Devilshead

This cactus is gray-green to blue-gray in color and spherical, hemispherical, columnar, or flat-topped in shape. It reaches a maximum size of about 45 centimeters tall by 20 wide. The body is made up of curving sections that twist around the body in a helical fashion. These sections are lined with areoles bearing up to 10 spines each. The pink, gray, or brown spines may be over 4 centimeters long. The bright pink to magenta flowers are up to 7 to 9 centimeters wide. Flowers open around midday and close for the night. They also open after the plant receives rainfall, and although most of the flowers occur in June, they may bloom again in late summer and fall if rain occurs. The fruit is hairy or woolly and pink or red in color.

Varieties The species is generally divided into two varieties.

The more common, Echinocactus horizonthalonius var. horizonthalonius, can be found in Chihuahuan Desert habitats, from Arizona, through New Mexico, into Texas and Northeastern Mexico. USDA: Echinocactus horizonthalonius var. horizonthalonius The rare Echinocactus horizonthalonius var. nicholii, Nichol's turk's head cactus, is known only from three Sonoran Desert populations in southeastern Arizona, and one in Sonora, Mexico. It is federally listed as an endangered species of the United States. …