Virginia Tech Dendrology

dagger cholla Cactaceae Grusonia invicta (Brandegee) E.F.Anderson Listen to the Latin symbol: --
Leaf: Reduced to a spine, to 2 inches, arranged in obvious areoles with 6-10 radial spines and 10-12 stout central spines per areole, red to white, often completely covering the stem.
Flower: Up to 2 inches, creamy white to yellow, late spring.
Fruit: Barrel-shaped, fleshy and red-green, 1 1/2 inches long.
Twig: Segmented, each segment gray-green, to 5 inches long and 1 inch in diameter, often obscured by the needles.
Bark: Brown-black, becoming rough and scaly, often obscured by old needles.
Form: A multibranched shrub to 1 1/2 feet and spreading up to 8 feet.
 leaf form1 map
Additional Range Information: Grusonia invicta 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