Clump-forming spiny cactus with pinkish magenta flowers bearing pale or white throats. Stems grow from about 0.5 to 5 inches in diameter, reaching up to about 12 inches long, either upright or sprawling. They have 5-12 ribs (sometimes tubercular, sometimes not), 1-6 central spines per areole, 6-10 radial spines per areole. Fruit is green and spiny and edible.
Relatively common in cultivation. Rot prone if subjected to excess moisture. Lovely flowers. Reddish stress color on stems.
Widespread in east-central Mexico in the outskirts of Mexico City and the states of Mexico, Hidalgo, Querétaro, Guanajuato, Zacatecas, and San Luís Potosí. Three recognized subspecies:
Alicoche (Echinocereus cinerascens subsp. cinerascens) with stems 1.5 to 5 inches in diameter, bearing 6-12 ribs, found above 2000m;
Alicoche (Echinocereus cinerascens subsp. septentrionalis) with stems about 2.5 inches in diameter and 6-8 ribs, from SLP and Zacatecas above 1200m;
Alicoche (Echinocereus cinerascens subsp. tulensis) with stems 1.5 to 2.5 inches in diameter with 4-7 ribs, from Tamaulipas and SLP below 1200m. The former Echinocereus cinerascens subsp. ehrenbergii apparently is no more.
