Alternate name: King-cup Cactus

Family: Cactaceae, Cactus view all from this family

Description Brilliant scarlet flowers bloom atop spiny cylindrical stems, in old plants many stems in a hemispherical clump.
Flowers: 1 1/4-2" (3.1-5 cm) wide, with many petals.
Stems: 3-4" (7.5-10 cm) thick; 5-12 ribs.
Spines: in clusters of 2-16; on ribs.
Fruit: 1/2-1" (1.3-2.5 cm) long, plump, red, with a few clusters of spines that eventually drop.
Height: 2-12" (5-30 cm).

Flower April-May.

Habitat Rocky desert slopes, or dry woodland in mountains.

Range Se. California; east to s. Utah, c. Colorado, and w. Texas; south into n. Mexico.

Discussion Among the most beautiful cacti; large plants with many stems in full flower make breathtaking mounds of scarlet. Stems are highly variable, often with two strikingly different forms growing in the same area.