Cactus imbricatus (Cylindropuntia imbricata imbricata)
Description
The cane cholla (or walking stick cholla, tree cholla, chainlink cactus, etc.) (Cylindropuntia imbricata) is a cactus found in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico, including some cooler regions in comparison to many other cacti. It occurs primarily in the arid regions of the Southwestern United States in the states of Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Nevada. It is often conspicuous because of its shrubby or even tree-like size, its silhouette, and its long-lasting yellowish fruits.The above-ground part consists of much-branched cylindrical stems, the end joints being about 3 cm (1.2 in) in diameter. The joints, unlike those of some chollas, are hard to detach. The stems are highly tubercular (lumpy) with a pattern of long oval lumps. A typical height is about 1 m (3 ft), but exceptionally it can grow to 4.6 m (15 ft) with a "trunk" diameter of 25 cm (9.8 in). The width is often similar to or somewhat greater than the height. The stems are armed with clusters of up to about 10 red to pink spines, which may be 3 cm (1.2 in) long and are barbed and sharp enough to easily penetrate leather gardening gloves. The stems and fruits also have many spines or "glochids" about 1 mm (0.04 in) long that can detach and stick in the skin.
Taxonomic tree
-
Domain: Eukarya
-
-
Kingdom: Plantae
-
-
Phylum:
-
-
Class: Magnoliopsida
-
-
Order: Caryophyllales
-
-
Family: Cactaceae
-
-
Genus: Cylindropuntia
-
-
-
-
-
-
