Cylindropuntia spinosior

Common Name: Cane Cholla, Walkingstick Cactus
Oˊodham Name: Ceolim Audio
Group: Cacti － Desert, Desert Grassland

Description

Cylindropuntia spinosior is a densely-spined cholla cactus that may form a broad tree up to 10 feet tall and wide. It grows at elevations between 1500 and 5000 ft in sandy to gravelly soils of alluvial fans and desert grassland. At higher elevation, flowers typically red to magenta, but they vary from yellow to magenta in the deserts. Fruit are wrinkled and contain seeds that are often sterile. Birds use the species as critical nesting habitat. Also see Cylindropuntia versicolor.

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 spinosior (Engelm.) F.M. Knuth － walkingstick cactus

More Information

USDA Plant Profile and Map