Cylindropuntia whipplei (Engelm. & J.M.Bigelow) F.M.Knuth

Trees or shrubs, low to upright, sparingly to densely branched, some almost matlike in Arizona, 0.3-0.6(-1.5) m; branchlets whorled to subwhorled. Stem segments firmly attached, green, 3-9(-15) × 0.5-1.5(-2.2) cm; tubercles prominent, short, 0.5-1 cm; areoles oval to obdeltate, 2-6 × 1.5-4 mm; wool pale yellow to white, aging gray. Spines (1-)3-8(-10) spines per areole, in all but basalmost areoles, best developed toward apex, interlacing with spines of adjacent areoles, whitish or pale yellow, pale red-brown, sometimes tipped yellow, of 2 kinds; radial spines slender, flattened basally, deflexed, 5-8 mm, surrounding central spines; central spines usually 4(-6), spreading into a cross, stout, subterete, 2-3.4(-4.5) cm; also 0-2 bristlelike spines; sheaths whitish to pale yellow (rarely golden) throughout or tipped yellow to golden. Glochids in adaxial tuft, yellow, 1-3 mm. Flowers: inner tepals yellow to green-yellow, spatulate, 15-25(-30) mm, apiculate; filaments yellowish or yellow-green; anthers yellow; style white to yellowish; stigma lobes whitish, yellowish, or pale green (rarely pink tinged). Fruits rarely proliferating, yellow to greenish yellow, broadly cylindric to subspheric, 18-30(-35) × 15-22(-32) mm, fleshy, tuberculate, spineless; tubercles subequal or distalmost longest, usually prominent; umbilicus 7-8 mm deep; areoles 36-62. Seeds pale yellow, subcircular to slightly angular in outline, flattened to warped, 3-3.5 × 2.5-3.5 mm, sides smooth or with 1-3 depressions; girdle smooth. 2n = 22, 44.

Temperate grassland and temperate scrub, also in oak, pinyon or pine forest, and juniper woodlands.; at elevations from 900-2,300 metres.

The fruit can be eaten raw or stewed. They can also be dried for later use after the spines are rubbed off. The seeds can be parched and dried and eaten.

Can be grown by cuttings or seedlings.