Plant · P-1128

Tasajillo

Cylindropuntia leptocaulis

Tasajillo is a spiny, upright cactus made of slender, cylindrical, jointed stems that branch repeatedly into an open, thicket-forming shrub two to five feet tall. Small yellowish-green flowers appear over a long season from spring into late summer, followed by bright red to purple fleshy fruit that persists into winter and feeds birds. It grows in full sun on dry, sandy, gravelly or heavier bottomland soils across desert mesas, flats, valleys and washes, tolerating heat and drought once established. Where several plants grow close together their branches interlock into dense, impenetrable thickets.