Cylindropuntia leptocaulis

(de Candolle) F. M. Knuth

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

Common names: Desert Christmas cholla Christmas cactus
Illustrated
Basionym: Opuntia leptocaulis de Candolle Mém. Mus. Hist. Nat. 17: 118. 1828
Synonyms: Cylindropuntia leptocaulis var. brevispina (Engelma nn) F. M. Knuth Cylindropuntia leptocaulis var. longispina (Engelmann) F. M. Knuth Opuntia fragilis var. frutescens Engelmann Opuntia frutescens Engelmann Opuntia frutescens var. brevispina Engelmann Opuntia frutescens var. longispina Engelmann Opuntia leptocaulis Opuntia leptocaulis var. longispina (Engelmann) A. Berger Opuntia leptocaulis var. vaginata (Engelmann) S. Watson Opuntia vaginata
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 4. Treatment on page 105. Mentioned on page 101, 104.

Shrubs or small trees, sparingly to densely branched, 0.5–1.8 m, usually bearing similar, commonly spineless terminal branchlets arranged at right angles along major axes. Stem segments usually alternate, gray-green or purplish, 2–8 × 0.3–0.5 cm; tubercles linear, drying as elongate, riblike wrinkles, 1.1–2(–3) cm; areoles broadly elliptic, (1–)1.5–3.5 × 0.7–2 mm; wool white to yellow, aging gray. Spines 0–1(–3) per areole, usually in apical areoles to well distributed, erect, flexible, straight or arching upward or downward, red-brown with gray to whitish coat, tips yellow, aging red-brown, terete, angular-flattened basally, the longest (4–)14–45 mm; sheaths gray to purple-gray with yellow to red-brown tips or yellow throughout. Glochids in adaxial tuft or crescent to encircling areole, yellow or reddish brown, 1–3(–5) mm. Flowers: inner tepals pale yellow to greenish yellow, sometimes tipped red, narrowly obovate, 5–8 mm, acute, apiculate; filaments greenish yellow; anthers yellow; style yellow; stigma lobes greenish yellow. Fruits occasionally proliferating, yellow to scarlet (rarely green, sometimes tinged purple, becoming yellow), sometimes stipitate, obovoid, 9–15(–27) × 6–7(–12) mm, fleshy, smooth, spineless; umbilicus 2–4 mm deep; areoles 16–20. Seeds pale yellow, suborbicular to squarish and crenate in outline, warped, 3–4.5 mm diam., sides smooth, each with 1–3 large depressions; girdle smooth or with very narrow ridge. 2n = 22, 33, 44.


Phenology: Flowering spring–early summer, sometimes fall (Mar–Aug, Oct).
Habitat: Deserts, grasslands, chaparrals, oak-juniper woodlands, flats, bajadas and slopes, sandy, loamy to gravelly substrates
Elevation: 40-1500 m

Distribution

V4 196-distribution-map.gif

Ariz., N.Mex., Okla., Tex., Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo León, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas).

Discussion

Cylindropuntia leptocaulis forms hybrids with C. acanthocarpa var. major (see 3. C. ×tetracantha), C. arbuscula, C. fulgida, C. kleiniae, C. spinosior, C. versicolor (see discussion under C. ×tetracantha), and C. whipplei. Hybrids in central Arizona have flowers intermediate in size to the parents, narrow tuberculate stems bearing 0–1(–2) major spines per areole, and tuberculate, spineless, orange to red fruits. The chromosome number reported for hybrids is 2n = 22.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
Donald J. Pinkava +
(de Candolle) F. M. Knuth +
Opuntia leptocaulis +
Desert Christmas cholla +  and Christmas cactus +
Ariz. +, N.Mex. +, Okla. +, Tex. +, Mexico (Chihuahua +, Coahuila +, Durango +, Nuevo León +, Sonora +, Tamaulipas +  and Zacatecas). +
40-1500 m +
Deserts, grasslands, chaparrals, oak-juniper woodlands, flats, bajadas and slopes, sandy, loamy to gravelly substrates +
Flowering spring–early summer, sometimes fall (Mar–Aug, Oct). +
in C. Backeberg and F. M. Knuth, Kaktus-ABC, +
Illustrated +
Cylindropuntia leptocaulis var. brevispina +, Cylindropuntia leptocaulis var. longispina +, Opuntia fragilis var. frutescens +, Opuntia frutescens +, Opuntia frutescens var. brevispina +, Opuntia frutescens var. longispina +, Opuntia leptocaulis +, Opuntia leptocaulis var. longispina +, Opuntia leptocaulis var. vaginata +  and Opuntia vaginata +
Cylindropuntia leptocaulis +
Cylindropuntia +
species +