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Echinocereus dasyacanthus
Also called Rainbow cactus, Texas rainbow cactus, Texas Rainbow Hedgehog, Golden Rainbow Hedgehog Cactus, Yellow Flower Pitaya
Echinocereus dasyacanthus is a small, spiny desert cactus from the Texas and northern Mexico region, grown for its spines and bright yellow flowers. It is easy to care for as long as it gets strong light and very little water.
Echinocereus dasyacanthus is a member of the cactus family, Cactaceae. It is one of about 2000 total species belonging to this family. The cactus is commonly known as Texas rainbow cactus because of the subtle rings or bands of contrasting colors along the stem of the plant. Not all Texas rainbow cacti have the "rainbow" coloration on their stems. Another common name is spiny hedgehog cactus.
E. dasyacanthus can be identified as a tetraploid with predominantly yellow flowers. Experiments suggest this is due to the hybridization of E. dasyacanthus and E. coccineus. The E. dasyacanthus received its specific epithet from the two Greek words dasys and akantha, which mean "shaggy" and "thorns" respectively.
Echinocereus dasyacanthus is cultivated as an ornamental plant, for use in desert native plant natural landscaping, or as a house plant and in a greenhouse. As the Texas Rainbow cactus is a smaller cacti species, it can be easier to care for.
Growing conditions
Echinocereus dasyacanthus can be found on rocky slopes of arid mountains, desert floor, in desert grasslands and more mesic habitats. They are distributed throughout New Mexico and Texas. It occurs in every county of Texas's Trans-Pecos region except for Val Verde. Texas rainbow cactus can also be spotted as far south as Chihuahua, and Coahuila, Mexico.
Lace hedgehog cactus · Echinocereus scheeri · Echinocereus subinermis · Hedgehog cactus
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Echinocereus dasyacanthus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
