Potential Echinocereus?

[akcheat]

Hi all, I have this cactus which has been with me for about a year and half now. I have been trying to figure out the ID and I keep thinking it must be some form of echinocereus. The main stem is currently about 1ft tall. So here is my experience with it:

1. Offsets rapidly - In the year I've had it, it has produced about 6-7 pups.
2. Cold tolerant - So far it has had no problems down to about 21F for a few hours
3. Long Spines - The spines are about 1-2 inches in length at their longest
4. Dehydrated leaning - When thirsty, this guy will lean almost parallel to the ground and pop straight back up in a few days after watering.

Here's the overall cactus:

E2.jpg (145.97 KiB) Viewed 2356 times

And here's a close up of the spines:

E1.jpg (149.9 KiB) Viewed 2356 times

Thanks in advance for all of your help!

[akcheat]

A bit more information and a bump, but this cactus has also not flowered yet. I've seen echinocereus flower at a much smaller size than this is, so maybe that's a data point against it being in that genus.

[Nino_G]

Far from being certain, but it could be Echinocereus coccineus, very variable species. This species is usually offsetting from the base, though, and, as you already noted, your plant is of sufficient size to flower. Also, E. coccineus is usually not decumbent - all of this makes me uncertain.
Could you please give more information about how the cactus is taken care of? Do you keep it outside during the winter?

[Tom in Tucson]

Being that our local hedgehog cacti are so variable, I'll guess that the species found between here, and Las Cruces, NM is a likely type. Here are a couple images from inaturalist.org of Echinocereus fendleri ssp. rectispinus

[akcheat]

Thanks Tom! Those images that you posted do look really promising, the spines look very similar. To answer your questions, this plant has been outside this whole winter, so it has handled temps of 21F for a few hours without any issues. As far as general care, it handles full sun well getting minor protection during the absolute hottest days. During the summer, it will ask for water by leaning almost parallel to the ground although I usually water before it gets to far in its lean. I'd say that happens about every 1.5-2 weeks in the summer, less in the spring.

I actually got this during a visit to Tucson, it was on the Bach's Nursery sale table without any identification.

[Tom in Tucson]

Thanks Tom! Those images that you posted do look really promising, the spines look very similar. To answer your questions, this plant has been outside this whole winter, so it has handled temps of 21F for a few hours without any issues. As far as general care, it handles full sun well getting minor protection during the absolute hottest days. During the summer, it will ask for water by leaning almost parallel to the ground although I usually water before it gets to far in its lean. I'd say that happens about every 1.5-2 weeks in the summer, less in the spring.

I actually got this during a visit to Tucson, it was on the Bach's Nursery sale table without any identification.

Good place to buy plants. If you ask their staff, they can usually provide you with a good ID. I happen to live a few blocks away from Bach's.