The name is derived from the Greek “echinos” meaning spiny and “mastos” meaning breast (thus, spiny breast, referring to the spiny tubercles), and the genus is native to Southwestern USA and to Mexico. It is a relatively small group of short and elongated globular cacti whose stems rarely branch. They can be so spiny to the point of obscuring the stems. Grooves on the tubercles can be characterised by extrafloral nectaries. Flowers can be white, cream-colored, light pink, dark pink or even brownish and funnel shaped. Flowers bloom in the morning and come from the apex of the plant often fighting their way through a tangle of spines. Not easy to grow. According to authors, this genus can be considered as similar to Sclerocactus.
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