Cylindropuntia munzii

(C. B. Wolf) Backeberg

Kakteenlexikon, 113. 1966.

Common names: Munz cholla
Basionym: Opuntia munzii C. B. Wolf Occas. Pap. Rancho Santa Ana Bot. Gard. 2: 79, fig. 23. 1938
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 4. Treatment on page 115. Mentioned on page 103, 104.

Trees or treelike shrubs, with trunk(s) and main branches spreading, bearing terminal tufts of usually drooping branchlets, 2–4 m. Stem segments easily detached, gray-green, 4–16 × 1.2–2.5 cm; tubercles prominent, narrowly oval, 1–2 cm; areoles subcircular to obdeltate, 5–7 × 3–4.5 mm; wool tawny to yellow-brown, aging gray. Spines (7–)9–14 per areole, at most areoles, erect or spreading, yellow, aging red- to gray-black with pale tips, terete or abaxial ones slightly flattened, the longest to 3 cm; marginal bristlelike spines shorter, 0–4; sheaths pale yellow becoming golden apically, baggy. Glochids in adaxial crescent and sometimes small tuft, yellow, inconspicuous, 0.5–2 mm. Flowers: inner tepals pale reddish maroon-brown, elliptic, of irregular lengths, 8–15 mm, emarginate-apiculate; filaments green; anthers yellow; style and stigma lobes cream. Fruits easily detached, tan when mature and fertile, globose, 17–24 × 17–21 mm, dry, tuberculate, spineless but bearing numerous very long glochids; basal tubercles not markedly longer than distal ones (except in sterile fruits); areoles 30–40. Seeds pale yellow, rounded-deltoid, slightly flattened, 3–4.5 × 3–4 mm, sides smooth; girdle smooth, not protruding. 2n = 22, 33.


Phenology: Flowering spring (Mar–May).
Habitat: Sonoran Desert, flats, hills, sandy to rocky soils
Elevation: 400-700 m

Distribution

V4 219-distribution-map.gif

Calif., Mexico (Baja California).

Discussion

Cylindropuntia munzii hybridizes with C. echinocarpa forming a shrub to 1.5 m, with shorter tubercles and baggy-sheathed spines obscuring the stem and bearing fruits with long glochids but no spines. The chromosome number for the hybrid is 2n = 22.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
... more about "Cylindropuntia munzii"
Donald J. Pinkava +
(C. B. Wolf) Backeberg +
Opuntia munzii +
Munz cholla +
Calif. +  and Mexico (Baja California). +
400-700 m +
Sonoran Desert, flats, hills, sandy to rocky soils +
Flowering spring (Mar–May). +
Kakteenlexikon, +
Opuntia sect. Cylindropuntia +
Cylindropuntia munzii +
Cylindropuntia +
species +