Cylindropuntia abyssi

(Hester) Backeberg

Cactaceae 1: 184. 1958.

Common names: Peach Springs cholla
Endemic
Basionym: Opuntia abyssi Hester Cact. Succ. J. (Los Angeles) 15: 193, fig. 94 (upper left, bottom). 1943
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 4. Treatment on page 114. Mentioned on page 103, 104.

Trees and shrubs, openly branched, to 1 m. Stem segments somewhat detachable, 8–14 × 1.8–2.5 cm; tubercles prominent, 0.6–1.5 cm, moderately broad; areoles elliptic, 5–7 × 2.5–3.5 mm; wool white to gray. Spines in brushlike clusters of 10–15 per areole, flexible, whitish to yellowish tan, aging gray; abaxial ones erect to descending, recurved, angularly flattened to flattened, sometimes twisted, the longest 23–38 mm; adaxial ones ascending, erect, divergent, terete to angularly flattened basally, the longest 18–32 mm; sheaths silvery white. Glochids in inconspicuous small adaxial tuft, pale-yellow, 0.5–1.5 mm, few much longer and scattered along periphery of areole. Flowers: inner tepals pale-yellow to greenish yellow, spatulate, 15–20 mm, apiculate; filaments yellow; anthers yellow; style off-white; stigma lobes yellowish. Fruits green becoming dull yellow, dry, tuberculate, spineless or with 1–2 short spines; tubercles subequal in length; umbilicus deep, 7 × 15–18 mm; areoles 16–24. Seeds tan, slightly angular and warped, 3–4 × 3.2–3.5 mm; girdle smooth. 2n = 22.


Phenology: Flowering spring–early summer (Mar–Jun).
Habitat: Desert scrub, limestone ledges and crests
Elevation: 500-800 m

Discussion

Cylindropuntia abyssi is tentatively viewed as a narrow endemic relict in Peach Springs Canyon, Mojave County, Arizona, but may well be a persistent hybrid derivative, most likely involving C. bigelovii.

Hybrids between Cylindropuntia abyssi and C. acanthocarpa have a shrub habit, long-divergent and loosely sheathed spines, and more elongate tubercles than C. abyssi.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
... more about "Cylindropuntia abyssi"
angularly flattened +  and flattened +
2.3 cm23 mm <br />0.023 m <br /> (3.8 cm38 mm <br />0.038 m <br />) +
erect +  and ascending +
1.8 cm18 mm <br />0.018 m <br /> (3.2 cm32 mm <br />0.032 m <br />) +
cushionlike +
gray +  and tan +
0.07 cm0.7 mm <br />7.0e-4 m <br /> (0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br />) +
deciduous +  and persistent +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br />) +
16 +  and 24 +
obdeltate +  and rhombic +
0.25 cm2.5 mm <br />0.0025 m <br /> (0.35 cm3.5 mm <br />0.0035 m <br />) +
Donald J. Pinkava +
(Hester) Backeberg +
Opuntia abyssi +
proliferating +
flattened +  and cylindric +
Peach Springs cholla +
500-800 m +
salverform +, cup-shaped +  and rotate +
15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br /> (30 cm300 mm <br />0.3 m <br />) +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br />) +
with 1-2 short spines +  and spineless +
yellow;green +
indehiscent +
persistent +, long +  and deciduous +
tuberculate +
clavate +, cylindric +  and subspheric +
dry +  and fleshy +
0.05 cm0.5 mm <br />5.0e-4 m <br /> (0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br />) +
Desert scrub, limestone ledges and crests +
1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br /> (2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br />) +
deciduous +
flattened +  and conic +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br />) +
succulent +
tuberculate +
fluted;spheric;depressed-spheric or club-shaped +
tinged color +
sometimes covered by outgrowths of proximal portion of style base or of flower tube wall +  and open +
persistent +  and deciduous +
Flowering spring–early summer (Mar–Jun). +
ridgelike +  and nipple--shaped +
3;2;2;30 +
tuberlike +
0.4mm;12mm +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br />) +
0.19 cm1.9 mm <br />0.0019 m <br /> (0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br />) +
0.32 cm3.2 mm <br />0.0032 m <br /> (0.35 cm3.5 mm <br />0.0035 m <br />) +
gray +, whitish +  and yellowish tan +
deciduous +  and persistent +
conspicuous +
1 (?) +  and 2 (?) +
flattened +
hard +  and rigid +
decurrent +
winged +  and unsegmented +
tuberculate +  and smooth +
40 cm400 mm <br />0.4 m <br /> (50 cm500 mm <br />0.5 m <br />) +
8 cm80 mm <br />0.08 m <br /> (14 cm140 mm <br />0.14 m <br />) +
1.8 cm18 mm <br />0.018 m <br /> (2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br />) +
segmented +
woody +  and succulent +
Opuntia sect. Cylindropuntia +
adventitious +
tuberlike +
epipetric +  and epiphytic +
Cylindropuntia abyssi +
Cylindropuntia +
species +
dull +  and glossy +
0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br /> (1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br />) +
1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br /> (1.8 cm18 mm <br />0.018 m <br />) +
shrub +  and tree +
terrestrial;epiphytic or epipetric +
white +  and gray +