Pencil Cactus

Scientific name: 

Cylindropuntia ramosissima

Physical Appearance: 

• Narrow cylindrical branches 

• Various colors: green, orange, gray

• Some have tons of golden spines and others have none at all

• Can have small orange/pink flowers (but I have never seen out cactus bloom like that before)

• Fruit is small and has several spines

• Distinct diamond shaped tubercles 

When Does It Grow: 

• Spring and summer

Preferred Environment: 

• Native to Mojave desert and similar California terrains

• Full sun and hot temperatures 

• Extremely low amounts water if any at all 

Role in the Ecosystem: 

• Butterflies are found around pencil cacti  

Random: 

• BRUH it is a succulent! Kinda wild how we only consider the little, trendy rosette succulents to be succulents (if you do not know what I am talking about then look up hipster girls of the 2010s)

• Ramosissima = “very much branched” which is correlated to the amount of branches that the cactus has