Pencil Cholla (Cylindropuntia ramosissima)

(Fig. 01)

Picture Notes: Each of the first three pictures (Figs. 01-03) were taken on 03/30/13 while hiking Grapevine Canyon near Laughlin, NV. As this was my first sighting of this cactus, I was amazed at how straight and long it spines were. The cactus in (Fig. 03) was nearly four feet wide and over three feet tall. Click here to learn more about this area … Grapevine Canyon. The last picture (Fig. 04) was taken on 03/21/13 in the gardens just outside the The Alan Bible Visitor Center located at the southern end of Lake Mead’s Lakeshore Drive. Click here to learn more about this area … Lakeshore Scenic Drive.

(Fig. 02) Description: Pencil Cholla (Cylindropuntia ramosissima), a.k.a. Diamond Cholla and Branched Pencil Cholla, is an upright, shrub-like cactus with very narrow stem segments and long, but sparse spines. The stem segments are short (to about 3-inches) and narrow (about 1/4-inch diameter). The spines tend to be solitary rather than clustered as in most cactus. Starting off as a low spreading cactus, this erect and treelike cactus can grow to a maximum height of 6 feet. The green stem color is clearly evident, however a lack of water may cause them to turn gray. Close-up views (Fig. 02) of the stem reveal surface lines in a diamond-shaped or crosshatch pattern. Its straight, round,radial spines range to about 2-inches long. When it blooms in early summer, its inflorescence consists of small solitary flowers (less than 1-inch across), yellow, orange, or red, at the ends of stem segments. Pencil Cholla usually is an uncommon component of vegetation communities on well-drained sandy, gravelly, and rocky soils on flats, bajadas, and moderate slopes into the lower mountains in the Lower Sonoran (Creosote-Bursage Flats) and Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub) life zones. Occasionally, it can be found growing in relatively dense stands.

(Fig. 03)

(Fig. 04)