Sun or light shade. Evergreen. This tough shrub cactus forms a thicket of small cylindrical stems armed with sharp spines. Yellow blooms appear in August, followed by dramatic displays of red fruit at the end of the year.
Pencil cactus is rugged but hardy, and provides a daunting, free-form native hedge barrier — a nice companion for more strongly formed plants like agave. It’s one of those much-maligned native plants that’s appreciated by wildlife, brush sculptors, native plant enthusiasts and cactus aficionados.
