Xerophyte

Leaves

Persistent more than a year, green, more succulent than on other species, awl-like, nearly at right angles to branch, straight or somewhat bowed above, nearly terete, pointed, 5 to 12 cm long, grooved on the under side.

Seeds

Few, large, 10 to 12 mm long.

Description

Austrocylindropuntia subulataSN|4092]]SN|4092]] is a popular well-known shrubby cactus with several main branches from the base or a small tree with a simple erect trunk and a large almost hemispherical top often 3 to 4(-5) meters high. The leaves are relatively large and persistent. Two subspecies are recognized, the nominate and subsp. exaltata (A.Berger) D.R.Hunt.

Tubercles

Large, depressed, becoming obliterated on old branches, arranged in a few longitudinal or spiral lines, more or less diamond-shaped, but retuse at apex and pointed or attentuate below, 2 to 4 cm long.

Flowers

Borne toward the ends of the branches red, not opening widely to 6 cm long. Pericarpels long, tuberculate, awl-like, with erect scales to 2 cm long. Sepals reddish, minute, 4 to 8 mm long or less. Petals broader than the sepals, orange-red or greenish yellow. Style rose-red except the whitish base, including the stigma-lobes about 3 cm long, about as long as the longest stamens. Stigma-lobes 5 or 6, slender, orange-yellow.

Spines

Usually 1 or 2 or sometimes spineless (more numerous in older stems), slender , erect, strong, straight, pale yellow to greyish white, to 8 cm long.

Stem

Trunk 6 to 10 cm in diameter, the old bark smooth and brown, its areoles bearing clusters of 8 spines or more, branches numerous, elongate, unsegmented, 30- 50 cm long, 4-7 cm in diameter, more or less clustered but not whorled, at first almost at right angles to main stem but soon erect, somewhatfragile, bright green.

Fruits

Ovoid to oblong to club shaped, more or less persistent, sometimes spiny, 6 to 10 cm long, leafy, with a deep umbilicus, sometimes proliferous.

Areoles

Shortly wooly, sitting in the retuse grooves on upper parts of the tubercles.