Echinocereus bonkerae

Thornber & Bonker

Fantast. Clan, 71, 85, plates opposite 23, 72. 1932.

Endemic
Synonyms: Echinocereus apachensis Blume & Rutow Echinocereus fasciculatus var. bonkerae (Thornber & Bonker) L. D. Benson Echinocereus fendleri var. bonkerae (Thornber & Bonker) L. D. Benson
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 4. Mentioned on page 165.

Plants 5–35-branched, ultimately forming clumps, branching at or before sexual maturation. Stems mostly erect, ovoid to cylindric, 15–30 (–50) × 3.5–7 cm; ribs (11–) 12–18 (–20), crests slightly undulate; areoles 8–20 mm apart. Spines (9–) 12–17 per areole, straight in short-spined forms, sometimes curved or twisted in long-spined forms, appressed (radial spines) or porrect to spreading or descending (central spines when present), dull yellowish to brown or white to gray, often brown to black especially at bases or tips; radial spines (9–) 11–16 per areole, 5–18 mm; central spines (0–) 1 (–3) per areole, 2–100 mm, white to yellow or brown, often becoming gray, all terete. Flowers 5–7 × 4–9 cm; flower tube 12–20 × 10–30 mm; flower tube hairs 1 mm; inner tepals deep magenta (to dark purple) with darker midstripes, proximally green (to very dark purple), 20–60 × 8.5–20 mm, tips relatively thin and delicate; anthers yellow; nectar chamber 2–4 mm. Fruits bright red or orange red, 15–25 mm, pulp white (or pale-pink). 2n = 22.


Phenology: Flowering Mar–May; fruiting 2 months after flowering.
Habitat: Sonoran Desert upland, interior chaparral, desert grasslands, pinyon-juniper woodlands
Elevation: 700-2000 m

Discussion

Plants in most populations of Echinocereus bonkerae have radial spines almost pectinately arranged and central spines very short or absent, creating the superficial appearance of E. dasyacanthus, E. pectinatus, or similar species. Formerly, all short-spined plants in central and southern Arizona were treated as E. bonkerae, including unusually short-spined individuals of E. fendleri and E. fasciculatus. Today we recognize that E. bonkerae, E. fendleri, and E. fasciculatus all vary from short-spined to long-spined.

Populations at the lowest altitude for the species have taller stems and unusually long, slender central spines (to 10 cm); they have recently been named Echinocereus apachensis. Such plants were part of the basis for L. D. Benson’s polyphyletic concept (1969, 1982) of E. fasciculatus var. boyce-thompsonii (see 8. E. fasciculatus).

Echinocereus bonkerae is a poorly defined species, frequently lumped with E. fendleri or E. fasciculatus, and it is not always identifiable in the field. Although rib number, blooming season, habitat preference, and, in particular regions, spine length or central spine presence are helpful characteristics, ploidy level is the most objective criterion for distinguishing E. bonkerae from E. fasciculatus. Immature plants of E. bonkerae are like E. fasciculatus and unlike the immature plants of E. fendleri, which are tuberculate with their spines long, few, soft, and often curved or twisted.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"thin" is not a number.

... more about "Echinocereus bonkerae"
cushionlike +
circular to linear +
deciduous +  and persistent +
hourglass--shaped +
0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br /> (2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br />) +
Allan D. Zimmerman +  and Bruce D. Parfitt +
Thornber & Bonker +
hardened +
triangular +
gray +, white +  and yellow or brown +
curved +  and straight +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (10 cm100 mm <br />0.1 m <br />) +
proliferating +
flattened +  and cylindric +
mucilaginous +
undulate +
700-2000 m +
not separating +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br />) +
5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br /> (7 cm70 mm <br />0.07 m <br />) +
unisexual +  and bisexual +
2.6 cm26 mm <br />0.026 m <br /> (5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br />) +
1.2 cm12 mm <br />0.012 m <br /> (2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br />) +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (2.6 cm26 mm <br />0.026 m <br />) +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br />) +
4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br /> (9 cm90 mm <br />0.09 m <br />) +
long-spined +  and short-spined +
orange red;bright red +
dehiscent +  and indehiscent +
persistent +, long +  and deciduous +
spheric +  and narrowly obovoid +
1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br /> (2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br />) +
Sonoran Desert upland, interior chaparral, desert grasslands, pinyon-juniper woodlands +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (6 cm60 mm <br />0.06 m <br />) +
deciduous +  and persistent +
rudimentary +
flat +  and terete +
nearly +  and microscopic +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br />) +
tuberculate +
fluted;spheric;depressed-spheric or club-shaped +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br />) +
smooth +  and tuberculate +
deciduous +  and persistent +
Flowering Mar–May +  and fruiting 2 months after flowering. +
mucilaginous +
ridgelike +  and nipple--shaped +
Fantast. Clan, +
triangular +
arillate +  and strophiolate +
dark reddish-brown +  and black +
0.4mm;12mm +
rugose +  and tuberculate +
spheric;obovoid +
0.08 cm0.8 mm <br />8.0e-4 m <br /> (0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br />) +
tuberculate +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br />) +
4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br /> (5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br />) +
brown +  and black +
curved +  and straight +
deciduous +
3mm +  and 150mm +
porrect +  and spreading or descending +
11 (?) +  and 16 (?) +
roughened +  and smooth +
acicular +  and subulate +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (1.8 cm18 mm <br />0.018 m <br />) +
0.01 cm0.1 mm <br />1.0e-4 m <br /> (0.25 cm2.5 mm <br />0.0025 m <br />) +
decurrent +
unsegmented +
0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
yellow-green +  and dark green +
15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br /> (30 cm300 mm <br />0.3 m <br />) +
ovoid +  and cylindric +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (40 cm400 mm <br />0.4 m <br />) +
succulent +
3.5cm;7cm +
yellowish green +  and green +
tuberculate +
Echinocereus apachensis +, Echinocereus fasciculatus var. bonkerae +  and Echinocereus fendleri var. bonkerae +
adventitious +
tuberlike +
epipetric +  and epiphytic +
Echinocereus bonkerae +
Echinocereus +
species +
dull +  and glossy +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (?) +
epiphytic;epiphytic;epiphytic +
decumbent +, pendent +, sprawling +, ascending +  and erect +
barrel-shaped +  and spheric +