Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Taxonomic Comments
Distinct species.
Conservation Status
Review Date1988-06-30
Change Date1988-06-30
Edition Date1988-01-28
Edition AuthorsLAMBERT, A.
Range Extent20,000-2,500,000 square km (about 8000-1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences81 to >300
Rank Reasons
Widely distributed throughout the southwest United States and into northern Mexico.
Range Extent Comments
It occurs in the Chihuahua Desert in New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico.
Occurrences Comments
Over 100 EO's (Benson 1982).
Threat Impact Comments
Most cacti subject to horticultural collecting.
Ecology & Habitat
Habitat
Limestone soils, sometimes clay loam soils of rocky or gravelly hills, washes or plains in desert, brush/grassland.
Ecology
The strawberry cactus was observed to provide habitat for the errant Scorpion, Centruroides vittatus, at a greater than expected frequency. It is suspected that the scorpion is associated with the cactus because the high water content in the cactus provides a buffer from extreme temperature changes, e.g., high temperatures during the day and/or low temperatures during the night (McReynolds 2008).
Reproduction
While there is a paucity of species-specific information on seed dispersal, it is known within the genus of Echinocereus that mammals do eat and disperse their seeds. Ringtails, and gray foxes are known to eat the fruits of cacti species in Echinocereus (Willson 1993).
Breckenridge III, F.G., and J.M. Miller. 1982. Pollination ecology, distribution, and chemotaxonomy of the Echinocereus enneacanthus complex (Cactaceae). Systematic Botany 7:365-378.
Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
McReynolds., C. N. 2008. Microhabitat preferences for the errant scorpion, <i>Centruroides vittatus </i>(Scorpiones, Buthidae). The Journal of Arachnology 36: 557-564.
Willson, M. F. 1993. Mammals as seed-dispersal mutualists in North America. Oikos 67: 159-176.