Cotton-top Cactus
Echinocactus polycephalus
Photographed in the Colorado Desert portion of Joshua Tree National Monument, California. May 2010.
SPINES: Each areole has about twelve curved spines which may be red,
yellow or pale in color; the central spines are longer than the radial spines.
FLOWERS: Yellow flowers in spring are not so large and are partiallly obscured by
the spines. The petals may have traces of red or pink as well.
STEM: Occuring in clumps of usually many stems less than a meter tall
and about 15 cm in diameter.
FRUIT: The mature fruit is dry and covered with dense, white hairs that
look like balls of cotton.
RANGE: Far western Arizona where the Sonoran Desert gives way to the
Mojave Desert of California and Nevada.