buckhorn cholla Cactaceae Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa

Leaf:Reduced to a spine, to 1 inch silvery-yellow spines covered with papery sheathes, arranged in obvious areoles with up to 25 (commonly 10-15) stiff spines per areole.
Flower:Red or yellow, 2 inches, displayed at the joint tips, mid-summer.
Fruit:Barrel-shaped or pear-shaped, fleshy and turning dry when ripe, reddish and turning yellow-brown, 1 inch, with spines.
Twig:Segmented, each segment gray-green to purplish, to 12 inches long and 3/4 inch in diameter.
Bark:Brown-black, becoming rough and scaly.
Form:Shrubby segmented cactus branching very low to the ground, to 12 feet.
leaf flower fruit twig bark form map
Notes: