Home | Search | Arizona y Sonora > Desert wildflowers > Blue to purple flowers > Robust hedgehog cactus
![[Flowers have flashy magenta petals surrounding bright green pistil, spiny cactus and buds: 29k]](../../../images/wfhedhog.gif)
(Echinocereus fasciculatus)
Cactus Family.
Blooms March to April, only hedgehog common in the vicinity of Tucson into extreme southwestern New Mexico. Engelmann's Hedgehog is quite similar and ranges through California and western Arizona.
12-18 inch (30-45 cm) high, ribbed clumps with showy flowers. One of the earliest cactus to bloom.
Likes sun. The tasty fruits are edible and consumed by birds and animals. Some species of hedgehog have fruits (pitayas) that are delicacies in Indian and Mexican communities.
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