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A New Taxon of Echinocereus in Arizona
Wolfgang Blum, Traute & Jörn Oldach (Germany)
Summary
Since the mid-1980s, the authors study Echinocereus species with red flowers in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. In this article, they are working on specific forms of central Arizona, north-western Arizona and southwest Utah. Here, the differences between E. canyonensis and a similar taxon are investigated.
Introduction
After the first named author published the Echinocereus monograph in 1998 with coauthors MICHAEL LANGE, WERNER RISCHER and JÜRGEN RUTOW, members of the
Echinocereus study team contributed to new conclusions, which were subsequently published by different authors. Thanks to the first descriptions of E. santaritensis and E.
arizonicus subsp. nigrihorridispinus - both of W. BLUM &
J. RUTOW - and the subsequent description of E. yavapaiensis by MARC A. BAKER, we could set clearer boundaries within the red flowered Echinocereus of Arizona. We could clarify that E. canyonensis and E. toroweapensis are clearly identical. The habitat of E. canyonensis is very limited, regions of the counties of Mohave and Coconino, on both banks of the Colorado River, centred in supai. The two typical sites of E. canyonensis and E. toroweapensis are both about 40 km to the east and west of supai.
L. BENSON denominates these three taxa as E. triglochi-diatus var. melanocanthus or var. neomexicanus. According to the current state of knowledge, this is a group of very different taxa. Under this collective name, there were taxa now known and accepted as :

  • polyacanthus G. Engelmann
  • coccineus G. Engelmann subsp. coccineus
  • coccineus subsp.roemeri (P.A.F. Muehlenpfordt) W. Blum,

    M. Lange & J. Rutow

  • coccineus subsp.rosei (E.O. Wooton& P.C. standley) W.
    Blum, J. Rutow

  • canyonensis E.U. Clover & M.L. Jotter
  • santaritensis W. Blum & J. Rutow
  • yavapaiensis M.A. Baker
  • arizonicus J.N. Rose ex C.R. Orcutt subsp.
    nigrihorridispinus W. Blum & J. Rutow

The current study examines specimens of Echinocereus “coccineus” blooming red in the central region and the north-western Arizona and in the southwest of the neighboring Utah, with the distinctly differing criteria of
E. canyonensis.

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Echinocereus bakeriW. Blum, Traute & Joern Oldach spec. nov.
Holotype
USA, Arizona, Yavapai County, Collector: Marc A. Baker 13930, 18 March 2001, Yavapai Co., north of Clarkdale, 1065 m NN, [ASU0076433]
Isotype
USA, Arizona, Yavapai County, Collector: Marc A. Baker 13930, 18 March 2001, Yavapai Co., north of Clarkdale, 1065 m NN, [US 01095080]
Paratypes
USA, Arizona, Yavapai County, Collector: Marc A. Baker 11740, 22 April 1995, north of Clarkdale, 1094m [ASU0076412]
UsA, Arizona, Yavapai County, Collector: Marc A. Baker 11757, 22 April 1995, north of Clarkdale, 1091m [ASU0076424]
USA, Arizona, Yavapai County, Collector: Marc A. Baker 13929, 18 March 2001, north of Clarkdale, 1065m [ASU0076434]
USA, Arizona, Yavapai County, Collector: Marc A. Baker 11757, 22 April 1995, north of Clarkdale, 1091m [DES 0054744]
Comparing: left: E. bakeri; right: E. canyonensis

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Echinocereus bakeri: Holotype: Herbarium Arizona State University, Collector: MARC A. BAKER 13930, Arizona, Yavapai Co., north of Clarkdale, 1065 m NN,
[ASU 0076433]
http://swbiodiversity.org/imglib/seinet/ASU/201312/ASU0076433.jpg

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Etymology
Was named in honour of MARC A. BAKER, which due to its field research, has contributed to a better understanding of the genus Echinocereus in the United states.

Characteristic criteria:

  • E. bakeri already takes shape at a juvenile stage,
    canyonensis takes shape significantly later.
    -Number of ribs: E. bakeri 9-11, E. canyonensis 11-14
    -Number of of radial spines: E. bakeri 7-11, E. canyonensis
    9-13
    -Number of central spines: E. bakeri 1-2, rarely 3-4,
    E. canyonensis 4-7
    -Flower length: E. bakeri 50-70 mm, diameter 35-45 mm,
    -Flower length: E. canyonensis 30-45 mm, diameter
    15-35mm,
    -Nectar chamber length: E. bakeri 6-9 mm, E. canyonensis
    2,5-6mm.

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Diagnosis (English)

  • bakeri sprouts even as a very young plant, canyonensis
    clumping later
    -Less ribs: E. bakeri 9 - 11, E. canyonensis 11 - 14
    -Average less radial spines: E. bakeri 7 - 11,
    E. canyonensis 9 - 13
    -Less central spines: E. bakeri1 – 2, rarely 3 - 4,
    E. canyonensis 4 - 7
    -The constant larger flowers: E. bakeri 50 - 70mm long,
    35 – 45mm in diameter,

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E. canyonensis 30 - 45mm long, 15 - 35mmin diameter
-The larger nectar chamber: E. bakeri 6-9mm long, E.
canyonensis 2.5 to 6mm long
Distribution of members of the E. coccineus group in Arizona

white dot = type localities
pink spot = Echinocereus santaritensis W. Blum & J. Rutow
red spot = Echinocereus yavapaiensis Marc A. Baker
blue spot = Echinocereus bakeri W. Blum and Traute & Joern Oldach
blue spot with red dot = E. bakeri x E. yavapaiensis
green spot = Echinocereus canyonensis E. Clover & L. Jotter
[green spot with black dot is synonym of E. toroweapensis (P.C. Fisher) Fuersch]

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E. bakeri, male flowers, mid-April 2014
E. bakeri, female flowers, mid-April 2014

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Echinocereus bakeri

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E. bakeri, flower cut, mid-April 2014
E. bakeri, fruit cut, mid-June 2014

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Currently, we know a place where E. yavapaiensis and E. bakeri hybridize. The plants of this site, as evidence MARC A. BAKER (MAB 14,367.2) are pentaploid and also produce seeds, following MARC. This population of Bradshaw Mountains in Yavapai County is located in the centre of the range of E. yavapaiensis.
We don’t know of any other hybrid between E. bakeri and other Echinocereus taxa, although they grow almost anywhere in the immediate vicinity. In parallel and regarding
E. canyonensis, there are multiple sites where hybrids were recorded with E. engelmannii (Engelmann) C.A. Lemaire.

Text & photos: Wolfgang Blum, Traute & Jörn Oldach

Aknowledgements
I want to thank all those who contributed to the writing and publication of this article.

Specifically, I want to thank (in alphabetical order):
Baker, Marc A., Chino Valley, UsA
Fertig, Walter, Herbarium AsU
Merou, Laetitia, stuttgart
Rutow, Jürgen, Kelmis, Belgium
for making available info and visual material, also for their general support, and the following herbaria:
ARIZ (Herbarium school of Plant sciences University of Arizona Herring Hall, P.O. Box 210036 Tucson, Arizona 85721-0036 U.S.A.)
ASC (Deaver Herbarium Biological sciences Department Northern Arizona University P.O. Box

Echinocereus bakeri

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BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES:
BAKER, M.A. (2006): A new florally dimorphic hexaploid, Echinocereus yavapaiensis sp. nov. (section Triglochidiatus,
Cactaceae) from central Arizona Pl. syst. Evol. 258(1-2): 63 - 83
BAKER, M.A. (2006): CIRCUMSCRIPTION OF ECHINOCEREUS ARIZONICUS SUBSP. ARIZONICUS: PHENETIC ANALYsIs OF
MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERs IN sECTION TRIGLOCHIDIATUs (CACTACEAE), PART II. Madrono53(4): 388 - 399
BENSON, L. (1944): A revision of some Arizona Cactaceae. - Proceedings of the California Academy of science, ser. IV
(Proc.Calif.Acad.sci., ser. IV), 25: 245 - 268
BENSON, L. (1969): Cacti of Arizona, ed. 3. - The University of Arizona Press, Tucson
BENSON, L. (1982): The Cacti of the United states and Canada. - stanford University Press, stanford, California
BLUM, W., LANGE, M., RIsCHER, W. , RUTOW. J. (1998): Echinocereus, J. Rutow, selbstverlag, RUTOW, Aachen
BLUM, W. (1999): Echinocereus toroweapensis (Fisher) Fürschisteinjüngeres Homonym von E. canyonensis Clover & Jotter. - Ecf.: 12 (4) 87 - 93
BLUM, W, RIsCHER, W. & FELIX, D. (2007): The New Cactus Lexicon … Eine kritsche Betrachtung. - Ecf.: 20(3): 76 - 91
BLUM, W. (2014): Trichom - was ist das? - Ecf.: 27(49: 119 - 123
CLOVER, E.U. & JOTTER, L. (1941): Cacti of the canyon of the Colorado River and tributaries. - Bull.Torr.Bot.Club68: 409 - 419
HOFFMANN, M.T. (1992): Functional dioecy in Echinocereus coccineus (Cactaceae): breeding system, sex ratios, and geographic range of floral dimorphism. - American Journal of Botany 79 (12): 1382 - 1388
HOLMGREN, N.H. et al. (2012): Intermountain Flora: Vascular Plants of the Intermountain West, U.s.A. subclass
Magnoliidae–Caryophyllidae, Vol. 2A. - IsBN 978-0-89327-520-4 [Echinocereus: M.A. Baker (660 – 665]
MASSOW, M. (2009): Die lang ersehnte Fahrt zum Toroweap Point. - Ecf.: 22(2): 49 - 54
RUINNARD, H.P. (2011): Besuch in Chloride, Arizona. - Ecf.: 24(3): 60 - 67
RUINNARD, H.P. (2012): Echinocereus yavapaiensis M.A. Baker. - Ecf.: 25(1): 12 - 25
RUTOW, J. (1990): Echinocereus pacificus auch in Arizona? - Der Echinocereenfreund 4 (1): 21
RUTOW, J. (1991): Nachtragzu Echinocereus pacificus auch in Arizona? - Der Echinocereenfreund 5 (1): 17
TAYLOR, N.P. (1985): The Genus Echinocereus, A Kew Magazine Monograph. - Collingridge Books in association with The
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
WOODRUFF, D.W. (2014): Die rotblühenden Echinocereus-Arten in Utah. - 27(3): 75 - 84
5640 Flagstaff, Arizona 86011-5640 U.s.A.)
ASU (Herbarium school of Life sciences Arizona state University P.O. Box 874501 Tempe, Arizona
85287-4501 U.s.A.)
DES (Herbarium Research Department Desert Botanical Garden1201 North Galvin Parkway
Phoenix, Arizona 85008 U.s.A.)
GCNP (Museum Collection Herbarium Grand Canyon National ParkP.O. Box 129Grand Canyon,
Arizona 86023-0129U.s.A.)
MNA (Walter B. McDougall Herbarium Museum of Northern Arizona 3101 North Fort Valley Road
Flagstaff, Arizona 86001 U.s.A.).
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