Echinocereus sciurus is a species of cactus native to Mexico.
Echinocereus sciurus grows like a groundcover, forming clusters up to wide. The slender shoots, often up to long, are almost hidden by numerous thorns. It has 12 to 17 low ribs, divided into tubercles spaced apart. The 15 to 18 slender radial spines, pale with brownish tips, are arranged in a circle with small areoles. Several central spines are shorter and have a brown sloping spine. The funnel-shaped flowers are light to deep purple-pink, up to long, and in diameter, with numerous stamens having greenish filaments and a green stigma.[1]
There are two recognized subspecies:[2]
| Image | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|
| Echinocereus sciurus subsp. floresii | Mexico (NW. Sonora) | |
| Echinocereus sciurus subsp. sciurus | Mexico (S. Baja California Sur) | |
Echinocereus sciurus is found in the Sonoran Desert in Baja California Sur and Sinaloa, Mexico, at elevations between 10 and 200 meters. Plants are found growing along with Pachycereus pringlei, Stenocereus thurberi, Lophocereus schottii, Ferocactus townsendianus, Echinocereus barthelowianus, Peniocereus johnstonii, Stenocereus gummosus, Cochemiea schumannii, Cochemiea armillata, and Mammillaria peninsularis.[3]
Originally described as Cereus sciurus by Mary Katharine Brandegee in 1904, the species name 'sciurus' means 'squirrel,' referring to the color and texture of the spines.[4] Erich Dams reclassified it under the genus Echinocereus in the same year.[5] [6]