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. Barrel cactus fruit and seed have documented use as Southwestern foods, but the watery inner pulp is not the emergency water supply of desert lore.
- 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