Cactaceae FAMILY Least Concern

Echinocereus stramineus

Edibility

4/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitShrub

Growth—

Echinocereus stramineus is a plant of semi-arid and arid regions of southwest N. America, requiring hot summers and a period of cool winter rest if flower-buds are to be produced the following spring. Plants in the wild are known to experience some frost and, in cultivation, can withstand short periods with temperatures down to aound -5°c during this winter rest so long as they are kept dry^[1]. In cultivation, Cactus plants generally will not succeed in moist climates. They usually require a sunny position in a well-drained, circumneutral soil and to be kept more or less dry in the dormant season^[1]. Requires a hot, sunny position in a well-drained soil. The densely branched stems of Echinocereus stramineus form hemispheric mounds bristling with unusually long, yellow-tinted spines, thus appearing like a heap of straw; old clumps of these cacti are unique visual dominants on many rocky slopes in the Chihuahuan Desert^[2]. Rare white-flowered individuals occur^[2]. Flowering on plants less than 30cm in diameter is uncommon.

Propagation

Seed - surface sow on a finely sieved compost and place under a glass or transparent plastic cover in a temperature of 20°c. Cuttings of detached branches. Leave the freshly taken cuttings in a warm, dry, airy position for the cut surface to callus, then place them in a sandy compost, Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Echinocereus+stramineus>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

[1]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
[2]Flora of N. America — http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/fna/ ↩︎An on-line version of the flora with an excellent description of the plant including a brief mention of plant uses.
[3]The Cactus Family — Anderson E.F. · Timber Press; Portland, Oregon · 2001 · ISBN 0-88192-498-9 ↩︎An excellent work, giving botanical descriptions of virtually all the cacti, together with their range (but not their habitats) and sometimes also a photo. it also contains a long chapter detailing the many uses of cacti and another on cultivation..
[4]IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — http://www.iucnredlist.org/ ↩︎A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.