Semi-desert. Openings, woodlands. Spring.
Lower Butler Wash, Utah, April 12, 2021.

Betty and I never noticed this Whipple's Fishhook Cactus when we passed it at least 20 times over the years until Betty finally found it as we finished another nice walk in Butler Wash in 2021. The plant sits at the base of Yucca angustissima and is draped in its dry leaves.

As the map below indicates, this species is rare in San Juan County, Utah (near Bluff) and is also found in just 3 counties of Arizona.

Sclerocactus whipplei is highly variable and it is treated as more distinct or less distinct from other Sclerocactus species by various authors. According to Intermountain Flora, molecular studies "indicate a broader relationship between S. whipplei and S.wrightiae, S. parviflorus, and S. clorveae." Intermountain Flora indicates that on the west and north edges of its range, there is "considerable introgression" between S. whipplei and S. parviflorus.

The genus was named by Briton and Rose. The species was first named Echinocactus whipplei in 1856 by Engelmann and Bigelow from a collection made by Bigelow in Apache County, Arizona in 1853. Britton and Rose changed the name to Sclerocactus whipplei in 1922.

Sclerocactus whipplei (Whipple's Fishhook Cactus)
Cactaceae (Cactus Family)

Semi-desert. Openings, woodlands. Spring.
Lower Butler Wash, Utah, April 12, 2021.

Flowers consist of tepals, i.e., the perianth segments are so similar in color, length, texture, point of origin, etc. that they are not be separated into sepals and petals. Here they are called sepaloids and petaloids with some distinctions noticeable.

Both sepaloids and petaloids are usually bicolored, but the colors vary. The sepaloids are variously described by botanists as having greenish, reddish, or brownish midstripes with rosy, purple, pink, white, or yellow margins. The petaloids are pink, violet, white, or yellow to bronze with darker midstripes.

Sclerocactus whipplei (Whipple's Fishhook Cactus)
Cactaceae (Cactus Family)

Semi-desert. Openings, woodlands. Spring.
Lower Butler Wash, Utah, April 12, 2021.

Sclerocactus whipplei spines vary in number, length, and curvature. There are typically 4 central spines but there can be from zero to 4, they can be hooked or straight, and they can be up to 3 inches long. Radial spines vary from 5 to 12, are straight or hooked, and are up to one inch long.