University of Arizona Yavapai County Cooperative Extension Yavapai Gardens Master Gardener Newsletter October/November 2016 Watch out for the Jumping Cactus by Nora Graf You grew up in the desert if you know that cholla cactus would jump at you if you walked close to it. It is the plant equivalent of a rattlesnake. The good news is that cholla cactus does not wildly leap at you to defend itself, even if the nickname of jumping cactus persists. It is still a wicked plant to grow in your landscape if you have children or pets. On the other hand, the perception of the cactus jumping at you is well-deserved. Cholla consists of jointed thin cylinders. The connections between cylinders are weak and even the slightest brush can break that connection and the dense detachable spines will penetrate almost anything including skin, leather and clothing. The plant also sheds joints readily. When you are walking in the desert it’s easy to bump a joint loose with a foot or elbow. The spines latch on to any surface they touch. The tip of the spine slightly bends when it enters something and becomes a hook, making it difficult and painful to remove. I have personal experience so please take my word, IT HURTS! If you own pets, these can be an expensive choice. Pets tend to experience cholla face first and that means a trip to the vet. Humans get into trouble also. Unless you are like the person in the photo, chances are you can tolerate it. The larger spines can be pulled out with a pair of tweezers or pliers. Table of Contents (More info on removing cactus spines follows this article. That said, Watch out for the Jumping Cactus . 1 chollas can have a Removing Cactus Spines . 3 Meet a MG - Scholly Ketcher . 4 place in a native Community Gardens, A Time-Honored landscape plan. Tradition . 5 Chollas provide homes Potato Soup . 6 for some birds and Announcements . 7 rodents.The papery sheaths that cover the spines cause the plant to glow when the sun 1 of 8 is low in the sky. Think of all the classic photographs spineless. The flowers show up mid-summer. They of shimmering cholla in the desert. The flowers can aren’t gorgeous, be small and are colorful, and can cover the ends of being green to the stems, creating a beautiful show. They also make yellow-bronze, but good barriers if you want to keep people away. the bright red Depending on the species, chollas can be grape-sized fruit shrubs, bushes, arborescent (resembling a tree in will show you why properties, growth, structure, or appearance) or small it was named trees. They can be pruned to keep them under Christmas cholla. control. Seeds are one way they propagate but those In fact you would joints on the ground can hardly notice the grow roots. Wildlife, dogs, plant until the fruit and even you can spread the ripens. It is a good plant by carrying joints to wildlife plant as it provides nesting sites for cactus new areas. Like prickly wrens and is a food source for deer, bobwhite quail, pears, the new growth has wild turkey, other birds and small mammals that eat short green leaves that drop the berries. off as the stem matures. The Cylindropuntia kleiniae (Kleins pencil cholla), plant is supported by an is native to central Arizona. This is a large, over 6 internal woody structure. feet tall, plant and will create a dense bush that can Most of you have seen the woody interior as it is used be pruned to fit in smaller spaces. Like the for making a variety of craft items like lamps (quite Christmas cholla, it has small diameter pencil-size popular when I was a kid). stems. They will turn purple in the winter. It has They are adapted to our climate and take little widely spaced silver spines. The flowers are a pretty special care. Good-draining soil and sun are rose color about 1 ½ inch diameter. The fruit is bright essential. In Yavapai County one of the limitations for red and persists on the plant until fall. It is very cold them would be cold weather but there are several tolerant and its stems don’t droop like some other cold-hardy species. If chollas do come cold weather. Limestone flats and you don’t mind the hills are its preferred habitat (perfect for the Verde spines, try one of these. Valley) and it can be found along washes at One of the more elevations ranging from 2000 to 4400 feet. manageable species is Cylindropuntia echinocarpa (silver cholla, Cylindropuntia golden cholla) comes in two different forms, one with leptocaulis (or Opuntia silver spines, the other golden. It resembles the leptocaulis), also known teddybear cholla, as the Christmas or Cylinropuntia bigelovii. pencil cholla. (There The spines create a dense are several different cover for the joints. It is species whose common name is pencil cactus.) It is considered a medium-sized native to the Verde Valley and is cold tolerant. This cholla, only growing four to cholla grows over a wide area. It grows at elevations five feet tall and about half ranging from 1000 feet to 5000 feet, from Texas into as wide. In colder areas it Mexico, Arizona and California. It prefers heavier can be slow growing. Like soils in desert flats and in bottomlands, and can the C. kleiniae it is a good frequently be found growing underneath or around winter plant because the arms do not droop very shrubs and trees, and even fence posts. Birds eat the much. While the flowers are a pretty greenish yellow, fruit and spread the seeds in their droppings in those the dramatic spines make this plant attractive. In locations. Christmas cholla is often small but can Arizona it can be found in the high elevations of the grow to 6 feet. The stems are ½ inch with the main Mogollon Rim. Its range includes Arizona, Nevada truck reaching 4 inches in diameter. Spines are white and California. to gray, ¾ to 2 inches long, with some plants being Cylindropuntia imbricata (tree cholla) as its 2 of 8 common name implies is a large plant but is also At some point, if you spent any time in the desert you the one most tolerant of wet and cold conditions. will be poked and/or They can grow over stabbed by cactus six feet tall and can be spines. Some leave a dense three to four you with a small hole feet wide. The trunk is in the skin and a heavy and the stems temporary ache. can be over an inch Others can result in thick. It can make a you being miserable statement in a for days. So grit your landscape. The bonus is it has lovely pink to bright teeth, prepare for reddish-purple 2 inch flowers in late summer. In some pain, but there are solutions. the winter the stems get droopy and dehydrated There are two different types of spines on a looking. Spines are short, ¾ inch and are yellow to cactus. There are the impressive large spines that are gray in color. There is a cultivar that has white readily visible. They range from the giant thick ones flowers and there is one with no spines, although I like on a barrel cactus to the thinner sharper ones on do not know how available they are. Tree cholla chollas. Some spines are barbed–some are not. Then can be found in gravel and sandy soils, mostly in there are very tiny ones that can look like soft fuzz. grasslands, 4000 to 6000 feet. It has a wide range These are called glochids. No matter how soft and including Colorado, Arizona, Utah, Texas, Kansas, fuzzy something appears on cactus, do not touch it Oklahoma and north central and central Mexico. with your bare hands. Cylindropuntia whipplei (plateau cholla, If you have a cholla joint attached to your Whipple’s cholla, snow leopard cactus) is one of clothing the easiest way to remove it is with a comb, the most attractive chollas you can plant. It has preferably a large comb with a long handle (so you can large, 2 inch, yellow flowers and silvery spines. avoid the spines) but any comb will do. Comb the joint The plant can take on different appearances out of the fabric. You will likely have to apply some depending on where it force so don’t get your hand close or accidently flick is growing. In high the joint onto another part of your body or onto altitudes C. whipplei someone else. may look different If you can see the spines, use a pair of pliers or than one growing in tweezers to remove them. It can be painful but if they Arizona. In Arizona aren’t pulled the pain won’t go away and they could the plant is usually become infected. If you have the misfortune to get more upright. Its covered in spines (see picture) I would suggest going native range goes to the emergency room or urgent care. from 5000 to 7400 feet in elevation and can be The tiny fine spines are difficult to see so found in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada getting them out with tweezers is possible but difficult. and Arizona. It is extremely cold hardy. This cholla The recommended technique is to tweeze out as many forms dense, low spiny thickets which are hard on as you can see and then use a thin layer of glue (like a livestock.