Oregon Hedgehog Cactus

Description

Oregon Hedgehog Cactus

Pediocactus nigrispinus, Spring Basing Wilderness Area

I’ve wanted to photograph Oregon’s enchanting hedgehog cactus for over 20 years. It wasn’t until this spring that I found time in my schedule to explore Oregon’s small pocket of cactus country.  Having seen images of Pediocactus nigrispinus growing in Eastern Oregon’s Spring Basin Wilderness, I made plans to visit this remote area of Oregon’s John Day country.

Pediocactus nigrispinus macro detail

.Located about 2 hours and 15 minutes from my hometown of Bend, Spring Basin Wilderness is far from heavily trodden. I found this beautiful specimen of Hedgehog cactus on the second of two trips to Spring Basin, during my first visit, I was a week too early for Hedgehog blooms. During this second visit, I found hundreds of blooming cacti but this was my favorite macro composition. The detail of the individual flowers in my large fine art photos is simply impeccable.

Countless vibrant gold, pollen-laden stamen  surround a single pistiI, all of which are surrounded by succulent, magenta petals which tonally lighten towards the end of the petals. The intimidating black tipped spines( thus the Latin name, nigrispinus)with auburn hued shafts form a protective barricade around the body of the cactus while offering wonderful texture to my fine art prints of this image. They are quite stunning and make for an elegantly detailed photograph!  I also captured several other beautiful images from my second trip to Spring Basin Wilderness.