Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa

Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa Buck-horn cholla
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Core eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Cactaceae
Genus:	Cylindropuntia
Species:	C. acanthocarpa
Binomial name
Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa Engelm. & J.M. Bigelow
Synonyms
Opuntia acanthocarpa

Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa, commonly referred to as buckhorn cholla, is a cholla native to the Mojave, Sonoran, and Colorado Deserts of North America. Along with Cylindropuntia bigelovii (the "teddy bear" cholla), it is the most common cholla found in these deserts.

Varieties

There are a number of recognized varieties include:

• Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa var. acanthocarpa ^[1]
• Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa var. coloradensis — L.D. Benson; Colorado buckhorn cholla. ^[2]
• Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa var. ganderi — (C.B. Wolf) L.D. Benson
• Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa var. major — Engelm. & J.M. Bigelow ^[3]
• Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa var. ramosa — Peebles
• Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa var. thornberi — (Thornber & Bonker) L.D. Benson; Thornber's buckhorn cholla. ^[4]

Flower

During winter dryness.

Ethnobotany

• Early spring was called ko’oak macat (the painful moon) by the Tohono O’odham because of scarce food supplies. During this season, they turned to cacti for food and pit-roasted thousands of calcium-rich cholla flower buds.
• Today’s O’odham people still pit-roast or boil the cholla buds, which taste like asparagus tips.

References

• Missouri Botanical Garden's VAST (VAScular Tropicos) nomenclatural database
• USDA Plants Profile: Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa (Engelm. & Bigelow) F.M. Knuth

External links

• Cylindropuntia acantocarpa photo gallery at Opuntia Web
• Calflora Database: Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa (buck horn cholla)
• USDA Plants Profile for Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa (Buck-horn cholla)

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