Hedgehog Cactus #3
by Marilyn Smith
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Price
$350
Dimensions
9.000 x 9.000 inches
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Title
Hedgehog Cactus #3
Artist
Marilyn Smith
Medium
Painting - Watercolor
Description
This is the second painting, "Hedgehog Cactus", in my new series of Sonoran desert cactus flowers. I hope you will watch for each new watercolor piece!
The Hedgehog cactus gets its' name from the spiney columns it has that resemble a hedgehog!
They grow in clusters or clumps that can spread as much as 3 feet across. Their cylindrical stems are made up of 11-14 ribs.
Areoles burst forth along those ribs and each one may have from 8 to 20 spines that are about 3 inches long.
Those spines nearly completely cover the stem.
All hedgehog-cactus varieties have colorful flowers, and most have edible fruit. The flowers open after the spring rains from February to May.
The most common Arizona hedgehog-cactus varieties have intense magenta flowers, although the flowers may also appear in shades of pink, purple and lavender. The blossoms last for five days, opening in the morning and closing at night. Hedgehog-cactus flowers are up to 3 inches wide, making them look quite large in comparison to the size of the stems.
The reddish-orange fruit develops once flowering is complete.
The fruit is spherical and about 1 inch long.
It has a fleshy white pulp tinged by the reddish-orange skin color.
The fruit is covered in deciduous spines that fall off as the fruit reaches maturity. Hedgehog cactus is also called strawberry hedgehog cactus for the strawberry taste of its fruit.
Both birds and rodents eat the fruit.
Uploaded
April 6th, 2014
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Comments (60)
Marilyn Smith
Thank you to the buyer in Sandy, UT for purchasing four canvas prints from my cactus series!
Marilyn Smith
I am so grateful to the buyer in Oregon, WI for purchasing a second canvas print of "Hedgehog Cactus"! Thank you!
Nikolyn McDonald
This is just beautiful, Marilyn. Almost makes me want one of these prickly beauties in my yard. Almost :)
Marilyn Smith replied:
LOL! Thanks Nikolyn. I DID just plant one last spring so I will be anxious for blooms soon.
Marilyn Smith
Thank you so much for visiting this piece, Doug! You are so 'right on' about the contradictory relationship of the beautiful soft blossoms with the spiny thorns! Maybe that is why I am so attracted to these struggling, drought surviving beauties!
Doug Kreuger
Stunning cactus painting Marilyn! I think cactus flowers are among the prettiest... I have long enjoyed the dichotomy between the soft, delicate, frilly look of cactus flower petals, vs the sharp, threatening look of long, cactus needles. --- Similar association between a rose and it's thorns. L&F
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