Echinocereus fendleri var. kuenzleri (Kuenzler's Cactus)

Family

CACTACEAE

Scientific Name with Author

Echinocereus fendleri (Engelmann) Engelmann ex Rmper var. kuenzleri (Castetter, Pierce, & Schwerin) L. Benson

Synonyms

ECHINOCEREUS KUENZLERI CASTETTER, PIERCE, & SCHWERIN

Common Name

Kuenzler's Cactus

Agency Status
USFWS	State of NM	USFS	BLM	Navajo Nation	State Rank	Global Rank	R-E-D Code	NMRPTC Status	Strategy Status
LE	E				S2	G4G5T2Q	1-2-3	R	SS

Rare Plant Conservation Scorecard Summary
Overall Conservation Status	Documented Threats	Actions Needed
WEAKLY CONSERVED	Fire & fire suppression	taxonomic clarification, trend & threat monitoring

To download the Scorecard click here.

Counties

Description

Stems solitary or few in a cluster, more or less conical, 10-15 cm tall, 7-10 cm wide; ribs 7-12, tubercled; spines usually 3-7 per areole, thick, to over 1 mm near swollen base, often angular in cross section, usually white to pale gray, sometimes brownish, often with a brown to purplish or black longitudinal line, one spine occasionally central and porrect to 2.5 or exceptionally 5 cm long, others spreading radially and usually not over 2.5 cm long; flowers 6-12 cm in diameter; tepals magenta, usually with bands of green and darker color near center, usually pointed; ovary spiny, spines deciduous with ripening of fruit, perianth persistent; mature fruit 3-5 cm long, broadly spindle-shaped, red with white somewhat juicy pulp, usually dehiscing by one to three longitudinal slits; seeds about 1.5 mm long, black, tubercled, hilum basal. Flowers in May to early June.

Similar Species

Echinocereus fendleri var. fendleri has a greater number of longer and more slender spines, typically less tubercled stems, and narrower fruits. Echinocereus triglochidiatus is usually clustering and larger, no dark line on spines, fewer ribs (5-7), and red flowers. Echinocererus coccineus var. gurneyi also has red flowers. Its stems are densely clustered; spines mostly terete. Juvenile plants of var. fendleri and var. rectispinus often look much like var. kuenzleri, but become typical of their respective varieties as they mature.

Distribution

New Mexico, Chaves, Eddy, Lincoln, and Otero counties; southern side of the Capitan Mountains, eastern and northwestern lower sides of the Sacramento Mountains, and northern end of the Guadalupe Mountains.

Habitat

Primarily on gentle, gravelly to rocky slopes and benches on limestone or limy sandstone, in Great Plains grassland, oak woodland, or piñon-juniper woodland. Elevation 1,600-2,000 m (5,200-6,600 ft).

Remarks

In Flora of North America, Volume 4 (2003), Echinocereus fendleri is treated as a highly variable species without recognition of subspecific taxa. The NMRPTC notes the subjectivity involved in taxonomic decisions within this species and will continue to consider E. fendleri var. kuenzleri to be a distinct entity. In discussions at the 2005 New Mexico Rare Plant Technical Council Meeting, Council members concluded that E. fendleri var. kuenzleri represents a population of plants that is geographically defined and sufficiently distinct from other closely related populations that it deserves taxonomic recognition.

Plants similar to var. kuenzleri occur among populations of Echinocereus hempleii in northwestern and central Chihuahua. The complex is in need of further study.

Conservation Considerations

This plant had been collected commercially in the past. Plants can be trampled where livestock congregate. In the short term fire diminishes populations of this species; the long-term population dynamics of this taxon in a fire-adapted ecosystem need to be studied.

Important Literature

*New Mexico Native Plants Protection Advisory Committee. 1984. A handbook of rare and endemic plants of New Mexico. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.

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

*Castetter, E.F., P. Pierce and K.H. Schwerin. 1976. A new cactus species and two new varieties from New Mexico. Cactus and Succulent Journal (U.S.) 48(2):77-78.

U.S. Fish and Wildlfie Service. 1979. Determination that Echinocereus kuenzleri is an endangered species. Federal Register 44(209):61924-61927.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1985. Kuenzler hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus fendleri var. kuenzleri) recovery plan. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Southwestern Region, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 44 pp.

*Weniger, D. 1991. Cacti of Texas and neighboring states. University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas.

Flora of North America Editorial Committee. 2003. Flora of North America, volume 4. Oxford University Press, New York.

Information Compiled By

Charlie McDonald, David J. Ferguson 1998

For distribution maps and more information, visit Natural Heritage New Mexico