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Echinomastus johnsonii

Cultivation Key

� Full sun ��

� Medium water in spring, none in summer, light water in early winter

� Sandy/gritty soil, non-organic only! Decomposed Granite.

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	Hardy to 20F / -6C if dry. Can tolerate short periods of cold temps. Avoid frost! (General guidelines)

Notes: We recognize three forms of Echinomastus johnsonii.

E. johnsonii ssp. johnsonii has pink flowers. E. johnsonii ssp. lutescens has yellow flowers. E. johnsonii ssp. arizonicus can have both colors. They also all differ in geographic distribution and flowering times.

Featured Plant

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Johnson�s Pineapple Cactus

Echinomastus johnsonii (Engelmann) E.M. Baxter 1935

Cactaceae (Cactus Family)

Synonyms: Echinocactus johnsonii Engelmann 1871, Ferocactus johnsonii (Engelmann) Britton & Rose 1922, Thelocactus johnsonii (Engelmann) W.T. Marshall 1942, Neolloydia johnsonii (Engelmann) L. Benson 1969, Sclerocactus johnsonii (Engelmann) N.P. Taylor 1987, Pediocactus johnsonii (Engelmann) Halada 1998

Form/Habitat: Form/Habitat: The habitat of Echinomastus johnsonii is North America, in the Mojave desert of southeast California and northwestern Arizona, from southern Nevada and southern Utah. Growing in sandy/gravely soils in hills and alluvial fans from 1500 to 4000 feet elevation. It�s a small to medium solitary plant. Branching only occurs from damage to the main growing point. This plant has a globular to cylindrical shape with spines completely obscuring the stem. Spines are a pink/rose to tan color that fade to a dull grey or black with age

Type locality: Discovered near St. George in Southern Utah by J.E. Johnson in 1870.

Size: Typically growing to around 2 to 4 inches in diameter and 4 to 10 inches tall. Starting out as globular and later becoming more cylindroid to resemble the shape and size of a pineapple.

Flowers/Fruit: The flowers of Echinomastus johnsonii are about 2 to 3 inches in diameter and appear March thru May. They are produced from new areoles at the apex of the plant. Not always opening fully, due to the dense spination. Flowers are a bright dark pink with a dark purple center. The fruit are green and when ripe, turn a brown/tan color. They will split open near the base and up the side to release the seeds. Many times seedlings can be seen growing at the base of the mother plant giving the appearance of a cluster.

Sun/Water: Echinomastus johnsonii can take full sun to get the proper spination. Often in habitat these plants are growing out in the open completely unprotected. In cultivation, watering should mimic natural habitat as best as possible. Give light waterings in winter, especially during Jan/Feb, tapering off in mid-March. From March to June keep fairly dry with just occasional misting. Start again with light waterings from August to September and into the winter.

Propagation: Seeds. Challenging to grow from seed. These plants dislike any peat or organic matter in their pot culture soil mix. Do not use a commercial cactus soil or any type of potting soil. Only non-organic matter consisting of sand, loam, grit, pumice or DG (decomposed granite) would be best.

Books/Websites: Books/Websites: The Native Cacti of California; L. Benson. The Cacti of Arizona; L. Benson. The Cactus Family; E.F. Anderson.

More websites can be found on our Reference Links page.

Echinomastus johnsonii� �(Engelmann) E.M. Baxter 1935

Not a very common plant (or Genus) seen in collections.

The photos above are E. johnsonii ssp. lutescens seedlings at different stages up to 2 years old. Grown from habitat seed collected near Wickenburg, AZ.

Habitat photos above are from near Meadview, AZ. These plants show a good range of spine colors. From the traditional pink, to bright red, to maroon, to almost black and some very interesting gold/yellow spined forms. We happened to find one plant that was branching from the sides with no signs of apex damage. A very rare sight!

Echinomastus johnsonii� ssp. arizonicus

Habitat photos above are from Butler Valley, Yuma Co.,, AZ. ��Photos By Peter Breslin

Echinomastus johnsonii ssp. lutescens

Habitat photos above are from near Wickenburg, AZ.�� Photos By Peter Breslin

Echinomastus johnsonii

Habitat photos above are from near Meadview, AZ. ��Photos By Peter Breslin

Habitat photos above are from near the Grand Canyon west entrance, a little past the Grand Canyon Ranch near the Hualapai Indian Reservation. The plants at this locale were more uniform in their spine color, however, we found quite a few more seedlings here. Always a good sign!