Summary ⁵

Cylindropuntia leptocaulis, the desert Christmas cactus, desert Christmas cholla, or tasajillo, is a cactus.

Description ⁶

The shrubby Cylindropuntia leptocaulis plants reach .5 to 1.8 m (1.6 to 5.9 ft) tall, reaching the extreme height when supported within desert trees. Branches are narrow, 3–5 mm across. Spines 0-1 (occasionally as many as 3) at each areole. Flowers open in the late afternoon and are pale yellow or greenish yellow, with occasional red tips.

Around December, the plant grows red berries that when consumed, can have an intoxicating effect. The fruits are crushed and mixed with a beverage by the Apache, Chiricahua, and Mescalero to produce narcotic effects.

Distribution ⁶

Cylindropuntia leptocaulis is widely distributed in deserts, grasslands, chaparral, and woodlands in the Southwestern United States and several states in Northern Mexico.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Cat Chang, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Cat Chang
2. (c) Ken-ichi Ueda, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Ken-ichi Ueda
3. (c) Tony Iwane, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Tony Iwane
4. (c) Alan R Lusk, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Alan R Lusk
5. Adapted by Jeny Davis from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cylindropuntia_leptocaulis
6. (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cylindropuntia_leptocaulis

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• African Plants - a photo guide
• Atlas of Living Australia
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• Calflora
• CalPhotos
• eFloras.org
• Flora of North America (beta)
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
• IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
• Jepson eFlora
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• SEINet Symbiota portals
• Tropicos
• USDA PLANTS database
• World Flora Online

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