All the information and photos in cactus art files are now available also in the new the Enciclopedia of Cacti. We hope you find this new site informative and useful.

This is surely one of the most peculiar cacti. It blooms on and off during the summer.
 

Description: Small creeping cactus.
Stems: Short greyish to brownish. The typical form has distinctive conical segments with the growing centre at the widest flat end of the cone, but monstrous forms with cristate fan-shaped or branching finger-like stems are widely seen in cultivation.
Sometimes all three of these stem forms may be seen on a single plant. In the wild, P. clavarioides grows with just the tops of the stems exposed above ground.
 

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Scientific Name: Puna clavarioides (Pfeiffer) Kiesling 1982 
Published in: Hickenia 1 (55): 291 (1982)

Origin: P. clavarioides is the type species of the genus Puna, it is a high altitude cactus that came from the states of Mendoza and San Juan in Argentina.

Habitat:  This species is found in an extremely arid environment, it grows among barren rocks and sands where no other kind of vegetation can survive.

Conservation status: Listed in CITES appendix 2

Etymology:  The genus  name “Puna” derives from the indigenous word "Puna" that indicate the western region up to 4500 m that extends from the Peru, going throughout Bolivia to the Argentinean North. Delimited  at west by a costal chain of high volcanic picks and by the Cordillera mountainous chain to the east. The Argentinean Puna is the natural continuation of the Bolivian highland.
The species name "clavarioides" alludes to the individual stems being Clavaria-like and superficially resembling the fruiting bodies of the basidiomycete fungus genus Clavaria.

Common Name: 

• Dead man's fingers
• Mushroom opuntia

Taxon synonyms: 

• Opuntia clavarioides Pfeiffer
  Enum. Cact. 173 (1837)
• Cylindropuntia clavarioides (Pfeiffer) Knuth in Backeberg & Knuth, Kaktus-ABC 122 (1935)
• Clavarioidea clavarioides Kreuzinger
  in Werdermann, Fedde Repert. Sonder-Beihl. C. subt. 97 (1935) as synonym.
• Clavarioidia clavarioides (Pfeiffer) Frîc & Schelle
• Austrocylindropuntia clavarioides (Pfeiffer) Backeberg, Cactac., Jahrb. Deutsch. Kakt.-Gesellsch. 1941 (2): 13 (1942)
• Maihueniopsis clavarioides (Pfeiffer) Anderson
  Cact. & Succ. Journ. Amer. 71 (6): 325 (1999)
• Cereus clavarioides (Pfeiffer) Hort. ex Pfeiffer
• Cylindropuntia clavarioides (Pfeiffer) F.M. Knuth
• Opuntia clavarioides var. monstruosa Monville
  in Labouret, Monogr. Cactees 489 (1853)
• Opuntia clavarioides var. cristata Croucher
  The Garden 13: 106-107, fig. (1878)
• Opuntia clavarioides var. fastigiata Mundt
  Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 3 (2): 30 (1893)
• Opuntia clavarioides var. fasciata K.Schumann
  Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 10 (10): 159 (1900)
• Opuntia ruiz-lealii Castellanos
  Lilloa 9: 213 (1943)
• Austrocylindropuntia clavarioides var. ruiz-lealii (Castellanos) Backeberg
  Die Cactaceae 1: 156 (1958)
• Opuntia clavarioides var. ruiz-lealii (Castellanos) Rowley
  Nat. Cact. & Succ. Journ. 13 (2): 25 (1958)
• Cylindropuntia clavarioides var. ruiz-lealii (Castellanos) Krainz
  Die Kakteen Lief. 33 (1966)

Cultivation: This mountain cactus - because of the elongated fat taproot - necessitate deep pots and a well drained mineral potting mix. Need a sufficient amount of air. They are susceptible to overwatering,  but need enough water during vegetation and require a dry winter rest.
Frost Tolerance:  They tolerate light frost -5 (-10) °C. Need to be kept in a cool place during winter rest this is important for the flowers as well as for their health. Without this cool winter period they normally wont get many buds.
Sun Exposure: Need a good amount of sun.
Propagation:  Usually propagated by cuttings and grafting . Grafted plants in culture are most common  and sprout strongly. But it is also feasible to root them but they grow much slower on their own roots and takes various years prior to they bloom.

Photo of conspecific taxa, varieties, forms and cultivars of Puna clavarioides.

• Puna clavarioides
• Puna clavarioides forma cristata

All the information and photos in cactus art files are now available also in the new the Enciclopedia of Cacti. We hope you find this new site informative and useful.