Cylindropuntia arbuscula

Common Name: Pencil cholla
Oˊodham Name: Wipinoi Audio
Group: Cacti － Desert

Description

Cylindropuntia arbuscula is a densely branched cholla cactus that grows in sandy soils of alluvial fans in south central Arizona at 1000 to 3500 ft elevation. The smooth, 1cm wide stems are sparely covered with long spines. Golden flowers are produced in May. Also see Cylindropuntia leptocaulis.

Classification

Kingdom Plantae － Plants

Subkingdom Tracheobionta － Vascular plants

Superdivision Spermatophyta － Seed plants

Division Magnoliophyta － Flowering plants

Class Magnoliopsida － Dicotyledons

Subclass Caryophyllidae

Order Caryophyllales

Family Cactaceae － Cactus family

Genus Cylindropuntia (Engelm.) Kreuzinger － cholla

Species Cylindropuntia arbuscula (Engelm.) F.M. Knuth － Arizona pencil cholla

More Information

USDA Plant Profile and Map