Xerophyte

Seeds

Oblong to obovoid and flattened, black, shining, pitted, about 2,5-3 mm long.

Description

Bergerocactus emoryiSN|5475]]SN|5475]] is a golden spined shrubby cactus, much branched near ground level, that often forms large thicket of stems to several meters in diameter.

Roots

Tuberose.

Flowers

Diurnal, yellow, 2-6 cm broad when expanded. Pericarpels and floral tubes felted and spiny. Outer perianth-segments obtuse, obovate 5-8 mm long, lemon-yellow, tinged with green, inner segments narrower, oblong, 8-10 mm. long, almost or quite devoid of the greenish tinge.

Blooming Season

Flowers appear throughout the spring on stems 1-5 years old.

Chromosome Number

n = 22

Spines

10-30(-50), slender-acicular dense, often obscuring the stems, yellow but darkening with age, strongly unequal, the 1-3(-6) central of which stouter, the main one bent backward, 3-7 cm long, others spreading, more or less straight.

Ribs

(14-)16-18(-25), inconspicuous only 2-3 mm high, somewhat tuberculate.

Stem

Cylindrical, frail, 0,2-1,5(-2) m long, 2-4(-6) cm in diameter, stout, erect, ascending or procumbent, spreading then rooting on the lower side (eventually producing new plants), entirely clothed with a dense mat of bright yellow spines, turning gray to nearly black in age. At the end of each year's growth, the stems become slightly constricted, forming annual segments. Individual stems live about ten years.

Fruits

Globular, 2-3,5(-6) cm in diameter, flushed with purplish red, densely covered with spines 0,5-1,5 cm long, dry at maturity. When ripe, the fruits extrude a ribbon of pulp and seeds over several days