''Cylindropuntia bernardina'' is a species of cholla

cactus A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...

commonly known as the cane cholla or valley cholla, native to California and northwestern

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

. It is an erect cholla that grows up to 2–3 meters tall, and occurs primarily in the foothills of the

Transverse Transverse may refer to: *Transverse engine, an engine in which the crankshaft is oriented side-to-side relative to the wheels of the vehicle *Transverse flute, a flute that is held horizontally * Transverse force (or ''Euler force''), the tangen ...

and

Peninsular Ranges The Peninsular Ranges (also called the Lower California province) are a group of mountain ranges that stretch from Southern California to the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula; they are part of the North American Coast Ranges, which ...

, parts of the

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Arizona ...

, and in the

Coast Ranges The Pacific Coast Ranges (officially gazetted as the Pacific Mountain System in the United States) are the series of mountain ranges that stretch along the West Coast of North America from Alaska south to Northern and Central Mexico. Although the ...

with a few populations around the Cuyama River. It was formerly placed as the variety ''parkeri'' of '' Cylindropuntia californica'' until it was renamed to ''C. bernardina.'' It is more closely related to '' Cylindropuntia ganderi'' than to ''C. californica.''

Description

This plant grows in an erect

habit A habit (or wont as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously.

up to 3 meters tall. The terminal segments of the

stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

are generally 16 to 40 cm long, 1.7 to 4 cm in diameter and firmly attached, with

tubercle In anatomy, a tubercle (literally 'small tuber', Latin for 'lump') is any round nodule, small eminence, or warty outgrowth found on external or internal organs of a plant or an animal. In plants A tubercle is generally a wart-like projection ...

s 16 to 35 mm large and less than 7 mm high. The spines are generally less than 3.5 cm long, colored yellow to orange-brown, with the sheath translucent white to gold-brown. The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are yellow, often tinged with red tips. The filaments are colored green or yellow, while the stigma is cream to yellow. The green to yellow fruits are a leathery to dry texture, and have few to no spines. File:Cylindropuntia bernardina 14141693.jpg, Habit File:Cylindropuntia bernardina 193404941.jpg, The flower and buds File:Cylindropuntia bernardina 193407308.jpg, A stem File:Cylindropuntia bernardina 14141695.jpg, The plant flowering File:Cylindropuntia bernardina 193405278.jpg, In habitat

Taxonomy

This species was first collected by George Richard Vasey, son of George Vasey, in February 1881, in San Bernardino, California. The National Herbarium erroneously ticketed G.R. Vasey's collections as being from

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

. The

basionym In the scientific name of organisms, basionym or basyonym means the original name on which a new name is based; the author citation of the new name should include the authors of the basionym in parentheses. The term "basionym" is used in both botan ...

of this species, ''Opuntia bernardina'', was described by

George Engelmann George Engelmann, also known as Georg Engelmann, (2 February 1809 – 4 February 1884) was a German-American botanist. He was instrumental in describing the flora of the west of North America, then very poorly known to Europeans; he was particu ...

. Subsequent taxonomic changes led to plants of this species undergoing numerous names, most notably as '' Cylindropuntia californica'' var. ''parkeri''. In 2018, genetic analysis placed plants of this species closer to '' Cylindropuntia ganderi'' than to ''Cylindropuntia californica'' var. ''californica''. This species also integrades with ''C. ganderi'' and ''C. echinocarpa''.

Distribution and habitat

This species is distributed across

southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

in the United States and northwestern

in Mexico. It occurs from the Cuyama River, south through the

Transverse Ranges The Transverse Ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region in North America. The Transverse Ranges begin at the southern end of the California Coast Ranges and lie within Santa B ...

and the

, reaching its southern extent in the

Sierra de San Pedro Martir Sierra (Spanish for "mountain range" and "saw", from Latin '' serra'') may refer to the following: Places Mountains and mountain ranges * Sierra de Juárez, a mountain range in Baja California, Mexico * Sierra de las Nieves, a mountain range i ...

. Plants of this species are typically found in the

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

, plains, hills, oak scrub and pinyon-juniper woodlands of the aforementioned mountain ranges and their intervening valleys.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q89104075 Flora of California Flora of Baja California

bernardina Bernardina is a female given name. It may refer to: * Bernardina Adriana Schramm, a New Zealand pianist and music teacher * Princess Bernardina Christina Sophia of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, a princess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and Schwarzburg-Rudolsta ...

Cacti of Mexico Cacti of the United States Flora of the California desert regions Flora of the Sonoran Deserts Natural history of the Colorado Desert Natural history of the Transverse Ranges Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges Flora without expected TNC conservation status