Echinomastus erectocentrus

Echinomastus erectocentrus is a species of cactus known by the common names redspine fishhook cactus,[1] redspine butterfly cactus,[2] acuña cactus, needle-spine pineapple cactus, red pineapple cactus, and purple-spine viznagita.[3] It is native to Arizona and New Mexico in the United States and Sonora in Mexico.[2]

Echinomastus erectocentrus
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Core eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Cactaceae
Subfamily:	Cactaceae
Tribe:	Cacteae
Genus:	Echinomastus
Species:	E. erectocentrus
Binomial name
Echinomastus erectocentrus (J.M.Coult.) Britton & Rose
Synonyms
Neolloydia erectocentra Sclerocactus erectocentrus

This cactus grows up to about 34 centimeters tall by 10 wide. There are many spines on each areole, the central ones up to 4.4 centimeters in length. The spines are purple, pink, or white with brown tips. The flower is up to 6 centimeters long by 9 wide and has white, pink, or lavender tepals with greenish, brown, or reddish coloration at the bases. This species is similar to Echinomastus johnsonii.[4] It is the first cactus to bloom in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, flowering in early March.[2]

This species grows on limestone.[2]

There are two varieties, var. acunensis and var. erectocentrus. These are not easily told apart using morphological characteristics, but they occur in different geographical areas. The former occurs in northern Sonora and north to Florence, Arizona, and the latter occurs around Tucson and areas east.[5]

Conservation

E. e. var. acunensis (referred to as the acuña cactus) is recognized as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. The main threat to this taxa is failure to recruit new individuals to the population by successful germination of seeds and survival of seedlings. Though the population is currently stable, if no new plants can be grown in the wild, the population is expected to crash around 2070. Unlike similar species, it is not expected to be strongly affected by the effects of climate change.[6]

References

1. Echinomastus erectocentrus. USDA Plants Profile.
2. Sclerocactus erectocentrus. The Nature Conservancy.
3. "Echinomastus erectocentrus". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 21 January 2018.
4. Echinomastus erectocentrus. Flora of North America.
5. Echinomastus erectocentrus. Center for Plant Conservation.
6. Larios, Eugenio; González, Edgar J.; Rosen, Philip C.; Pate, Ami; Holm, Peter (2020-02-01). "Population projections of an endangered cactus suggest little impact of climate change". Oecologia. 192 (2): 439–448. doi:10.1007/s00442-020-04595-y. ISSN 1432-1939. PMID 31938884. S2CID 210169064.