Cylindropuntia imbricata, the cane cholla (walking stick cholla, tree cholla, or chainlink cactus), is a cactus found in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico, including some cooler regions in comparison to many other cacti. It occurs primarily in the arid regions of the Southwestern United States in the states of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Nevada. It is often conspicuous because of its shrubby or even tree-like size, its silhouette, and its long-lasting yellowish fruits.
Distribution and habitat
The cane cholla's range is the arid regions of Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas, south to Durango, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí. It occurs at altitudes from and is hardy for a cactus (USDA Zone 5A).
In parts of its range, often just below the pinyon-juniper belt, it can be abundant, surrounded by low grasses and forbs that are brown most of the year; in such places chollas are conspicuous since they are the only tall and green plant. Plants may form thickets or be spaced at a few times their width in "gardens".
thumb|left|invasive [[Kwiambal National Park|Kwiambal NP, NSW, Australia]]
This species is a noxious invasive in Australia in old mining localities and along watercourses. It is known there by the common names of Devil's rope cactus or Devil's rope pear.
Description
The above-ground part consists of much-branched cylindrical stems, the end joints being about in diameter. The joints, unlike those of some chollas, are hard to detach. The stems are highly tubercular (lumpy) with a pattern of long oval lumps. A typical height is about , but exceptionally it can grow to with a "trunk" diameter of . The width is often similar to or somewhat greater than the height. The stems are armed with clusters of up to about 10 red to pink The stems and fruits also have many spines or "glochids" about long
This species blooms in late spring or early summer. The flowers are purple or magenta, rarely rose-pink, about wide.
The leafcutter bee Lithurgus apicalis has been observed to pollinate the flowers.
Uses
The plants are sometimes grown as ornamentals.
Images
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File:Flor de cardenche (Cylindropuntia imbricata).jpg|Flower
File:Cylindropuntia imbricata (5665345512).jpg|Much yellow fruit at Parras De La Fuente, Cuahuila
File:Cardenche (Cylindropuntia imbricata ssp. imbricata).jpg|Fruits at Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato
Image:Walkingstickcholla.jpg|At Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument
Image:Cholla_cane1.jpg|"Cane" (dried stem)
File:Cylindropuntia imbricata, Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois.jpg|In Illinois
Image:Cane Cholla, Albuquerque.JPG|In Albuquerque, New Mexico
</gallery>