Live Plants - Road Kill Cactus

Consolea rubescens is a nearly spineless cactus that eventually becomes a tree up to 20 foot (6 m) tall tree, with a trunk up to 6 inches (15 cm) thick. Its flattened bumpy paddles give it the name 'Road Kill Cactus” for obvious reasons. It even looks like it has tire tracks across it. The smallish flowers are orange and appear in spring. Consolea is a group of Opuntiads from the Caribbean (including Florida, U.S.). They are all small-tree-like plants (20 feet tall at most) that start out as flat pads called cladodes, which later develop into round trunks. At the end of these trunks, new cladodes give the appearance of leaves messily arranged about the top. This feature of straight, round, unsegmented stems are unique to Consolea and this helps define the genus.