Cylindropuntia Munzii

Munz's cholla grows in the hot deserts of Baja California and far southwest California, in such places as the foothills of the Chocolate and Chuckwalla Mountains. It forms upright shrubs, 3 to 4 feet high, of easily-detached stems one inch thick and around 6 inches long, with prominent tubercles bearing clusters of 8 to 18 whitish-yellow spines. Some spines are noticeably flattened. In the US the species is found in the same region as the similar cylindropuntia echinocarpa, and sometimes forms hybrids, making identification difficult, unless flowering (as the colors of blooms are quite different: reddish vs. yellow).