Cylindropuntia ramosissima

(Engelmann) F. M. Knuth in C. Backeberg and F. M. Knuth

in C. Backeberg and F. M. Knuth, Kaktu s-ABC, 122. 1935.

Common names: Diamond cholla
Illustrated
Basionym: Opuntia ramosissima Engelmann Amer. J. Sci. Arts, ser. 2, 14: 339. 1852
Synonyms: Opuntia tessellata Engelmann
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 4. Treatment on page 118. Mentioned on page 103, 114.
Revision as of 08:16, 30 July 2020 by imported>Volume Importer
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Trees or shrubs, intricately branched, 0.5–2 m. Stem segments firmly attached, green drying gray and ropelike, cylindric, 2–8 (–10) × 0.4–1 cm; tubercles rhombic, convex (flattened upon drying), 0.4–0.8 cm; areoles subcircular abaxially, adaxially becoming usually deltate-linear; glochid-bearing portion protruding distally, wedged between bases of 2 adjacent tubercles, (3–) 4–7 × 1–1.5 (–2) mm; wool tan to white. Spines 0–5 per areole, usually in distal areoles or sometimes absent or nearly so, tan to redbrown to deep purple, aging gray; major abaxial spines 0–1 (–2), the longest spine spreading, (1.5–) 2.5–6 cm; adaxial spines usually reflexed, short to ± 1 cm; sheaths baggy. Glochids in subcircular to linear adaxial tuft, yellow to tan to brown, to 2 mm. Flowers: inner tepals bronze-red ± suffused rose, with mid stripes darker, ovate, 6–13 mm, acute-apiculate to attenuate; filaments greenish; anthers yellow; style whitish or blushed with rose-pink or light green; stigma lobes whitish. Fruits maturing tan, ellipsoid to stipitate-ellipsoid, 15–30 × 10–15 mm, dry at maturity, tuberculate, developing increasingly burlike, with many bristlelike spines; areoles (32–) 40–66, evenly spaced, woolly. Seeds pale-yellow to tan-gray, angular to squarish in outline, warped, 4–4.5 × 3.5–4 mm, sides irregularly concave-convex; girdle smooth. 2n = 22, 44.


Phenology: Flowering spring–summer (Apr–Aug).
Habitat: Mojave and Sonoran deserts, washes, flats, and bajadas, sandy loam, desert pavement, stony volcanic substrates
Elevation: 50-1100 m

Distribution

V4 228-distribution-map.gif

Ariz., Calif., Nev., Mexico (Baja California), Mexico (Sonora)

Discussion

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
subcircular to linear +
cushionlike +
gray +  and tan +
0.07 cm0.7 mm <br />7.0e-4 m <br /> (0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br />) +
deciduous +  and persistent +
40 +  and 66 +
subcircular +
Donald J. Pinkava +
(Engelmann) F. M. Knuth in C. Backeberg and F. M. Knuth +
Opuntia ramosissima +
proliferating +
flattened +  and cylindric +
Diamond cholla +
Ariz. +, Calif. +, Nev. +, Mexico (Baja California) +  and Mexico (Sonora) +
50-1100 m +
salverform +, cup-shaped +  and rotate +
15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br /> (30 cm300 mm <br />0.3 m <br />) +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br />) +
spiny +  and spineless +
indehiscent +
persistent +, long +  and deciduous +
1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br /> (3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br />) +
tuberculate +
ellipsoid +  and stipitate-ellipsoid +
dry +  and fleshy +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br />) +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br />) +
Mojave and Sonoran deserts, washes, flats, and bajadas, sandy loam, desert pavement, stony volcanic substrates +
acute-apiculate +  and attenuate +
0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br /> (1.3 cm13 mm <br />0.013 m <br />) +
deciduous +
flattened +  and conic +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br />) +
succulent +
tuberculate +
fluted;spheric;depressed-spheric or club-shaped +
1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br /> (2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br />) +
2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br /> (6 cm60 mm <br />0.06 m <br />) +
tinged color +
stripes darker +
sometimes covered by outgrowths of proximal portion of style base or of flower tube wall +  and open +
persistent +  and deciduous +
Flowering spring–summer (Apr–Aug). +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br />) +
0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br /> (0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br />) +
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br />) +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br />) +
ridgelike +  and nipple--shaped +
in C. Backeberg and F. M. Knuth, Kaktu s-ABC, +
3;2;2;30 +
tuberlike +
pale-yellow +  and tan-gray +
0.4mm;12mm +
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (0.45 cm4.5 mm <br />0.0045 m <br />) +
warped;angular;squarish +
0.19 cm1.9 mm <br />0.0019 m <br /> (0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br />) +
0.35 cm3.5 mm <br />0.0035 m <br /> (0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br />) +
concave-convex +
Illustrated +
gray +, tan +  and redbrown +
deciduous +  and persistent +
conspicuous +
Many (?) +, Nearly (?) +, 0 (?) +  and 5 (?) +
flattened +
hard +  and rigid +
decurrent +
winged +  and unsegmented +
tuberculate +  and smooth +
8 cm80 mm <br />0.08 m <br /> (10 cm100 mm <br />0.1 m <br />) +
gray +  and green +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (8 cm80 mm <br />0.08 m <br />) +
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
segmented +
woody +  and succulent +
blushed with rose-pink or blushed with light green +  and whitish +
Opuntia tessellata +
adventitious +
tuberlike +
epipetric +  and epiphytic +
Cylindropuntia ramosissima +
Cylindropuntia +
species +
dull +  and glossy +
convex +  and rhombic +
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br />) +
shrub +  and tree +
terrestrial;epiphytic or epipetric +
tan +  and white +