About Echinocereus coccineus (Engelm.) Engelm.
Echinocereus coccineus (Engelm.) Engelm. is usually a branched cactus that forms small mounds of around 30 stem clumps, with a maximum diameter of up to one meter. Its light green plant body is egg-shaped to cylindrical, reaching up to 40 centimeters in height and 2.5 to 5 centimeters in diameter. The 11 to 14 ribs on the stem often form warts. The spines of this species range in color from yellow to blackish red. There are 4 to 7 angular central spines up to 7 centimeters long; the middle central spine is often flattened, and central spines may be entirely absent. It also has 5 to 20 round-based radial spines, measuring 1 to 4 centimeters long. This cactus blooms from late spring to early summer. Flowers are most commonly red, but may also be yellow, pink, purple, or white. Broad, funnel-shaped orange-red flowers form below the shoot tip, and the species is sometimes dioecious. Flowers measure 3 to 10 centimeters long, with a diameter of 2.5 to 8 centimeters. After flowering, it produces edible spherical fruits that turn red, and their thorns fall away as they mature. The chromosome count for this species is 4n=22. Echinocereus coccineus is distributed across the southern United States, occurring in Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and western Texas. Its range extends south through the Sonoran Desert into the Mexican states of Coahuila and Chihuahua, where it grows at elevations between 685 and 1775 meters.
