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Chollas. ~ Opuntia, cf. Hunt (1967)
The plants opuntioid; not ‘low and very compacted’. The plants’ appearance dominated by crowded interlacing areolar structures obscuring any tubercles, ribs or furrows (rarely), or dominated neither by crowded areolar structures nor by tubercles covering the areoles. The stems spiny. The plants little to much branched (with indefinite growth); without cladodes; erect (usually), or prostrate (rarely, more or less); shrubby, or tree-like; with well formed trunks, or not developing conspicuous trunks; to 0.2–4 m high. The main stem more or less cylindrical. The branches cylindrical. The stems segmented; ribbed and grooved (the ribs not continuous), or not ribbed and grooved. The plants conspicuously tuberculate to not conspicuously tuberculate. The tubercles connected by the ribs, or not connected by ribs; spirally disposed, or borne in longitudinal series. The areoles associated with tubercles. The components of adjacent areoles so extensively covering the mature plant body as to obscure any ribs or furrows (rarely, e.g. C. tunicata), or not obscuring details of the plant body. The areoles spirally disposed, or scattered on the surfaces; simple; with glochids; with spines (usually, at least the upper ones), or without spines (sometimes, at least from some areoles). The spines solitary, or clustered (usually, often numerous, often with one predominating); (1–)4–30; 1–7(–9) cm long; often recognisable as primaries and secondaries; sheathed (the papery sheaths deciduous); terete. The mature stems with much reduced leaves, or leafless (or caducous). Leaves of mature stems if present, minute, or small; terete (or subulate).
Flowering during the day. The flowers more or less lateral (sometimes sub-apical); one per areole; sessile; small to large; 1.5–5 cm long (in the pitifully few species recorded). The receptacle scarcely produced beyond the ovary to not produced beyond the ovary (?). The perianth sequentially intergrading from sepals to petals, or petaline, or of ‘tepals’; green, or yellow, or red. The perianth segments relatively short, broad; blunt, or pointed, or apiculate. Stamens numerous; adnate to the perianth (inserted in the throat); not exserted. The funicles circinate.
The mature fruit globose to ovoid, or ellipsoidal, or clavate; green to yellow, or red (browning when dry); naked, or not naked; sometimes tuberculate, spiny, or without spines; fleshy, or non-fleshy when mature. The seeds 2.5–5 mm long; flattened, the funicular girdles smooth or somewhat ridged, pale yellow to brown (or grey); compressed to flattened; encased in their bony arils. Cotyledons fleshy, foliaceous.
Natural Distribution. North America, Mexico.
Classification. About 40 species. Subfamily Opuntioideae. Tribe Cylindropuntieae.
Images. • Cylindropuntia bigelovii: © Zoya Akulova (2017). • Cylindropuntia bigelovii: © Zoya Akulova (2017). • Cylindropuntia cholla: © Zoya Akulova (2017). • Cylindropuntia imbricata (as Opuntia): Bot. Mag. 135 (1909). • Cylindropuntia davisii (as Opuntia): Bot. Mag. 108 (1882). • Cylindropuntia fulgida: © Zoya Akulova (2017). • Cylindropuntia fulgida: © Zoya Akulova (2017). • Cylindropuntia fulgida: © Zoya Akulova (2017). • Cylindropuntia leptocaulis: © Zoya Akulova (2016). • Cylindropuntia leptocaulis: © Zoya Akulova (2016). • Cylindropuntia prolifera: © Zoya Akulova (2009). • C. leptocaulis (as mortolensis), C. arbuscula, C. kleinii (all as Opuntia): Britton & Rose (1919). • C. californica (as parryi), C. echinocarpa, C. kleinii, C. versicolor C. X-vivipara (all as Opuntia): Britton & Rose (1919). • C. fulgida, C. X-tetracantha, C. versicolor (all as Opuntia): Britton & Rose,(1919). • C. spinosior, C. tunicata (both as Opuntia): Britton & Rose (1919). • C. alcahes, C. imbricata, C. prolifera and Austrocylindropuntia vestita (all as Opuntia):Britton & Rose (1919). • C. alcahes var. burrageana, Austrocylindropuntia cylindrica, Grusonia emoryi (all as Opuntia), Opuntia macrorhiza: Britton & Rose (1919).
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2018 onwards. The genera of Cactaceae: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. Version: 14th November 2021. delta-intkey.com’.
