Jumping Cholla From a
distance the jumping cholla, or teddy bear cholla,
looks like a fuzzy, soft plant with many short,
fuzzy branches looking like teddybear arms, growing
from the top. As you get closer you realize that
the cuddly looking plant is completely covered with
silvery spines. If you are unlucky enough to touch
the spines, you will find yourself painfully stuck
to a spiny segment that seems to have "jumped" off
the plant. Segments will also "jump" when stepped
on and attach themselves to your leg. It's dense, 1 inch spines completely hide the stem. The cylindrical segments are light to bluish green. They are about 10 inches (25 cm) long, and 2.5 inches (4 cm) in diameter. The jumping cholla can be 3 to 7 feet (1 to 2 m) tall and has a single trunk with short branches at the top. The spines on young branches are silvery white, and have a detachable, papery sheath. As they age, they become dark chocolate brown to black in color. The jumping
cholla blooms from February to May. The
greenish-yellow flowers grow at the end of the
stems. They are about 1.5 (2 cm) inches in
diameter. The fruit is less than 1 inch (2.5 cm) in
diameter, and sometimes has spines growing on
it. The jumping
cholla have developed several adaptations to
survive in the arid desert environment of its
habitat. The thick covering of spines shades the
plant from the desert heat. They also prevent
animals from eating them. The stems are separated
into segments that store water and allow for
photosynthesis. They separate easily so that
animals, and even a strongwind Jumping chollas grow on the valley floors of the Sonoran Uplands at 100 to 2,000 feet (30 to 600 m), the Mohave Desert, California, and Sonora, Mexico. 2002
bibliography: "Teddy bear Cholla Description", http://www.scenicdrive.org/pdteddy.htm "Adaptations: Teddy Bear Cholla", http://www.webschool.org.uk/science/adaptations2/tsld012.htm "TEDDY BEAR CHOLLA", http://helios.bto.ed.ac.uk/bto/desertecology/tedimag.htm "Teddy Bear Cholla (Cylindroputia bigelovii)", http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/Cactaceae/Opuntia_bigelovii.html Cooper, Andrew. "Teddy Bear Cholla &endash; Cylindropuntia bigelovii", http://www.whitethornhouse.com/cacti/cacti01-07.htm
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