Cylindropuntia ramosissima

(Engelmann) F. M. Knuth

in C. Backeberg and F. M. Knuth, Kaktu s-ABC, 122. 1935.

Common names: Diamond cholla
Illustrated
Basionym: Opuntia ramosissima Engelmann Amer. J. Sci. Arts, ser. 2, 14: 339. 1852
Synonyms: Opuntia tessellata Engelmann
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 4. Treatment on page 118. Mentioned on page 103, 114.

Trees or shrubs, intricately branched, 0.5–2 m. Stem segments firmly attached, green drying gray and ropelike, cylindric, 2–8(–10) × 0.4–1 cm; tubercles rhombic, convex (flattened upon drying), 0.4–0.8 cm; areoles subcircular abaxially, adaxially becoming usually deltate-linear; glochid-bearing portion protruding distally, wedged between bases of 2 adjacent tubercles, (3–)4–7 × 1–1.5(–2) mm; wool tan to white. Spines 0–5 per areole, usually in distal areoles or sometimes absent or nearly so, tan to red-brown to deep purple, aging gray; major abaxial spines 0–1(–2), the longest spine spreading, (1.5–)2.5–6 cm; adaxial spines usually reflexed, short to ± 1 cm; sheaths baggy. Glochids in subcircular to linear adaxial tuft, yellow to tan to brown, to 2 mm. Flowers: inner tepals bronze-red ± suffused rose, with mid stripes darker, ovate, 6–13 mm, acute-apiculate to attenuate; filaments greenish; anthers yellow; style whitish or blushed with rose-pink or light green; stigma lobes whitish. Fruits maturing tan, ellipsoid to stipitate-ellipsoid, 15–30 × 10–15 mm, dry at maturity, tuberculate, developing increasingly burlike, with many bristlelike spines; areoles (32–)40–66, evenly spaced, woolly. Seeds pale yellow to tan-gray, angular to squarish in outline, warped, 4–4.5 × 3.5–4 mm, sides irregularly concave-convex; girdle smooth. 2n = 22, 44.


Phenology: Flowering spring–summer (Apr–Aug).
Habitat: Mojave and Sonoran deserts, washes, flats, and bajadas, sandy loam, desert pavement, stony volcanic substrates
Elevation: 50-1100 m

Distribution

V4 228-distribution-map.gif

Ariz., Calif., Nev., Mexico (Baja California, Sonora).

Discussion

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
Donald J. Pinkava +
(Engelmann) F. M. Knuth +
Opuntia ramosissima +
Diamond cholla +
Ariz. +, Calif. +, Nev. +, Mexico (Baja California +  and Sonora). +
50-1100 m +
Mojave and Sonoran deserts, washes, flats, and bajadas, sandy loam, desert pavement, stony volcanic substrates +
Flowering spring–summer (Apr–Aug). +
in C. Backeberg and F. M. Knuth, Kaktu s-ABC, +
Illustrated +
Opuntia tessellata +
Cylindropuntia ramosissima +
Cylindropuntia +
species +