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English to Spanish translations [PRO]
Science - Botany | | English term or phrase: Hedgehog or claret cup cactus | | The hedgehog cactus refers to the plant's spiny resemblance to a hedgehog and the plant's shape, respectively. It is also called claret cup cactus. The flowers are scarlet red, with many petals, and are cup-shaped. The flowers are one to two inches long and grow below the stem's apex. |
| | | Selected response from:
  Mónica Algazi
Uruguay
Local time: 15:10
| Grading comment | 4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer |
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| Discussion entries: 0 |
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Automatic update in 00:
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37 mins confidence:  
3 hrs confidence: peer agreement (net): +1
5 hrs confidence: | hedgehog or claret cup cactus pitaya (Echinocereus triglochidiatus)
Explanation:
I base this on the following:
"Echinocereus triglochidiatus Engelm. Pitaya.
Reg. UACJ. 915
Es uno de los cactus llamados pitayas más atractivos, crece en las laderas rocosas y gravosas del pastizal amacollado de las sierras Presidio y Samalayuca, aunque también es común encontrarlo en el matorral inerme de gobernadora que está adyacente a este pastizal. Es de tamaño grande, sus tallos crecen más de 30 cm de largo por 7.5 de ancho, las espinas 3 a 4 de 2.5 cm de largo, de sección triangular. Florece de abril a junio y sus flores de color rojo duran abiertas de 2 a 3 días, los frutos son comestibles."
Irma Delia Enríquez Anchondo, "Las cactáceas de Samalayuca", Ciencia en la Frontera: Revista de Ciencia y Tecnología de la UACJ, 2, no. 1 (2003): 55-62, p. 59. ( http://www2.uacj.mx/Publicaciones/cienciaenlafrontera/volume... )
There are many species called pitaya (also spelt pitahaya), so it would certainly be necessary to include the scientific name as well, and the full name, not just the genus: there are some 70 different species of Echinocereus, and this is just one specific one.
There is no doubt that the claret cup cactus, a type of hedgehog cactus, is Echinocereus triglochidiatus. See, for example, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinocereus_triglochidiatus . It's found in the SW United States and northern Mexico.
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Note added at 11 hrs (2011-01-27 15:46:49 GMT)
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It must be emphasised that "pitaya/pitahaya" is not, on its own, a translation of "claret cup cactus" or indeed of "hedgehog cactus". The author of the study I've quoted calls the claret cup "uno de los cactus llamados pitayas", and there are a further five (all species of Echinocereus) in that study alone, as well as others from Hylocereus and other genera. Essentially pitaya is a fruit-bearing cactus and is the name of the fruit itself. But it seems to be the only vernacular name for this cactus in Mexico, the only Spanish-speaking country where it occurs naturally. In practice, how it will be phrased will depend on the context: perhaps something like "una pitaya, Echinocereus triglochidiatus", or "Echinocereus triglochidiatus, una de las pitayas".
| Charles Davis
Local time: 20:10
Works in field
Native speaker of:  English
PRO pts in category: 16
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