June 2017 Echinocereus rigidissimus var. rubispinus

[Steve Johnson]

IMO, the best of the genus -- lovely plant form, dense colorful spines, and drop-dead gorgeous flowers. After my first two efforts with rubispinus failed, the one I received from CoronaCactus in December 2012 has actually been growing, and quite well too. How long does it take for the plant to go from bud to bloom? Fuzzy little belly-button detected on March 20, and here's the answer on June 4:









I've seen specimens with multiple flowers, although they're a lot taller, so this must be a function of the plant's age. My rubispinus is still a young 'un, so I won't expect more than one flower per year for quite awhile. But that's okay -- watching it go from bud to bloom every spring is a wonderful experience!

[MagiCarpus]

Very nice Steve. Nearly all echinocereus have outstanding flowers, this one is no exception.

here's a specimen at the local annual show with 3 buds.

[Steve Johnson]

Very nice Steve. Nearly all echinocereus have outstanding flowers, this one is no exception.

here's a specimen at the local annual show with 3 buds.

Ooooh, nice! Thanks for sharing that pic with us!

[DaveW]

One of the characteristics of Echinocereus is the usual emerald green stigma lobes. E. rigidissimus rubispinus (as Steve correctly spells it, is often found wrongly spelt rubrispinus, but rubispinus was the spelling in the original publication) is one of the exceptions that have greyish green or brownish stigma lobes. You will also find it listed under E. pectinatus rubispinus as well.

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[C And D]

My plant put on a couple more inches since I last measured it.
I usually have it propped up more so it doesn't lean over, and rotate it often so it will grow straight up

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[thorneyheart]

They all look so lovely.

[Bpete]

incredible blooms, whets my appetite.

[Ancientforest]

Wow. nice flowers. I hope this one shows up in one of my Echinocereus mixes. Yours looks great

[Shmuel]

I usually have it propped up more so it doesn't lean over, and rotate it often so it will grow straight up
IMG_8910.JPG

Hi,
How do you rotate it? Looks like it is in a bed, or is it in a hidden pot?
Shmuel
Jerusalem

[WayneByerly]

Jaw droppingly stunning colors ... I have had a E. rigidissimus for four years now and the difference in size between what it was when I got it and what it is now, is depressingly unspectacular.

This is what it looked like in 2013
I don't have a coin in the second picture for scale, so I have to use a different method. If you count the areoles from top to bottom in this picture, you'll get about 11.

016.0 2013-07-29 Echinocereus rigidissimus rubispinus.jpg (104.48 KiB) Viewed 6223 times

And this is what it looks like in a picture taken this month.
If you count the areoles from top to bottom in this picture, you'll get about 28. So you can see, it has not put on a lot of growth in 4 years.

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