Cylindropuntia whipplei |
Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa |
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Whipple cholla |
buck-horn cholla |
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Habit | Trees or shrubs, low to upright, sparingly to densely branched, some almost matlike in Arizona, 0.3–0.6(–1.5) m; branchlets whorled to subwhorled. | Trees or shrubs, sparsely to densely branched, 1–2(–4) m. Stem segments firmly attached, cylindric, 10–30(–50) × 2–2.5(–3) cm; tubercles prominent, narrow to broad, 1.5–4.5 cm; areoles elliptic to subcircular, 4–5.5 × 4–5 mm; wool white or yellowish to tan, aging gray-black. | ||||||||||||
Stem | segments firmly attached, green, 3–9(–15) × 0.5–1.5(–2.2) cm; tubercles prominent, short, 0.5–1 cm; areoles oval to obdeltate, 2–6 × 1.5–4 mm; wool pale yellow to white, aging gray. |
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Spines | (1–)3–8(–10) spines per areole, in all but basalmost areoles, best developed toward apex, interlacing with spines of adjacent areoles, whitish or pale yellow, pale red-brown, sometimes tipped yellow, of 2 kinds; radial spines slender, flattened basally, deflexed, 5–8 mm, surrounding central spines; central spines usually 4(–6), spreading into a cross, stout, subterete, 2–3.4(–4.5) cm; also 0–2 bristlelike spines; sheaths whitish to pale yellow (rarely golden) throughout or tipped yellow to golden. |
6–20(–30+) per areole, often accompanied by 0–5 short bristlelike spines at areole margins, usually in distal areoles; major abaxial spines deflexed to divergent, subterete to flattened; major adaxial spines ascending-divergent, terete, yellow or tan to deep red-brown, aging gray, the central spine longest, 12–30(–38) mm; sheaths white to grayish with yellow to golden tips, baggy to tight fitting. |
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Glochids | in adaxial tuft, yellow, 1–3 mm. |
in inconspicuous to small adaxial tuft, yellow to brown, 0.5–2 mm. |
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Flowers | inner tepals yellow to green-yellow, spatulate, 15–25(–30) mm, apiculate; filaments yellowish or yellow-green; anthers yellow; style white to yellowish; stigma lobes whitish, yellowish, or pale green (rarely pink tinged). |
inner tepals bright yellow to bronze to brick red, spatulate, 20–30 mm, apiculate-emarginate; filaments red; anthers yellow; style and stigma lobes white to light green. |
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Fruits | rarely proliferating, yellow to greenish yellow, broadly cylindric to subspheric, 18–30(–35) × 15–22(–32) mm, fleshy, tuberculate, spineless; tubercles subequal or distalmost longest, usually prominent; umbilicus 7–8 mm deep; areoles 36–62. |
tan at maturity, obconic to ellipsoid, 15–35 × 15–20 mm, dry, tuberculate, densely to sparsely spiny (rarely spineless), with apical flange above shallow umbilicus; basal tubercles longest; areoles 12–30. |
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Seeds | pale yellow, subcircular to slightly angular in outline, flattened to warped, 3–3.5 × 2.5–3.5 mm, sides smooth or with 1–3 depressions; girdle smooth. |
pale yellow to tan, angular or squarish in outline, warped, 3.5–5 × 3–4.5 mm, sides smooth, each with 2–4 large depressions; girdle smooth. |
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2n | = 22, 44. |
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Cylindropuntia whipplei |
Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa |
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Phenology | Flowering late spring–early summer (May–Jul). | |||||||||||||
Habitat | Desert and plains grasslands, juniper woodlands, oak, pinyon, or pine forests, sagebrush | |||||||||||||
Elevation | 900-2300 m (3000-7500 ft) | |||||||||||||
Distribution |
AZ; CO; NM; NV; UT
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AZ; CA; NV; UT; n Mexico
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Discussion | Cylindropuntia whipplei hybridizes with C. acanthocarpa in central Arizona; the hybrids [= C. ×congesta (Griffiths) F. M. Knuth (as species) (D. J. Pinkava 1999)] are compact shrubs with long-tuberculate stem segments 8–12 mm thick, bearing 0–4 erect or deflexed spines per areole, and tuberculate, green to yellowish fruits occasionally bearing one to few spines, and have chromosome number of 2n = 22. In areas of Arizona, Nevada, and Utah, C. whipplei hybridizes with C. echinocarpa, particularly with the low, compact form of C. echinocarpa; the hybrids [= C. ×multigeniculata (Clokey) Backeberg] have spineless to nearly spineless fruits, numerous intergrading spines per stem areole that are not dimorphic, and chromosome number of 2n = 22. Hybrids between C. whipplei and C. imbricata [= C. ×viridiflora (Britton & Rose) F. M. Knuth], which are found in scattered localities in northern New Mexico and northeastern Arizona, have a low, bushy habit, ripe cantaloupe-colored inner tepals, an irregular, monomorphic spine pattern, and a chromosome number of 2n = 22. Cylindropuntia ×media P. V. Heath, from the base of Wolf Creek Pass, Colorado (G. Arp 1973), reportedly has the same putative parentage as the older name C. ×viridiflora; further study of its parentage is warranted. Cylindropuntia whipplei also hybridizes with C. leptocaulis. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Varieties 4 (4 in the flora). Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa hybridizes with C. abyssi, C. echinocarpa (= C. ×deserta), C. bigelovii (= C. ×campii), C. leptocaulis (see C. ×tetracantha), C. ×multigeniculata, C. spinosior, C. versicolor, and C. whipplei (= C. congesta). Hybrids of C. acanthocarpa and C. ×multigeniculata are more open in habit, with longer stem segments than C. ×multigeniculata and with reddish filaments like C. acanthocarpa. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 4, p. 111. | FNA vol. 4. | ||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Cactaceae > subfam. Opuntioideae > Cylindropuntia | Cactaceae > subfam. Opuntioideae > Cylindropuntia | ||||||||||||
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Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||||||
Synonyms | Opuntia whipplei, C. hualpaensis, C. whipplei var. enodis, Opuntia whipplei var. enodis, Opuntia whipplei var. laevior | Opuntia acanthocarpa | ||||||||||||
Name authority | (Engelmann & J. M. Bigelow) F. M. Knuth: in C. Backeberg and F. M. Knuth, Kaktus-ABC, 124. (1935) | (Engelmann & J. M. Bigelow) F. M. Knuth: in C. Backeberg and F. M. Knuth, Kaktus-ABC, 124. (1935) | ||||||||||||
Web links |