Green Desert Botanical Library
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Home → Cacti → Echinocereus → Echinocereus rigidissimus
Plant ID
GD-CAC-016-0053
Common Name(s)
- Rainbow Cactus
- Arizona Rainbow Cactus
Scientific Name
Echinocereus rigidissimus
Plant Photograph
Figure 1. Echinocereus rigidissimus
Photo Caption:
A cultivated Echinocereus rigidissimus displaying its characteristic short, cylindrical green stem and closely arranged colorful spines, producing the distinctive banded or rainbow-like appearance for which the species is commonly known.
Photography:
Green Desert Botanical Garden
Plant Description
A small, cylindrical cactus with a compact, upright growth habit and numerous closely spaced ribs. The stem is covered with regularly arranged areoles bearing flattened, colorful radial spines that form attractive bands of pink, red, yellow, white, and brown tones.
The distinctive multicolored spination gives this species its familiar name, Rainbow Cactus. The specimen is recognized as Echinocereus rigidissimus.
Life’s Whispers
I wear many colors upon my spines, not to be seen, but to endure. Yet in the desert light, what protects me also becomes my quiet beauty.
References
For the complete list of botanical references, scientific literature, taxonomic information, and sources used by the Green Desert Botanical Library, please see the References page accessible from the Main Menu.
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