Echinocereus fitchii ssp. albertii
Black lace cactus
A rare and endangered plant that is of great interest to us is presently saddled with a couple of names.
E. reichenbachii var. albertii is the original name that Benson applied to it when he described it.
Thanks to the more recent work of the German group Die Echinocereenfreunde (the friends of Echinocereus, Blum, Lange et al.), the synonym E. fitchii subsp. albertii is considered by Europeans to be the current correct name of the plant.
Molecular study is ongoing to establish a better understanding of the relationships in this area. In the meantime it is handy (and unquestionably correct) to refer to all the populations of plants known as “albertii” as part of “the E. reichenbachii complex”. It is noteworthy that USFWS people still use the original name given to the plant by Benson, primarily for the sake of continuity with the name under which the plant was listed as endangered under the ESA.
We gratefully acknowledge permission granted by the Editor of Cactus World and by the author, for us to reproduce the following article for our readers:
Berresford, Peter. 2011. The Black Lace Cactus — an evaluation.
Cactus World 29(4): 185-189.[Download 4mb PDF]
We gratefully acknowledge permission granted by the Editor of the Cactus and Succulent Journal (U.S.), the Cactus and Succulent Society of America, and the author, for us to reproduce the following article for our readers:
Lange, Michael J., and Sinclair, Jim. 2013. A hard-to-manage taxon: The Black Lace Cactus Echinocereus fitchii ssp. albertii.
Cactus and Succulent Journal (U.S.) 85(2): 72-78.[Download 3.8mb PDF]
US F&W has produced two reports which are available online.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1986. Black Lace Cactus (Echinocereus reichenbachii var. albertii) Recovery plan.”
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 51 pp.
(authors Sue Gardner & Ruth O’Brien)
“Black Lace project”U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2009. Black Lace Cactus (Echinocereus reichenbachii var. albertii) 5-year review: summary and evaluation.”
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Corpus Christi, Texas. 31 pp.
(authors Wendy Brown, Brady McGee, Amber Miller, Robyn Cobb & Chris Best)
More photographs here.