Richard

Here's another genera of Cactus with several species that produce very edible fruits: Echinocereus, the Hedgehog Cacti of the tribe Pachycereeae. Some notable species:

• Echinocereus dasyacanthus - Chihuahua, Spiny Hedgehog, Texas Rainbow. Small, very sweet greenish-purple fruits reminiscent of gooseberry.
• Echinocereus enneacanthus - Strawberry Cactus, Alicoche. Excellent flavor. Preserves of these fruits are indistinguishable from strawberry jam.
• Echinoeceus stramineus - Mexican Strawberry, Alicoche, Pitahaya de Agosto. Acidic and mildly sweet, reminiscent of strawberries.

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Caloosamusa

Thank you Richard for the information! It is appreciated!

saltydad

I tried Echinocereus triglochidiatus outside. It did great, but failed to make it through the winter.

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Richard

In the link you provide, Desert Tropicals is wrong to call this species "Strawberry Cactus". The most common names are Red Claret-Cup and Red Hedgehog Cactus. The species varieties they list near the bottom are a further conundrum, which can be disambiguated by looking at Echinocereus triglochidiatus in the GRIN List of Echinocereus Species.

In his book "Cornucopia II", Stephan Facciola writes:
Echinocereus triglochidiatus - Red hedgehog-cactus. Bright red fruits are eaten fresh or made into preserves. The fruit pulp is sliced and baked like squash, or made into a sweet pickle by baking it in sugar.

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