Buckhorn Cholla
Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa
(Opuntia acanthocarpa)
Photographed near Shaw Butte, Phoenix, Maricopa Co., Arizona. June 18, 2002
The flower color is variable, from yellow to orange/red. Also visible in this photo hosted at Wikimedia are fleshy, spike-shaped leaves on the new shoot. These tender leaves are edible and tasty! They whither and are shed by the plant within a month or so. Observed at Mesquite Wash, Maricopa Co., AZ.
JOINTS: The stems are succulent and formed into cylindrical
joints mostly less than 30 cm long
and 2½ to 5 cm in
diameter. The tubercles on the joints are conspicuously raised and elongate.
FRUIT: mature fruit turns dry and brown.
RANGE: a frequent cholla throughout the deserts of
southwestern Arizona.
SHRUB: Normally a shrub rarely over
2 m tall. Occasionally with a distinct central trunk.
FLOWERS: Numerous petals are variable in color ranging red,
yellow or purplish.
SPINES: Up to two dozen per ariole, 30 mm long, silvery or tan
but turning black with age.