Cylindropuntia Tunicata

Plants > Cacti > Cylindropuntia > Cylindropuntia Tunicata

Cylindropuntia tunicata, Glass Mountains, Texas

Scientific name:

Cylindropuntia tunicata

Common name:

Icicle cholla, sheathed cholla

Range:

The Glass Mountains of west Texas, in the Chihuahuan Desert

Form:

Dense, low-growing, spiny clumps

Habitat:

Grassland, woodland, open (south-facing) slopes, on sand, gravel or rock; usually limestone areas

Flowers:

Greenish yellow, blooming between May and June

Distribution map for cylindropuntia tunicata

Cylindropuntia tunicata is perhaps more similar to some grusonia species, being low-growing, forming extensive mats of much branched, densely-spiny stems; at most 2 feet tall. The plant is largely restricted to the Glass Mountains of west Texas, with two smaller populations nearby; at elevations between 4,500 and 5,000 feet. The common name refers to the spines, which, in sunlight, appear to be covered in ice.

The whorled, easily-detached stems are from 2 to 8 inches long and around 1 inch across, pale yellowish green in color. There are five to 12 spines per areole, the longest up to 2.2 inches, angled in all directions, and prominently sheathed. Spines are very pale yellow. Glochids are hair-like, pale yellow, quite inconspicuous. Flowers and fruits are spineless. Tubercles are prominent.

Flowers have yellow or greenish tepals, with greenish midstripes, yellow stamens and pale greenish stigma lobes. The fruits are knobbly yellow pods, up to an inch in length.