Cylindropuntia leptocaulis
Cylindropuntia leptocaulis
Cylindropuntia leptocaulis is a species of the genus Cylindropuntia in the cactus family ( Cactaceae ). The specific epithet leptocaulis comes from Latin and means, with slender stems '. Foreign language common names are " Alfilerillo ", " Catalinaria ", " Desert Christmas cactus ", " Desert Christmas Cholla ", " Tasajillo " and " tasajo ".
Description
Cylindropuntia leptocaulis growing shrubby or tree structure with different branching shoots and reaches heights of growth from 50 to 180 centimeters. Are usually short, thornless shoots on the main branches. The very slender, gray-green to slightly purplish engine segments are 20 to 80 inches long and have diameters of 3-5 millimeters. The broadly elliptical areolae are covered with white to yellow wool. They turn gray with age. The yellow to reddish brown glochids are 1-5 millimeters long. The mostly single, upright, bendable spine, he may be absent or there are sometimes up to three thorns is developed, reddish brown and has a whitish to gray surface. The pins are circular in cross-section, flattened at the base, straight or curved, and have lengths of 1.4 to 4.5 centimeter. They are either focused on the uppermost areoles or evenly distributed along the engine segments. Your spine sheaths are gray, purple gray or yellow.
The flowers are pale yellow to greenish yellow and on the tips of bracts occasionally reddish. The obovate, fleshy fruits are smooth and do not bear thorns. They are initially green tinge and usually purple. At maturity they are yellow to red. The fruits are 9-15 mm long ( or even longer ) and reach a diameter of 6 to 7 mm.
Systematics and distribution
Cylindropuntia leptocaulis is widely used in the United States in the states of Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas and Mexico in the states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sonora, Durango, Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas and Zacatecas. It grows in semi-deserts, grasslands, chaparral and woodlands.
The first description as Opuntia leptocaulis was published in 1828 by Augustin- de Candolle Pyrame. Frederik Marcus Knuth she put 1930 in the genus Cylindropuntia.