DIAMOND CHOLLA (Opuntia ramosissima)

The diamond cholla is a low-growing cactus, typically up to 60 cm high, but it can grow to about 1.5 metres high in the Joshua Tree National Monument of the Mojave Desert, where this photograph was taken after a snow fall in February. It grows in the drier regions of deserts, often on sandy flats. The stem segments of this species are thin and have long spines that stick out at right angles from the stems. Their yellow colour is due to the colour of the papery sheath on each spine.