Cactus Monday - Hedgehogs

Last week, for Cactus Monday, I shared the first cactus blooms that I had found at Sabino Canyon. During the week, I looked high and low for more cacti blooming in the recreation area. I saw just a couple more white saguaro and yellow prickly pear blossoms but no other types of cactus flowers.

Then one morning, out of the blue, a kind stranger approached me to inquire if I had seen the cactus blooming with pretty magenta flowers, just a few yards away. If he hadn't pointed it out, I surely would have missed it. The cactus is just off the side of the little road labeled 629 that leads to the Lowell complex off of the main tram road.


It looked as if some of the petals had been chewed off by wildlife, perhaps rabbits or ground squirrels.
The gentleman also told me where to find another one of these cactus blooming by the visitor center.
There are so few of this kind of cactus at the canyon, I wasn't sure what species it was until I looked it up at home. According to A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert, these Strawberry Hedgehogs usually bloom in the first half of April in Tucson. Right on schedule. If you click on the image below to enlarge it, you will be able to see light green colored aphids on the flowers.

Strawberry Hedgehog Echinocereus fasciculatus

Bonus: A couple of days later, I found one staghorn cactus that was beginning to bloom with bronze colored flowers.

Staghorn Cholla Cylindropuntia versicolor

To see more Cactus Monday posts, visit Teri's Painted Daisies.