Consolea millspaughii Full Description: Cactus species Consolea millspaughii looks sprawling bushy like when young but as it matures the base originally flat 2 sided from a start of a single stem or pad will become roundish and more tree trunk like and get a more upright habit resembling large tree like Opuntia. The lower pads tend to fall or get knocked off as it ages creating a small tree 12' to 15' feet tall with multiple branches and a trunk base 4" to 6"+ in diameter, but it takes many years to reach this size and is susceptible to stems breaking in high winds, so if height is desired staking is advised. Individual pads average 6" to 12"+ long and 4" to 5" wide on average, several long 4" to 6" long spines with green skin and pink tips where new growth emerges. On older growth orange-red flowers appear followed by seed pods/fruit shaped like a small berry that is reddish purple at maturity. Consolea millspaughii is rare and would seldom be encountered in few if any collections outside its native habitat range. Makes an interesting small topiary type tree over time that looks very interesting in the drought tolerant landscape. Synonyms : Opuntia millspaughii, Consolea macracantha Native to : The Caribbean in the Bahamas, Cuba, Greater Antilles, Cayman Islands, Lesser Antilles. More info. : The genus Consolea was named in honor of botanist Michelangelo Console of the Palermo Botanic Garden in Italy. The entire genus of Consolea has about 10 accepted species and the range of the native habit of some species ranges from areas in the Caribbean and into Florida, U.S.A. There is a sub species that often gets confused with Consolea millspaughii and that is Consolea millspaughii subsp. caymanensis which has fewer spines which are much shorter, more exposed skin giving it more greenish appearance and does not display the pinkish growth tips. All Plants a grown in beautiful California weather under a 40% shade cloth. Make sure to slowly adapt all plants to your local weather. As a general rule of thumb I would recommend quarantining any recent additions to your collections & dousing with your favorite native pollinators friendly insect control prior to adding them to the general populations ALL PROCEEDS ARE GOING TO A STEM/PROGRAMMING PROGRAM AT THE SAN GABRIEL UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT CONTINUATION SCHOOL.