The large, 2 1/4 inch (5.7 cm) wide flowers come in an amazingly wide variety of colors and have yellow-green anther filaments and white to bronze styles. The rounded, mostly spineless, yellow-green to reddish purple fruits stay attached to the stems all winter and often proliferate (new fruits grow out of the old fruits). The immature fruits are green and tuberculate, but the mature fruits swell to become smooth and plump, and they remain on the plant while it is flowering. Although they are not poisonous, the fruits are tough and inedible. The stems are spiny, green to reddish purple in color, and shaped like deer antlers (stag horns). This cactus readily hybridizes with other Chollas, making it quite variable in appearance.

Sabino Canyon Recreation Area
Location: Esperero trail near Visitor Center.
4/21/15

Notes: Sabino Canyon by Esperero trail near tram road 1/25/17

See SEINet Pictures and Description

See FireFly Forest Pictures and Description