Cylindropuntia leptocaulis

One of the less pleasant chollas, preferring to hide amidst bushes and stab unwary hikers in the shins. Common in lower-elevation rocky & gravelly areas.

Stems at Big Bend National Park, 1 Jan 2005.

Stems with fruits on the west side of Tortugas Mountain, 15 Oct 2007. Plants like this, with few long spines (but still plenty of glochids) and many short side branches, can look rather different from the many-spined, few-branched plants like that above.