Ferocactus echidne

Ferocactus echidne is a barrel cactus in the genus Ferocactus. It is found in nature in Mexico. This cactus is known commonly as Sonora barrel, Coville's barrel cactus, Emory's barrel cactus, and traveler's friend. This plant is often sold as a houseplant.

Description
Ferocactus echidne is a small to medium-sized cactus that grows alone or in clusters. Its flattened to cylindrical shoots are typically cloudy to gray-green, reaching heights of 12 to 35 cm and diameters of 12 to 20 cm. The plant has 13 to 21 sharp, ribbed ridges without tubercles. Its thin, amber-colored spines are needle-like and smooth, with a single central spine up to 5 cm long, and seven to nine shorter, radiating marginal spines.

At the top of its shoots, the cactus produces funnel-shaped flowers, yellow or red, 2 to 4.5 cm long and 3 to 3.5 cm in diameter. Its fruits are spherical to egg-shaped, light green or white with pinkish or red hues, fleshy, and growing up to 2 cm long.

Distribution
Ferocactus echidna grows in bushlands and tropical forests at elevations of 300 to 1860 meters in Mexico's Hidalgo, San Luis Potosí, Queretaro, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, and Guanajuato states.

Taxonomy
Ferocactus echidne, described by Augustin-Pyrame de Candolle in 1834 as Echinocactus echidne, gets its species name "echidne" from Latin, meaning "snake," though its precise significance remains uncertain. In 1922, Nathaniel Lord Britton and Joseph Nelson Rose reclassified this species under the genus Ferocactus. Alternatively it has been assigned the binomials Echinocactus emoryi, Ferocactus rectispinus, and Ferocactus covillei.