And young one

I've more photos of the big one if that helps

Austrocylindropuntia subulata. Common name in the english speaking community is eves needle. It has some popularity, but its monstrose cultivar is more common.

Thanks Stefan. Do you happen to have a photo of one. If not I'll look it up later ;-)

Edit. Of the monstrose form I meant

To be honest , cylindropuntiads might just be the among worst performing plants i own. They didnt grow much, and tend to lose branches.

Yeah, ive had lots of echinopsis , parodia , gymnocalycium and rebutia die, but a lot of them either grew, or bloomed. But they did at least something in their short life span......

Also, im not a fan of monstrose and crested plants. They are more like a weed im reluctant to pull out.

Lol I'm not a fan of spikes, spines etc. So no cactus will live long at my place. But the fine needle cactus are worse in case it hides in my skin. Yes - Needle Phobia!!

I'm trying to find out if it's a reportable weed. I'm not reluctant to use my phone lol

That's the biggest leaves I've seen on a Austrocylindropuntia.

I like spiky things better. Crassulaceae succulents are cool, but not nearly as dramatic as a hook barrel cactus or a really spiny opuntia....Flowers are more striking too......

Helen these can take over like a weed.

This is from a yard that‘s close to me.

Looks like the same pic, but it’s not. Takes up a whole corner of their yard. They do clean up the side that faces the sidewalk so nobody gets impaled.

Thanks Kara. Are you sure it's the same plant? "Mine" is much much messier and has red flowers - or it might be the fruit. I'll try a few more pics

Stefan I didn't see the link before. Thanks. Looking forward to checking it out.

Gotta rush for an appointment. Will be in back

Its the same. Think there is some variation among the species, or habitat adaptability, but ive seen specimens being covered with a dense crown of long leaves, and ive seen shed-ers, ones without many leaves like mine......

Yours is just a little more scarred up, I mean that in the kindest way;).

Here are some flowers from a couple years ago off the same cactus. Not the best pics because there were bees I was trying not to disturb.

Stefan thanks for the links, interesting and the flowers are lovely. It says to look after them, they need lots of sun, moisture and fresh air. Well up north where my son lives it would get lots and lots of sun and fresh air but not much moisture, sometimes basically nothing in the summer. So thats probably why it's so messy. I like the monstrosa form better, if I could ever like a cactus lol.

Kara yes many of the Opuntia are wreaking havoc in pasture, grazing lands and in National Parks too. Sheep, kangaroos you name it are dying slowly from the spines. So I'm going to check the species name against the "Reportable weeds" list, then ring whoever deals with them. Thanks guy's