Cylindropuntia leptocaulis – Christmas Cactus

Cylindropuntia leptocaulis - Christmas Cactus, Christmas Cholla, Pencil Cholla (flowers)

Cylindropuntia leptocaulis - Christmas Cactus, Christmas Cholla, Pencil Cholla (fruit)

Cylindropuntia leptocaulis - Christmas Cactus, Christmas Cholla, Pencil Cholla

Plant Name

Scientific Name: Cylindropuntia leptocaulis

Synonym: Opuntia leptocaulis

Common Names: Christmas Cactus, Christmas Cholla, Pencil Cholla

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial

Growth Habit: Shrub, Cactus

Arizona Native Status: Native

Habitat: Desert

Flower Color: Yellow-green to pale green, Yellow

Flowering Season: Spring (late), Summer

Height: To 3 feet (91 cm) tall

Description: The flowers are 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide and have narrow, point-tipped, shiny green tepals, green anther filaments, and a yellow style. The flowers are followed by bright red fruit dotted with bundles of cinnamon brown glochids (tiny areole spines). The colorful fruit remains on the plant throughout the winter, giving this cactus its festive Christmas color. The stems are slender, about 1/4 inch (6 mm) in diameter, green, and spiny near the stem tips with a single 2-inch (5 cm) long, golden brown spine on some of the areoles. Lower stem areoles are more likely to be spineless.

Special Characteristics

Legal StatusProtected 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: Cylindropuntia (Engelm.) Kreuzinger
Species: Cylindropuntia leptocaulis (DC.) F.M. Knuth – Christmas cactus

More About This Plant

Arizona County Distribution Map