Virginia Tech Dendrology

coastal cholla Cactaceae Cylindropuntia prolifera (Engelm.) F.M. Knuth symbol: CYPR19
Leaf: Reduced to a spine, to 1 inch pale brown-yellow spines, with a shining sheath, arranged in obvious areoles with 6-12 stiff spines per areole.
Flower: Purple-red, less than one inch April to June.
Fruit: Generally sterile, pear-shaped to nearly round, without spines, fleshy and green, 1 1/2 inch long, often producing flowers the following year which will result in clustered fruits.
Twig: Segmented, each segment blue-green or yellow-green, to 8 inches long and 1 1/2inches in diameter.
Bark: Brown-black, becoming rough and scaly.
Form: A multibranched shrub to 8 feet.
Looks like: cane cholla

Additional Range Information: Cylindropuntia prolifera is native to North America. Range may be expanded by planting. Download the full-size PDF map.
External Links: USDA Plants Database - Horticulture Information
All material 2021 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