Cacti of the Big Bend Ranch State Park

Seeing a particular cactus in bloom can be difficult. Some cacti have very short blooming periods. Others are endemic to restricted areas. Some may bloom sporadically, for only a few days, or only at night.

Knowing roughly when they bloom can help. So here is a table listing species known to live here in the Big Bend Ranch State Park, and the months during which they typically bloom.

Family	Species	Variety	Popular Name	Start	End
Opuntia	schotii	grahamii	Graham’s Dog Cholla	5	6
Opuntia	imbricata	arborescens	Tree Cholla	5	6
Opuntia	leptocaulis		Christmas Cholla	5	9
Opuntia	kleiniae		Candle Cholla	4	8
Opuntia	rufida		Blind-eye Prickly Pear	4	5
Opuntia	macrocentra		Long-Spined Purple Prickly Pear	4	5
Opuntia	azurea		Diploid Purple Prickly Pear	4	6
Opuntia	azurea	parva	Big Bend Purplish Prickly Pear	3	5
Opuntia	comanchica		Comanche Prickly Pear	4	6
Opuntia	dulcis		Sweet Prickly Pear	4	5
Opuntia	engelmannii	engelmannii	Engleman’s Prickly Pear	4	7
Peniocereus	greggii	greggii	Night-Blooming Cereus	4	6
Echinocereus	coccineus	paucispinus	Texas Claret-Cup	3	4
Echinocereus	X roetteri	neomexicanus	Lloyd’s Hedgehog	4	6
Echinocereus	dasyacanthus		Texas Rainbow	3	5
Echinocereus	enneacanthus	enneacanthus	Strawberry Cactus	4	5
Echinocereus	straminens		Strawberry Pitaya*	3	5
Echinocereus	viridiflorus		Green-Flowered Hedgehog Cactus	3	5
Echinocereus	viridiflorus	chloranthus	Western Green-Flowered Hedgehog	3	5
Echinocereus	viridiflorus	russanthus	Rusty Hedgehog	2	4
Echinocereus	viridiflorus	canus	Graybeard Cactus	3	4
Echinocactus	horizonthalonius		Eagle-Claw	4	6
Echinocactus	texensis		Horse-Crippler	4	5
Ferocactus	hamatacanthus	hamatacanthus	Giant Fishhook Cactus	6	8
Thelocactus	bicolor	bicolor	Glory of Texas	3	9
Ariocarpus	fissuratus	fissuratus	Living Rock	7	9
Neolloydia	conoidea	conoidea	Cone Cactus	3	7
Glandulicactus	uncinatus	wrightii	Eagle-Claw	3	5
Ancistrocactus	brevihamatus	pallidus	Snipe Cactus	2	3
Echinomastus	waarnockii		Warnock’s Cactus	2	3
Echinomastus	mariposensis		Mariposa Cactus	2	3
Epithelantha	micromeris	micromeris	Common Button Cactus	2	4
Epithelantha	bokei		Boke’s Button Cactus	5	6
Mammillaria	grahamii	grahamii	Graham’s Fishhook Cactus	5	6
Mammillaria	lasiacantha		Golf Ball Cactus	2	3
Mammillaria	pottsii		Pott’s Mammilaria	2	3
Mammillaria	meiacantha		Nipple Cactus	3	5
Mammillaria	heyderi		Heyder’s Pincushion Cactus	3	4
Coryphantha	dasyacantha		Desert Pincushion Cactus	3	5
Coryphantha	sneedii	albicolumnaria	Silverlace Cactus	3	5
Coryphantha	tuberculosa	tuburculosa	Cob Cactus	4	8
Coryphantha	tuberculosa	varicolor	Varicolor Cob Cactus	5	8
Coryphantha	macromeris	macromeris	Big-Needle Pincushion Cactus	5	9
Coryphantha	echinus	robusta	Multi-Stemmed Sea-Urchin	4	5

It’s early yet, but Claret Cups are already blooming along the Rio Grande. Happy cactus hunting.