Virginia Tech Dendrology

blue myrtle-cactus Cactaceae Myrtillocactus geometrizans (Mart.) Console Listen to the Latin symbol: --
Leaf: Reduced to a dark spine, displayed in vertical rows along the bark ridges, areole clusters of 3-9 spines approximately 1 inch apart.
Flower: Attractive, creamy white, 1 1/2 inches across; appearing spring to mid-summer along the ribs.
Fruit: A 1/2 inch red-brown to dark purple, sweet and edible.
Twig: Individual joints are 4 inches in diameter with 5-6 prominent vertical ridges.
Bark: Initially blue-green or gray-green and leathery, becoming gray-brown and somewhat scaly.
Form: A large shrub or a small tree to 15 feet tall, exhibiting a dense candelabra-like branching pattern.
Looks like: senita cactus - cardón
leaf bark form1 map
Additional Range Information: Myrtillocactus geometrizans is native to North America. Range may be expanded by planting. Download the full-size PDF map.

All material © 2019 Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation; Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson; Silvics reprinted from Ag Handbook 654; range map source information