Echinocereus papillosus

Echinocereus papillosus is a species of cactus native to Texas and Mexico.

Description

Echinocereus papillosus forms low clusters up to one meter in diameter with numerous shoots. The cylindrical, brownish-green shoots are mostly upright and can reach up to in diameter. They have six to ten clearly tuberculous ribs. Each shoot has a single grayish central spine up to long, and seven to eleven stiff, whitish radial spines, each long.
The fragrant, funnel-shaped flowers are bright yellow with an orange-red to purple throat. They appear along the sides of the shoots, measuring in length and in diameter. The fruits are spherical.

Distribution

Echinocereus papillosus is found growing in sandy limestone loam in the Northeast Laredo into McMullen County and Alice, Texas and in the Mexican states of Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, and San Luis Potosí around elevations of 400 meters. Plants are found growing along Stenocereus pruinosus, Selenicereus triangularis and Echinocereus enneacanthus var. carnosus .

Taxonomy

Karl Theodor Rümpler first described the species in 1885. The specific epithet "papillosus" comes from the Latin word for "papillose," referring to the tuberculous ribs of the species.