The plant family Cactaceae is diverse, including roughly 127 genera with over 1700 species, in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Originally, Cylindropuntia were grouped in the Cactus family as a sub-genus of Opuntia, familiar to many people because of their flat, beaver-tail-like stems (and commonly called “Beavertail cactus).”
But Cylindropuntia’s stems were not flat, but rather cylindrical as shown below, so Cylindropuntia was recognized as a separate genus in its own right, still in the Cactus family because of its flowers (which is how all plants are grouped–bv flower characteristics).
Cylindropuntia are commonly called Cholla, with common names like Teddy Bear Cholla, Pencil Cholla, Chain-link Cholla, Jumping Cholla, Silver Cholla, etc., that describe their appearance or habits. Cholla cactus are native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, including the Mexican state of Baja California, and the West Indies. They share a number of characteristics — seriously barbed spines, papery epidermal sheaths on the spines, cylindrical stems, and shallow roots. Cholla spines are actually leaves reduced to the smallest structure to avoid water loss. Like most cacti, they can react quickly to the lightest rainfall, gathering whatever surface water they can, with their roots never far from the surface of the soil.
Sheaths reflect away the hot summer sun
to prevent water loss.
Cholla have been introduced elsewhere and can be found in South Africa and other places where dry climates prevail.
Stems separate easily (break off) from the mother plant at segment joints, and hikers who encounter them often end up with stems attached to them by spines which cling tenaciously to skin, clothing, backpacks, fur, etc. This is one scary plant to encounter in the wild because the barbs attach so readily to skin and clothing. On one occasion of a short walk into a cholla garden (a concentration of cholla plants), this writer emerged with cholla stems attached to my shoe, ankle, and one even stuck in the top of my head, though I don’t ever recall touching a plant.
Chain-Link Chollas
Chain-link Chollas are odd plants, with stems and spent flower buds hanging in chains from the upper parts of the plant. It’s more tree-like in its structure than other Chollas, with one main, low-branching “trunk”.
Chain-link chollas are found in the Sonoran desert of Arizona, and also the Colorado Desert of Southern California and Northern Mexico, which is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert. Chollas are a prominent part of this low-lying desert.
This cholla, in particular, has the common name “Jumping Cholla,” a reference to the amazing way that the spiny segments of this plant end up “jumping” onto your skin and clothing, backpacks, etc.
This plant would be easy to propagate because the small flower pods that form the chain are always falling off onto the sandy soil below. Each can be a start for a new plant.
in Joshua Tree National Park in southern California.
Cholla flower colors range from greens to yellows, oranges, many gorgeous shades of pink, mauves, and some deep, intense reds. The green and yellow colors are the most common, though Arizona has some very beautiful reds in native Chollas.
There are also a number of hybrid Chollas.
Gardening with Chollas
Chollas require full sun and plenty of heat. The desert can get cold in the winter, and chollas can take light amounts of snow for brief periods. They can grow up to 4,000 ft. with hot desert temperatures during half the year and cool but sunny temperatures in winter. Their soil must be fast draining.
Chollas are difficult to garden around, mainly because of the dangers of spines becoming embedded in one’s skin, but they are easy to sprout from a small segment. Please, never dig up a Cholla plant in the wild. You’ll likely pay the price in wounds and the time involved in extricating Cholla spines from your body and clothing.
Seed and Cutting Starting
Chollas grow in soils that are not particularly nutrient rich; that is, somewhat loose and fast draining — the types of soils you find in the desert. Provide soil for Cholla seeds or cuttings consisting mainly of one part sand, one part gritty material like lava rock and perlite, and one part standard Cactus potting mix. Good drainage is key. They do not like to sit in water for any length of time or be watered too frequently. Chollas often grow in desert washes that get infrequent flows, but have very loose, quick-draining soil. If you want to buy cactus mix at the store, you’ll definitely need to add lava rock, perlite, or any other gritty substance to improve the drainage.
This photo shows four spent Cholla flower buds on the left preparing seeds, a new bud emerging just below, and the remains of a seed pod in the lower right.
numerous segments.
We cannot emphasize enough the need to keep your distance from Cholla plants. They’re painful to remove from your skin and penetrate tennis shoes quite readily. Enjoy them from a few feet away and take copious photographs, but don’t try to handle them. In your garden, if you need to move a Cholla plant or garden around them, it is safest to wrap them with many, thick layers of newspaper or place a piece of cardboard between you and the plant! Here’s a good example of a plant that has no mercy for your tender skin. It’s all a protective mechanism for the plant, and you can’t blame them, considering the kind of environment they must master. Still, they can be stunningly beautiful!
Chollas are beautiful! Do you agree?