Lloyd's Hedgehog Cactus

Echinocereus lloydii

Description

Echinocereus lloydii(Lloyd's hedgehog cactus) is a low-growing, columnar cactus with stems up to 12 in (30 cm) tall and 4.5 in (12 cm) in diameter. The greenish bowl of the cactus is ribbed and thickly covered with straight red or pinkish spines, half-hiding the stem surface. Radial spines number from 14 to 17, central spines from four to eight.

Attractive flowers appear in April and May, varying in color from coral pink, to reddish purple, scarlet, or intense orange. Pink tends to predominate as the flower ages. The small, oval fruit is green, tinged with orange. It is protected by white spines, and filled with hard, black seeds, which germinate easily in cultivation.

The taxonomic status of this cactus has been much debated. It has been categorized as a full species, and also as the subspecies Echinocereus roetteri var. lloydii. More recently, botanists have conducted taxonomic and population studies that show that the Lloyd's hedgehog cactus is a recent hybrid between the Texas rainbow cactus (Echinocereus dasyacanthus ) and a claret-cup cactus (Echinocerus coccineus ).

Habitat

Lloyd's hedgehog cactus occurs in the Chihuahuan Desert on mid-elevation mountain slopes in association with desert scrub vegetation. Habitat elevation ranges from 4,600-5,000 ft (1,400-1,525 m). The cactus prefers rocky soils derived from weathered metamorphic rock.

Distribution

Lloyd's hedgehog cactus occurs in the rugged desert uplands of extreme southern New Mexico and south into western Texas and the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. Although this range appears extensive, this cactus grows under very localized conditions and is quite rare in the wild.

In New Mexico, this cactus is found only in a single scattered population in the Guadalupe Mountains (Otero and Eddy counties). It has been found in Culberson County, Texas, in the Guadalupe Mountains National Park, and has been described from several sites in Pecos and Brewster counties, Texas. In Chihuahua, Mexico, a population has been located near Flores Magon in the Sierra del Nido. There are no current estimates of the populations at these sites.

Threats

Collecting poses the most immediate threat to the survival of the Pecos County, Texas, population, and has probably contributed to a decline at other known sites. Most plants observed in the wild are old; seedlings and smaller plants seem less common and may have been collected. Several sites have been over-grazed by livestock, preventing the establishment of seedlings and limiting reproduction.

Conservation and Recovery

Much of the confusion surrounding the status of Lloyd's hedgehog cactus has been caused by significant "introgression," or genetic hybridization, among several species of cacti occurring in the Chihuahuan Desert. Some biologists believe that continued cross-fertilization with other species of cacti could eventually "hybridize" the Lloyd's hedgehog out of existence. However, other botanists maintain that the Lloyd's hedgehog cactus is itself a hybrid, and that continued protection of this cactus might threaten the genetic purity of its parent species. In 1999, the Fish and Wildlife Service removed the Lloyd's hedgehog cactus from the list of endangered or threatened plants. This was done because of evidence that this cactus is not a distinct species but rather a hybrid that is not evolving independently of its parental species.

Contact

U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Regional Office, Division of Endangered Species
P.O. Box 1306
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87103
Telephone: (505) 248-6911
http://southwest.fws.gov/

References

Benson, L. 1982. The Cacti of the United States and Canada. Stanford University Press, Stanford.

Heil, K. D., and S. Brack. 1985. "The Rare and Sensitive Cacti of Carlsbad Caverns National Park." National Park Service, Santa Fe.

Heil, K. D., and S. Brack. 1985. "The Rare and Sensitive Cacti of Guadalupe Mountains National Park." National Park Service, Santa Fe.

Powell, A.M., A.D. Zimmerman, and R.A. Hilsen-beck. 1991. "Experimental Documentation of Natural Hybridization in Cactaceae: Origin of Lloyd's Hedgehog Cactus, Echinocereus X lloydii." Plant Systematics and Evolution 178:107-122.

U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1979. "Determination of Lloyd's Hedgehog Cactus, Echinocereus lloydii, as an Endangered Species. " Federal Register 44: 61786.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 24 June 1999. "Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Final Rule To Remove the Plant Echinocereus lloydii (Lloyd's Hedgehog Cactus) From the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Plants." Federal Register 64 (121): 33796-33800.

Zimmerman, A.D. 1993. "Systematics of Echinocereus X roetteri (Cactaceae), including Lloyd's hedgehog-cactus. In: Southwestern Rare and Endangered Plants ; Proceedings of the Southwestern Rare and Endangered Plant Conference. Forestry and Resources Conservation Division of the New Mexico Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department." Miscellaneous Publication 2: 270-288.