Alternate name: Christmas Cholla
Family: Cactaceae, Cactus view all from this family
Description Many spiny, intertangled, slender branches form a small bush. Flowers greenish, yellow, or bronze.
Flowers: 1/2-1" (1.3-2.5 cm) wide, along stem.
Stems: branched, about 1/4" (6 mm) thick.
Spines: 1-2 1/2" (2.5-6.3 cm) long, tan or gray, 1 from each raised cluster of tiny reddish bristles.
Fruit: about 1/2" (1.3 cm) long, fleshy, bright red, on stem through most of winter.
Height: to 3' (1 m).
Warning These cacti have sharp spines as well as tiny barbed hairs called glochids that can be difficult to remove from the skin.
Flower May-June.
Habitat Flats, slopes, and along washes in deserts and grassland.
Range W. Arizona to s. Oklahoma; south to n. Mexico.
Discussion This plant has the most slender stems of all southwestern Chollas. During winter its bright red fruits add attractive color to the brown desert.
