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Echinomastus

...in coltivazione

Echinomastus warnockii

Friday, 24 October 2008 10:18 bruno

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E. warnockii is a Chihuahuan desert species, abundant among the rocks on limestone hills and alluvial fans, rarely on gypsum soils. It is mainly a Texan plant, generally found at low-mid elevations, mostly from 500 to 900 meters, rarely over 1000 meters. E. warnockii is quite abundant in the Big Bend area and can be easily seen in open areas, where old specimens form small clumps and can be easily confused with old plants of E. intertextus.
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	Besides occurring in Brewster counties, it was also collected in Presidio, Jeff Davis, Culberson and Hudspet counties an there are records of plants occurring in Mexico, in Chihuahua and central Coahuila were it has been collected on gypsum flats at 1350 meters. E. warnockii was described for the first time by L. Benson in 1969 as Neolloydia intertexta but renamed as E. warnockii by Glass and Foster in 1975. The main characters which differentiate E. warnockii from E. intertextus are the spines, being longer, diffused and less dense with respect to E. intertextus, as well as for the yellowish-green colour of the sigma lobes. Interestingly the taxa coming from higher altitudes in Brewster county show intermediate characters with E. intertextus, namely: spines shorter and appressed rather than diffused as well as pink and red stigma lobes rather than yellowish-green as in the type species.
Plant with flower, April 2007
	There are no records of hybrids between E. warnocki and E. mariposensis, the other species which share a great part of its distribution range. In cultivation E. warnocki is the earliest plant to flower, the first flower showing up in early march when still dry at the end of the winter rest. The fruit ripens in a couple of months. As for all Echinomatus it requires full sun, rare waterings and an open soil mix. I grow only one adult plant of E. warnockii and this plant set fruits and seeds a couple of years ago, the seedlings (shown in the picture below left when about one year old) are likely hybrids with E. intertextus.
Flowers detail April 2006

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