Cylindropuntia ramosissima
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Cactaceae
Genus: Cylindropuntia
Species:
C. ramosissima
Binomial name
Cylindropuntia ramosissima
Synonyms

Opuntia ramosissima

Cylindropuntia ramosissima is a species of cactus known by the common names diamond cholla and branched pencil cholla.

Distribution

Cylindropuntia ramosissima is native to the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of the Southwestern United States, California, and Northwestern Mexico, and to Baja California and its Islas San Benito.

Description

Cylindropuntia ramosissima is a decumbent or erect and treelike cactus which can approach 2 meters-6 feet in maximum height. It has many narrow branches made up of cylindrical segments, green in color drying gray, the surface divided into squarish, flat tubercles with few or no spines, or often with a single long, straight spine.

The flower is small and orange, pink or brownish in color. The fruit is a small, dry, spiny body up to 2 centimeters long.

Cylindropuntia ramosissima is a host to several species of moths, most notably the Sphinx Moth.

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