Horse Crippler
Echinocactus texensisHorse Crippler is a shrub native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 0.5 ft tall and 1 ft wide. It wants full sun and low water. Blooms pink and violet in Mar–Aug. Evergreen — it holds its leaves through winter. Deer rarely browse it. Good for bees, birds, butterflies, moths and small mammals.
Caution — livestock. Horse crippler — named for what the spines do to hooves and to anyone who steps on it.
Will it grow in your yard?
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The facts
4 sources- Type
- Shrub
- Sun
- Full sun (6–8 hrs of direct sun)
- Water
- Low
- Height
- 0.5 ft
- Spread
- 1 ft
- Bloom
- Mar–Aug · pink, violet
- Foliage
- Evergreen
- Soil
- Recorded on dry, limestone, sand
- Deer
- High — deer rarely browse it
- Wildlife
- Supports bees, birds, butterflies, moths and small mammals
Where it grows
Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:
825 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).
Can you buy it?
Also grows here — hard to find. Native and recorded growing in Central Texas, but not on the grower stock lists we read. Sourcing varies: some are stocked widely, others you will have to hunt for.