Echinocactus polycephalus
| Cotton top cactus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Echinocactus polycephalus | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Cactaceae |
| Subfamily: | Cactoideae |
| Genus: | Echinocactus |
| Species: | E. polycephalus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Echinocactus polycephalus Engelm. & J.M. Bigelow
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| Synonyms[1] | |
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Echinocactus polycephalus is a cactus that occurs in the Mojave Desert region of Arizona, California, and Nevada. It also occurs in the Sonoran Desert region of southern California and northern Sonora, Mexico.
The plants grow in some of the most extreme arid environments in the American Southwest, such as Death Valley National Park, and the Mojave National Preserve of Southern California.
Description
[edit]The stems of Echinocactus polycephalus are sometimes solitary, but more often in clusters of as many as 30, each up to 0.6 m tall. The spines are yellow to red. The fruits are densely woolly, giving the common name cotton top cactus. The tendency of the cactus to cluster causes it to also be called many-headed barrel cactus.[2]
They have a reputation for being difficult in cultivation, and are rarely seen in cactus collections.
References
[edit]
- ^ "Echinocactus polycephalus Engelm. & J.M. Bigelow", Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, retrieved 2022-03-05
- ^ UC/JEPS: Jepson Manual treatment for ECHINOCACTUS polycephalus var. polycephalus
- IUCN Red List least concern species
- Echinocactus
- Cacti of Mexico
- Cacti of the United States
- Flora of Arizona
- Flora of California
- Flora of Nevada
- Flora of Sonora
- North American desert flora
- Flora of the California desert regions
- Flora of the Sonoran Deserts
- Natural history of the Colorado Desert
- Natural history of the Mojave Desert
- Death Valley National Park
- Mojave National Preserve
- Plants described in 1856