Cylindropuntia bernardina

Cane or valley cholla, Cane Or Valley Cholla

Family: Cactaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Cane or valley cholla is a California native shrub found in southwestern San Joaquin Valley, southern Coast Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, and western Colorado Desert at elevations of 700 to 1,900 meters in chaparral and pinyon/juniper woodland. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces yellow to yellow-green flowers with distinctive purple tips. Growing up to 3 meters tall with multiple erect trunks, it forms clusters of branching segments with terminal sections 16 to 40 centimeters long. Its distinctive stems feature 0 to 20 yellow to orange-brown spines with translucent white to gold-brown sheaths, creating a striking architectural form. The plant produces leathery fruits with spines and viable seeds less than 7 millimeters long, adapted to its arid desert and chaparral environments.

Habitat: Chaparral, pinyon/juniper woodland

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: 700-1900 m

Bioregions: sw SnJV (Cuyama Valley), s SCoRO (Cuyama River Canyon), PR, w DSon

California counties: Ventura, San Bernardino, San Diego, Los Angeles, Riverside, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.