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Fire Barrel Cactus

Ferocactus gracilis

Fire Barrel Cactus
Photo: Carl Howard-Morton, CC0
Family
Cactaceae (Cactus family)
Grows as
Succulent
Native range
Mexico (C. Baja California)
Climate
desert or dry shrubland

About

Ferocactus gracilis, the fire barrel cactus, is a species of Ferocactus from Northwestern Mexico. This cactus gets its common name from the striking red coloration of its defensive spines and flowers.

Where it grows

Ferocactus gracilis is native to southern Sierra San Pedro Martir, south to Punta Prieta, and northern Baja California, Mexico, growing at elevations of 10 to 30 meters. It thrives in rocky hillsides, outwash fans, silt flats, and gravelly plains, often alongside other desert plants like Mammillaria dioica, Cochemiea hutchisoniana, Echinocereus engelmannii, Pachycereus pringlei, Stenocereus thurberi, Fouquieria burragei, Cylindropuntia cholla, Idria columnaris, Lophocereus schottii, and Stenocereus gummosus.

Other Ferocactus plants

Ferocactus chrysacanthus · California barrel cactus · Santa Catalina Barrel Cactus · Emory's barrel cactus · Cactus · Ferocactus haematacanthus · Cactus · Ferocactus johnstonianus · Devil's Tongue Cactus · Ferocactus lindsayi · Cactus · Ferocactus peninsulae

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Ferocactus gracilis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.

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.

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