Cylindropuntia leptocaulis, Pencil Cholla or Christmas Cholla is found in Texas, southern Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arizona and throughout Mexico as far south as Puebla, growing in desert and scrubby semi-desert. It is an extremely thin-stemmed cholla and the specific epithet leptocaulis means slender stem. The stems are significantly thinner than both Cylindropuntia kleiniae and Cylindropuntia arbuscula, the latter of which also shares the common name Pencil Cholla. It is easily distinguished however from the green-fruited Cylindropuntia arbuscula by its distinctive fruits which ripen red and persist throughout the winter giving rise to its other predominant common name of Christmas Cholla.

Cylindropuntia leptocaulis forms a medium-sized shrubby bush with many multi-stemmed branches usually growing from one, two or several primary stems that grow woody with age. The slender branches give Cylindropuntia leptocaulis a more open, lighter and more airy appearance than most chollas. There are two forms of Cylindropuntia leptocaulis: a long-spined form and a short-spined form. In the past, these have sometimes been treated as infraspecific varieties: Cylindropuntia leptocaulis var. longispina and Cylindropuntia leptocaulis var brevispina. Taxonomists currently treat these as the one species without infraspecific varietal taxa.

The plant offered here is the long-spined form and very handsome it is too!