Single Record

Participant Info

Species
Echinocereus triglochidiatus [Echinocereus mojavensis]
Family
Cactaceae
CommonName
king’s crown, claret cup
Presence
Yes
Status
native
EarliestDate
1912
LatestDate
2024
Ecosystem
basin, foothill, montane
Geobotanical
SSawatch, Garitas, NCristos, LBasin
Counties
Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Rio Grande, Saguache
Passes
WildlifePreserves
Great Sand Dunes, Rio Grande
Other Localities
La Botica
Comments
In the Watershed, King's-crown cactus has been collected mainly from the foothills—the species likes a rocky soil and a relatively low elevation. The Lower Basin locations are the San Luis HIlls. Echinocereus triglochidiatus may be more common than herbarium collections indicate, due in part to the reluctance of botanist to gather vouchers of cactus. Also some of these vouchers may be E. coccineus in the sense of Marc Baker (2006), who treats the Colorado plants as E. mojavensis. A better sense of the Watershed distribution of E. triglochidiatus can be seen in iNaturalist (2015-2024), which shows observations from the foothills all around the Valley. This desert Southwest cactus follows the Rio Grande drainage through New Mexico and on down past the Big Bend country of Texas. For more photos and comment, click "yes" in the Annotation field below.