California Barrel Cactus
Ferocactus cylindraceus
A ribbed cylinder armored in hooked red-and-yellow spines, crowned each spring by a ring of yellow-to-orange flowers. A long-lived sentinel of Mojave and Sonoran rocky slopes. Like other barrel cacti, the fleshy inner pulp and fruit are traditional Southwestern foods, and the fruit has been candied.
- Family
- Cactaceae
- Type
- shrub
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 1–6 ft
- Spacing
- 1–2 ft apart
- Light
- sun
- Soil moisture
- dry
- Soil pH
- neutral, alkaline
- Bloom
- April, May, June
- Bloom colors
- yellow, green
- Wildlife value
- pollinators, songbirds
- Landscape uses
- hedge or screen, foundation
- Native states
- AZ, CA, NV, UT