Echinocereus
genus of plants
Echinocereus is a genus of ribbed, usually small to medium-sized, cylindrical shaped cacti, comprising about 70 species native to the southern United States and Mexico in very sunny, rocky places. Usually the flowers are large and the fruit edible.
The name comes from the Ancient Greek ἐχῖνος (echinos), meaning "sea urchin", and the Latin cereus meaning "candle". They are sometimes known as hedgehog cacti, a term also used for the Pediocactus and Echinopsis.
Description
The species of the genus Echinocereus grow solitary or branching with prostrate to erect shoots that are spherical to cylindrical. The roots are fibrous or bulbous. The plants reach heights of growth between 1 and 60 centimeters. On the tips of the 4 to 26 ribs, which are mostly clear and only rarely resolved into humps, are the areoles, from which differently shaped spines can arise.
A distinctive characteristic and likely synapomorphy of the genus is the erumpent flowers. The floral buds develop internally and break through the epidermis of the stem.
The public source identifies “Echinocereus” as genus of plants. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Echinocereus, genus and plants.
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This entry incorporates text from “Echinocereus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.