Ferocactus echidne is a barrel cactus in the genus Ferocactus. It is found in nature in Mexico. This cactus is known commonly as Sonora barrel, Coville's barrel cactus, Emory's barrel cactus, and traveler's friend. This plant is often sold as a houseplant.
| Ferocactus echidne | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Cactaceae |
| Subfamily: | Cactoideae |
| Genus: | Ferocactus |
| Species: | F. echidne
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| Binomial name | |
| Ferocactus echidne (DC.) Britton & Rose
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| Synonyms | |
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Description edit
Ferocactus echidne is a small to medium-sized cactus that grows alone or in clusters. Its flattened to cylindrical shoots are typically cloudy to gray-green, reaching heights of 12 to 35 centimeters and diameters of 12 to 20 centimeters. The plant has 13 to 21 sharp, ribbed ridges without tubercles. Its thin, amber-colored spines are needle-like and smooth, with a single central spine up to 5 centimeters long, and seven to nine shorter, radiating marginal spines.[2][3]
At the top of its shoots, the cactus produces funnel-shaped flowers, yellow or red, 2 to 4.5 centimeters long and 3 to 3.5 centimeters in diameter. Its fruits are spherical to egg-shaped, light green or white with pinkish or red hues, fleshy, and growing up to 2 centimeters long.
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Orange flower plant -
Plant with red flowers -
Flowers closeup -
Fruits
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Distribution edit
Ferocactus echidna grows in bushlands and tropical forests at elevations of 300 to 1860 meters in Mexico's Hidalgo, San Luis Potosí, Queretaro, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, and Guanajuato states.
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Plant growing in La Reforma Near, Tamaulipas
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Taxonomy edit
Ferocactus echidne, described by Augustin-Pyrame de Candolle in 1834 as Echinocactus echidne, gets its species name "echidne" from Latin, meaning "snake," though its precise significance remains uncertain. In 1922, Nathaniel Lord Britton and Joseph Nelson Rose reclassified this species under the genus Ferocactus.[4] Alternatively it has been assigned the binomials Echinocactus emoryi, Ferocactus rectispinus, and Ferocactus covillei.
References edit
- ^ Group), Succulent Plants Specialist (2009-11-16). "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
- ^ "Ferocactus echidne". LLIFLE. 2013-08-04. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
- ^ Anderson, Edward F.; Eggli, Urs (2005). Das grosse Kakteen-Lexikon (in German). Stuttgart (Hohenheim): Ulmer. p. 291. ISBN 3-8001-4573-1.
- ^ Britton, Nathaniel Lord; Eaton, Mary E.; Rose, J. N.; Wood, Helen Adelaide (1919). The Cactaceae : descriptions and illustrations of plants of the cactus family. Washington: Carnegie Institution of Washington. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.46288.
External links edit
Media related to Ferocactus echidne at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Ferocactus echidne at Wikispecies
