produce flowers larger than those of the E. coccineus. However, those blossoms will be short-lived, like those of E. dasyacanthus.
6. Except for the flower color varying from the original parent it is practically impossible to tell which plant is a hybrid and which one the pure strain.

Well, I believe, that his is enough of an introduction into the wondrous world of these hybrids. So, here are some pictures of the parents. Because the E. dasyacanthus was not flowering yet, I used a photo from one of my plants from last year.

Harald

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The E. coccineus ssp. rosei shown in image 3a was a rather tall plant (over 1 foot in height). At first I even thought, that I was looking at the "White Sands Claret Cup". However, the spines of that plant are spaced further apart.

hegar · Post by **hegar** » Thu Apr 11, 2019 3:35 am

I still have some time and shall add the red and orange flowering hybrids, plus a seedling cactus, for which I do not know the identity.

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Now what I call "Orange Hybrids". It is almost impossible to make a distinction between these two colors, because even what I call "red" does look more like brick-red or even orange.

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I did not see many small seedling cacti, only a hand full of Echinocactus horizonthalonius and this little guy. I am not sure what it is. At first glance I thought, that it could be a New Mexico Rainbow Cactus (Echinocereus viridiflorus ssp. chloranthus). However, there is a good chance, that this is a claret cup seedling.

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I hope, that tomorrow I can attach the very numerous image collection of the pink hybrid claret cup. I did take 40 images, but may have to pick the best let's say 20 or so. Of course, if nobody will complain about getting bored, I might just go ahead and post all 40 of them.

Harald

hegar · Post by **hegar** » Thu Apr 11, 2019 5:18 am

OK, Rachel. You will get a "pink overload".

Harald

saboten · Post by **saboten** » Thu Apr 11, 2019 3:13 pm

Phenomenal indeed! There should be an award show for outstanding posts on the forum. Ones that are as informative and aesthetically pleasing as this would definitely win many honors

A_G_R · Post by **A_G_R** » Thu Apr 11, 2019 9:06 pm

Fantastic flowers!! Echinocereus here in Arizona are flowering now too

P.S. I hope you come back for the flowers of those E horizonthalonius

hegar · Post by **hegar** » Fri Apr 12, 2019 4:50 am

I came back from the Native Plant Society meeting at 21:00 h and after eating a small meal started to look at all those images of the pink-flowering hybrid claret cup cacti. I just finished making the images small enough to be accepted by this site and almost fell asleep while doing this.
So I decided to post the first 20 photos and continue tomorrow morning to enter the rest.
The last posting will be of unusual blossom colors. I should be able to also finish that part tomorrow too.

Harald

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autodikaktos · Post by **autodikaktos** » Fri Apr 12, 2019 5:55 am

Ah, I'd been waiting for this! Beautiful photos, especially liked the introductory habitat and cohabiters. I just can't get over how crazy it is to see "coccineus" flowers in so many shades. It's so distracting I haven't even began looking for any differences in spination yet. And thank you so much for these annual updates of this area, it's great to see one place covered over time.

hegar · Post by **hegar** » Fri Apr 12, 2019 6:20 am

Thank you very much, Rachel, saboten, A_G_R, and autodikaktos for your interest in this thread. The Orogrande area with its Jarilla Mountain range is indeed a little jewel in the desert. This time of the year I wound not mind living among all these cacti and marveling at the beauty of their flowers.
Unfortunately, I am physically becoming less capable of doing a good job of reporting about these plants. So it might well be, that this year is the last one I am able to go out there and photograph the cactus flora.
I shall try though to go perhaps two more times into that area, in order to perhaps also take some photos of the Texas Rainbow cactus (Echinocereus dasyacanthus) and to see, if I can find some hybrids of that phenotype. Those would be rare indeed, but I have encountered them a few times during my excursions in the past. Also, I would love to go once more to photograph the flowers on the mound-forming Echinocereus stramineus. I did see a few nice flowering plants at White Sands Missile Range in 2010, but only one open blossom, when we went to the Orogrande site.
@ A_G_R: I also would not mind going there to look for blooming Echinocactus horizonthalonius plants. However, while they do flower repeatedly, if the conditions are good, the blossom only lasts one day. So it is not an easy task to be there just at the right time. Also, I do have six or seven of these plants in my front yard and will be posting images of those once again, when they flower.

Harald

saboten · Post by **saboten** » Fri Apr 12, 2019 7:20 am

hegar wrote: ↑Fri Apr 12, 2019 6:20 am Thank you very much, Rachel, saboten, A_G_R, and autodikaktos for your interest in this thread. The Orogrande area with its Jarilla Mountain range is indeed a little jewel in the desert. This time of the year I wound not mind living among all these cacti and marveling at the beauty of their flowers.
Unfortunately, I am physically becoming less capable of doing a good job of reporting about these plants. So it might well be, that this year is the last one I am able to go out there and photograph the cactus flora.

Don't worry hegar, just let us know and we will be happy to come out and carry you in a sedan chair so you can keep seeing the cacti!

A_G_R · Post by **A_G_R** » Fri Apr 12, 2019 1:37 pm

hegar wrote: ↑Fri Apr 12, 2019 6:20 am @ A_G_R: I also would not mind going there to look for blooming Echinocactus horizonthalonius plants. However, while they do flower repeatedly, if the conditions are good, the blossom only lasts one day. So it is not an easy task to be there just at the right time. Also, I do have six or seven of these plants in my front yard and will be posting images of those once again, when they flower.

Harald

We have a population of Ech horizonthalonius in the Watterman Mnts near by, I should try to visit the area this year, hopefully will have a nice flowering season

Looking forward to seeing more of your photos

hegar · Post by **hegar** » Fri Apr 12, 2019 2:35 pm

Hello saboten,
you or some other cactus friends will not need to carry me in a "sedan chair" yet, at least I hope, that my hip joint will do the job for a couple more years.

I shall do my very best to keep on going to the Jarilla Mountains as long as I can find someone who takes me along in her/his vehicle. The roads into this habitat area are all dirt roads and have no name signs. I do get easily lost, because I do not have any acceptable sense of direction.
Our guide - although in better health than I am - is also over 70 years old, but I am certain, that another club member will take over his function, if he can no longer lead us into the "wilderness".
Well, without further ado, here are the other 20 images of pink-flowering hybrid claret cup cacti.

Harald