Don't you just love how cacti are named? The walking stick cactus looks sort of like ... yep, you guessed it: A plant that grows a number of walking sticks! Well, this is what some locals in southern Colorado tend to call this variation of a cholla cactus.

The walking stick cactus can be found growing naturally in the lower Arkansas River watershed region that includes the cities of Pueblo and Canon City. These cacti can also be seen in some front lawn shrubbery designs in suburbs such as Colorado Springs. The two photos were taken outside of Florence, Colorado in April 2005.

Although Colorado is obviously known for its mountains, there are native cactus plants such as this one. I also created a page dedicated to prickly pear cacti in bloom I spotted in Castlewood Canyon as well.

Photos contributed by Steve Garufi. His Twitter page: @SteveGarufi.