The
teddy-bear cholla (
Cylindropuntia bigelovii) is a
cactusA cactus is any member of the plant family Cactaceae, native to the Americas. They are often used as ornamental plants, but some are also crop plants. Cacti are grown for protection of property from wild animals, as well as many other uses...
native to
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
and
ArizonaThe State of Arizona is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. The capital and largest city is Phoenix. The second largest city is Tucson, followed in size by the four Phoenix metropolitan area cities of Mesa, Glendale, Chandler, and Scottsdale.Arizona was the 48th and...
(USA) and northwestern
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. They grow in
desertA desert is a landscape or region that receives almost no precipitation. Deserts are defined as areas with an average annual precipitation of less than per year, or as areas where more water is lost by evapotranspiration than falls as precipitation. In the Köppen climate classification system,...
regions at elevations from 30 to 1100 m (100 to 3600 ft). It is an attractive plant, having a soft appearance due to its solid mass of very formidable
spinesIn biology, spine or spiny may refer to:*Spine , needle-like structures in plants*Spine , needle-like structures in animalsSpine may also refer to:*Vertebral column, spine in anatomy, the backbone...
that completely cover the
stemsA stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant. The stem is normally divided into nodes and internodes, the nodes hold buds which grow into one or more leaves, inflorescence , cones or other stems etc. The internodes act as spaces that distance one node from another...
. From a distance, the stems appear soft and fuzzy, giving it the name "
teddy bearThe teddy bear is a stuffed toy bear. It is an enduring, traditional form of a stuffed animal, often serving the purpose of entertaining children. In recent times, some teddy bears have become collector's items.- History :...
".
The teddy-bear cholla is an erect plant, standing 0.3-2 m (1-5 ft) tall with a distinct
trunkIn botany, trunk refers to the main structural member of a tree that supports the branches and is supported by and directly attached to the roots. The trunk is covered by the bark, which is an important diagnostic feature in tree identification, and which often differs markedly from the bottom of...
. The
branchA branch or tree branch is a woody structural member connected to but not part of the central trunk of a tree...
es are at the top of the trunk and are nearly horizontal. Lower branches typically fall off, and the trunk darkens with age. The silvery-white spines, which are actually a form of
leafIn botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin. There is continued debate about whether the flatness of leaves evolved to expose the chloroplasts to more light or to increase the absorption of carbon dioxide. In...
, almost completely obscure the stem with a fuzzy-looking, but impenetrable, defense. The spines are 2.5 cm (1") long and are covered with a detachable, paper-like sheath.
The yellow-green
flowerA flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds...
s of this cactus emerge at the tips of the stems in May and June, and the
fruitThe term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants disseminate seeds, and the presence of seeds indicates that a structure is most likely a fruit, though not all seeds come from...
s that follow usually have no viable
seedA seed , referred to as a kernel in some plants, is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
. Flowers are usually 3 cm (1-3/8") in length. The fruit is 2 cm (3/4") in diameter, tuberculate, and may or may not have spines. These cacti produce few seeds, as the plant usually reproduces from dropped stems. These stems are often carried for some distance by sticking to the hair of animals. Often small "forests" of these chollas form that are largely clones of one individual.
In the lower
Colorado RiverThe Colorado River , or the Red River, is a river in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains...
valley, the most dense cholla forests are at higher elevations, in the rockiest sites. There are fewer
Sonoran DesertThe Sonoran Desert is a North American desert which straddles part of the United States-Mexico border and covers large parts of the U.S. states of Arizona and California and the northwest Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur...
, or
Colorado DesertCalifornia's Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert, which extends across southwest North America. The Colorado Desert region encompasses approximately 7 million acres, reaching from the Mexican border in the south to the higher-elevation Mojave Desert in the north and from the...
plants in association, but three are common, though in reduced size: the
OcotilloThe ocotillo is a curious and unique desert plant of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. For much of the year, the plant appears to be an arrangement of large spiny dead sticks, although closer examination reveals that the stems are partly green...
, the
SaguaroThe saguaro, , is a large, tree-sized cactus species in the monotypic genus Carnegiea. It is native to the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, the Mexican state of Sonora, and an extremely small area of California...
, and a relative cholla, a finger-leaf cholla, with 7-10 in fingers, and of similar height, and similar to the teddy-bear in appearance, but a more open plant.
Like its cousin the
jumping chollaThe jumping cholla , also known as the hanging chain cholla, is a cactus that is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.- Description :...
, the stems of this cactus detach easily and the ground around a mature plant is often littered with scattered cholla balls and small plants starting where these balls have rooted. When a piece of this cholla sticks to an unsuspecting person, a good method to remove the cactus is with a hair comb. The spines are barbed, and hold on tightly. Desert
pack ratA pack rat, also called a trade rat or wood rat, can be any of several species in the genus Neotoma, but most commonly the Bushy-tailed Woodrat .-Description:...
s such as the
Desert WoodratThe Desert Woodrat is a small species of pack rat native to desert regions of western North America, ranging from southeastern Oregon and southwestern Idaho , south to Baja California and extreme northwestern Sonora, Mexico....
gather these balls around their burrows, creating a defense against predators.