The erect, dark-green, stems, 3–7-inches tall by 1 1/2–3-inches diameter have 8–10 ribs and grow singly or in small clumps of 5–10. Flowers grow from the upper stem, not the apex. Note the single, flattened central spines and crowded spines at the stem apex. The flowers of this genus grow on spiny pedicels.

FLOWERS: April–June. The 2–4-inch wide (5–10 mm) flowers have brilliant pink to magenta tepals with delicate tips; anthers yellow, stigma lobes green. Red to purplish, egg-shaped fruit, reach 3/4–1-inch long (20–25 mm) and may contain 1,000 seeds.

SPINES: Each circular (not elongated) areole has 1 central spine 1–2-inches long (2.5–5 cm), white, brown, to black, flat to angled, often curved upward. The 4–10 spreading radial spines, 1/2–1 1/2-inches (12–39 cm) long, often have a dark stripe on the underside and do not obscure the stem.

HABITAT: Dry sandy, rocky soils of slopes, ridges; desert grasslands and scrub, foothills, pinyon-juniper woodlands.

ELEVATION: 3,000–8,000 feet.

RANGE: AZ, CO, NM, TX.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Strawberry Cactus, E. stramineus, has 10–16 ribs, areoles with 2–4 central spines, and a dense covering of straw-colored spines. Strawberry Hedgehog Cactus, E. enneacanthus, has 7–10 ribs sparsely covered with spines.

NM COUNTIES: Low- to mid-elevation, arid habitats nearly statewide except easternmost counties (Curry, De Baca, Harding, Lea, Mora, Quay, Roosevelt, Union).