About Echinocereus bakeri W.Blum, Oldach & J.Oldach
Echinocereus bakeri W.Blum, Oldach & J.Oldach is typically a branched cactus that forms small clumps containing many stems. Its dark green body is shaped ovate to cylindrical, growing 13 to 30 cm (5.1 to 11.8 in) tall and 4 to 5 cm (1.6 to 2.0 in) in diameter. It has 9 to 11 ribs that often develop into warts. Its spines are yellow-brown and turn grey with age. Each areole produces 1 to 4 central spines with an angular cross-section, measuring up to 2–4.5 cm (0.79–1.77 in) long, plus 7 to 11 radial spines that measure 0.5–3 cm (0.20–1.18 in) long. Broad, funnel-shaped, dioecious red flowers grow below the tip of the shoots. These flowers are 5 to 7 cm (2.0 to 2.8 in) long and 3.5 to 4.5 cm (1.4 to 1.8 in) in diameter. After flowering, the cactus produces edible oval fruits. Mature fruits turn purple-brown, measure 1.5–2 cm (0.59–0.79 in) in diameter and 2–3 cm (0.79–1.18 in) long, and contain white pulp and black seeds. This species is distributed in gravelly soils of grasslands with associated bushes, and in Pinyon-Juniper woodlands, found across Nevada, Arizona, and Washington County, Utah, at elevations between 500 and 2,450 m (1,640 to 8,040 ft).
