Barrel cacti are various members of the two genera '' Echinocactus'' and '' Ferocactus'', endemic to the

desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

s of Southwestern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

southward to north central

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. Some of the largest specimens are found in the

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert () is a hot desert and ecoregion in North America that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the Southwestern United States (in Arizona and California). It ...

Description

Some species of barrel cactus reach over in height at maturity and have been known to reach in some regions. The ribs are numerous and pronounced, and the spines are long and can range in color from yellow to tan to red, depending on the age of the plant and the species. Flowers appear at the top of the plant only after many years. The barrel cactus can live to be over 100 years old. Barrel cactus buds typically start to bloom in April with a bright yellow or orange flower. Pink and red varieties also exist but occur less frequently. The flowers only appear on the very top of the plant. As the flowers begin to wilt in early May, they may change color. A late summer North American Monsoon desert rainstorm can produce a late bloom, as shown in the photograph below of the orange-flowered variety (it bloomed two days after a hurricane in mid-August and continued to bloom through the end of September).

Fruit

As the flowers wilt away, small pineapple-shaped greenish

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

may form. Left untouched, the fruit has been known to last a full calendar year. The fruit can be easily removed but is not usually consumed because it is fairly dry and bitter.

Facts

Native Americans collected the fruit as emergency food during extreme drought conditions. The

Seri people The Seri or ''Comcaac'' people are an Indigenous group of the Mexican state of Sonora. The majority reside on the Seri communal property (), in the towns of Punta Chueca () and El Desemboque () on the mainland coast of the Gulf of California ...

distinguished three species of barrel cactus: * Saguaro barrel cactus — '' Ferocactus cylindraceus'' * ''Siml caacöl'' (big barrel cactus), ''siml cöquicöt'' (killer barrel cactus) — '' Ferocactus emoryi'' * ''Siml áa'' (true barrel cactus) — '' Ferocactus wislizeni'' In Mexico the flesh of the barrel cactus is candied and eaten as a treat.

Cultivation

Barrel cacti are cultivated by

plant nurseries A nursery is a place where plants are propagated and grown to a desired size. Mostly the plants concerned are for gardening, forestry, or conservation biology, rather than agriculture. They include retail nurseries, which sell to the general ...

as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

. They are considered easy to grow and relatively fast growing. They may produce round offshoots. Barrel cacti can fall over because they grow based on sun orientation. They usually grow towards the south to prevent surface tissue sunburn, giving the name "compass cactus."

Gallery

File:Barrel cactus.jpg, Fishhook barrel cactus with fruit File:Barrel cactus flowers - closeup.jpg, Barrel cactus flowers File:Barrel Cactus California USA August 2000.jpg, Field of barrel cacti, created with human intervention, in a gravel garden somewhere in California, US File:Ferocactus wislizeni Cluster Sahuarita Arizona 2013.jpg, Barrel cactus cluster in

Sahuarita, Arizona Sahuarita is a town in Pima County, Arizona, Pima County, Arizona, United States. Sahuarita is located south of the Tohono O'odham Nation and abuts the north end of Green Valley, Arizona, Green Valley, south of Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. The 202 ...

File:Cacti barrel.JPG, Barrel cactus at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum botanical garden File:Blooming Barrel Cactus.jpg, Blooming barrel cactus in the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert (; ; ) is a desert in the rain shadow of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. Named for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous Mohave people, it is located pr ...

, California File:Late Bloomer.jpg, Late-blooming barrel cactus in Landers, California File:Barrel Cactus in Desert Botanical Gardens.jpg, Barrel cactus in Desert Botanical Garden,

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

References

{{reflist Cacti of Mexico Cacti of the United States North American desert flora Flora of the California desert regions Garden plants of North America Plant common names