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teddy-bear cholla

Gander cholla, Gander's buckhorn cholla, Gander's cholla

Habit Shrubs, ascending, with strict branches, 0.5–1.5 m. Stem segments firmly attached, green, (5–)10–26 × (1.7–)2.5–4.5 cm; tubercles prominent, narrowly elliptic to oval, often subribbed, (0.9–)1.3–2.6 cm; areoles elliptic to obdeltate, 4–7 × 2.5–5 mm; wool yellowish tan, aging gray.
Spines

11–18(–28) per areole, at most areoles, moderately to wholly obscuring stems, spreading or erect, whitish, pale yellow to pinkish tan to reddish, aging brown or black, terete or abaxial spines basally flattened, grading in length, the longest porrect to reflexed, 2–2.5(–3.5) cm, with 0–6 bristlelike spines at areole margins;

sheaths slightly baggy, whitish becoming yellow to golden apically.

Glochids

in thin adaxial crescent, yellow or tan to rusty, 0.5–6 mm.

Flowers

inner tepals greenish yellow, often with tips reddish abaxially, spatulate, 22–30 mm, apiculate to emarginate-apiculate;

filaments yellow-green to green;

anthers yellow to orange-yellow;

style cream to yellow, sometimes basally greenish;

stigma lobes greenish cream, cream or yellow.

Fruits

yellowish, drying tan, globose, tuberculate, budlike with spines similar to those of stem segments but slightly shorter, often reflexed;

proximal tubercles slightly elongated if fruits fertile;

umbilicus 4–5 mm deep;

areoles 22–32(–40).

Seeds

pale yellow, angular-suborbicular, flattened to slightly warped, 4.5–6 × 4.5–5.7 mm, sides with 3–5 depressions;

girdle smooth, not protruding.

2n

= 22.

Cylindropuntia bigelovii

Cylindropuntia ganderi

Phenology Flowering spring (Mar–May).
Habitat Desert alluvial flats, bajadas, sandy, gravelly to rocky substrates
Elevation 100-1000 m (300-3300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; NV; nw Mexico
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from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
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[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (1 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

In the north part of its range, Cylindropuntia ganderi intergrades with C. californica var. parkeri.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 4, p. 109. FNA vol. 4, p. 115.
Parent taxa Cactaceae > subfam. Opuntioideae > Cylindropuntia Cactaceae > subfam. Opuntioideae > Cylindropuntia
Sibling taxa
C. abyssi, C. acanthocarpa, C. arbuscula, C. californica, C. davisii, C. echinocarpa, C. fulgida, C. ganderi, C. imbricata, C. kleiniae, C. leptocaulis, C. munzii, C. prolifera, C. ramosissima, C. spinosior, C. tunicata, C. versicolor, C. whipplei, C. wolfii, C. ×kelvinensis, C. ×tetracantha
C. abyssi, C. acanthocarpa, C. arbuscula, C. bigelovii, C. californica, C. davisii, C. echinocarpa, C. fulgida, C. imbricata, C. kleiniae, C. leptocaulis, C. munzii, C. prolifera, C. ramosissima, C. spinosior, C. tunicata, C. versicolor, C. whipplei, C. wolfii, C. ×kelvinensis, C. ×tetracantha
Subordinate taxa
C. bigelovii var. bigelovii
Synonyms Opuntia bigelovii Opuntia acanthocarpa subsp. ganderi, Opuntia acanthocarpa var. ganderi, Opuntia ganderi
Name authority (Engelmann) F. M. Knuth: in C. Backeberg and F. M. Knuth, Kaktus-ABC, 125. (1935) (C. B. Wolf) Rebman & Pinkava: J. Arizona-Nevada Acad. Sci. 33: 150. (2001)
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