Plant Name
Scientific Name: Grusonia kunzei
Synonyms: Opuntia kunzei, O. stanlyi, O. wrightiana, Corynopuntia stanlyi
Common Names: Devil's Cholla, Devil Cholla, Stanly Club Cholla
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Shrub, Cactus
Arizona Native Status: Native
Habitat: Desert
Flower Color: Yellow to greenish yellow
Flowering Season: Spring, Summer. These cacti typically bloom in May and early June.
Height: To 10 inches (25 cm) tall
Description: The flowers are 2 inches (5 cm) wide and have shiny, ruffled, ragged-edged, yellow tepals. The flowers are followed by spiny, ovoid, up to 3 1/4 inch (8.3 cm) long, yellow fruit. The stems are club-shaped and covered in brown-spined tubercles. At each tubercle, the longest spine is 2 inches (5 cm) long and points downward. The plants form wickedly spiny mats on the ground.
Special Characteristics
Legal Status – Protected Native Plant (Salvage Restricted)
Classification
Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Caryophyllidae
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Cactaceae – Cactus family
Genus: Grusonia Rchb. ex Britton & Rose
Species: Grusonia kunzei (Rose) Pinkava – devil's cholla
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