Cholla Cactus Facts And Species 

About 20 different species of the Cholla Cactus or the genus Opuntia, which belongs to the family Cactaceae, are found in the deserts of North America. The term "cholla" refers to a number of shrubby cacti that belong to this genus and have cylindrical stems made up of segmented joints. These "stems" are actually modified branches that serve multiple purposes, including the storage of water, the generation of flowers, and the process of photosynthesis.
Like most other types of cactus, Chollas have tubercles, which are little, wart-like projections on the stems, and these are the structures from which the sharp spines, which are actually modified leaves, originate. On the other hand, Chollas are the only cactus species with papery sheaths covering their spines. These sheaths, which are typically vibrant and multicolored, give the cactus its characteristic appearance.

The branches of prickly pears, also members of the Opuntia genus, appear to be pads rather than cylindrical joints. Prickly pears are a type of cactus. Opuntia is distinguished from other succulents by the presence of clusters of thin, microscopic spines known as glochids. Glochids can be yellow or red in color, and they separate readily from the pads or stems of the plant. They are found slightly above the cluster of ordinary spines. Once they become embedded in the skin, glochids are notoriously difficult to spot and even more challenging to extricate.

Range And Habitat

Cholla cactus is found in all of the scorching deserts that make up the American Southwest; however, distinct cactus species have developed adaptations that allow them to thrive in various environments and elevation ranges. The majority need coarse and rocky soil with good drainage and can only grow on slopes or flats. Others require steep, rocky slopes at the foothills of mountains, while still others have adapted to live in the forests of mountains.

Description

The majority of cholla cacti have flowers that are orange or greenish-yellow in hue. However, the flowers can vary in color even within the same species. Depending on the area's climate and other factors, most species bloom during the months of April and June. Stems and joints can be distinguished from one another by their breadth, length, shape, and color, as well as the number of spines and glochids they contain. The height of chollas can range from less than a foot (in the case of the Club or Devil Cholla) to as much as 15 feet. Chollas can take the form of ground creepers, shrubs, or trees (Chain-Fruit Cholla).

The following species' descriptions were derived from data collected from their natural, uncultivated environments.

Yellow-Flowered Cane Cactus, Yellow-Flowered Buckhorn Cholla, and Major Cholla

Opuntia Acanthocarpa

This cholla is characterized by its pale green color and can be seen in a variety of settings. Sheaths for the spine are often translucent and pale in color. Canthocarpa, coloradensis, gender, major, and Thornberg are the five different varieties of this species.

• Desert: The Sonoran Desert
• Height: 3-10 feet
• Joints: long and rambling.
• Flowers: A vivid yellow, orange, pink, or red.
• Fruit: Spiny & dry
• Elevation: Ranges from 500 to 4,000 feet.

Cane Cholla Cactus

Opuntia Spinosior

It develops a robust trunk with purple jointed joints and can grow on the floors of deserts, in grasslands, and on the lower slopes of mountains.

• Desert: The Chihuahuan Desert is located in southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico.
• Height: Between 2.5 and 2.4 meters.
• Joints: They are tuberculated, thick, and coated in grey spines.
• Flowers: Ranging from a dark purple to a yellow and white color scheme.
• Fruit: Flesh, without spines, and golden during the wintertime.
• Elevation: Ranges from 2,000 to 7,000 feet.

Chain Cholla And Jumping Cholla Are All Variations Of The Same Plant.

Opuntia Fulgida

The tallest of the chollas can grow up to 15 feet tall and are covered with sharp spines. They are typically shrubs but can occasionally take on the appearance of trees. The name "chain fruit" comes from the fact that new fruits are added to those that have been there from past seasons, producing a chain that can be up to 2 feet long.

• Desert: The Sonoran Desert is located in central and southern Arizona and the northwest corner of Mexico.
• Height: Between 5 and 50 meters.
• Joints: They are triangular in shape, yellowish green in color, and have short, colorful spines.
• Flowers: White and pink petals that have a purple tinge to them.
• Fruit: Pear-shaped, green berries with no spines about an inch and a half long grow in clusters that dangle on long chains with branches.
• Elevation: Ranges from 0 to 4,000 feet.

Christmas Cholla, Known As Desert Christmas Cactus And Holycross Cholla

Opuntia Leptocaulis

The thinnest of all cholla species and the one that is seen in the Chihuahuan desert the most frequently. The addition of crimson berries gives it a wintery feel.

• Desert: The Chihuahuan Desert is found in southern Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.
• Height: between 4 and 6 feet
• Joints: Are slender and smooth, devoid of tubercles
• Flower: Colors range from yellow to bronze.
• Fruit: Berry clusters the size of grapes and glows bright red all through the winter.
• Elevation ranges from 200 to 5,000 feet.

Club Cholla is also known as Devil Cholla.

Opuntia Clavata, Opuntia Parishii, Opuntia Schotti, Opuntia Stanly

There are several different species of Devil Cholla, but they are all classified as Club Cholla because their joints are fashioned like clubs and feature distinct tubercles. Sheaths are not present on the spines of devil cholla. All of them have a modest growth rate and frequently create dense mats that might be difficult or impossible to penetrate. Spines can be any hue, but they have the potential to be as sharp as daggers.

Opuntia Clavata

• Desert: The Chihuahuan Desert is located in the middle of New Mexico.
• Height: Approximately 4 inches at most.
• Joints: are formed at the base of more established joints and are found lying on the ground.
• Flowers: are lemon yellow to greenish yellow in color.
• Fruit: is yellow, spiky, and about three inches long.
• Height: between 6,000 and 8,000 feet.

Opuntia Parishii

• Desert: The Mojave Desert is a desert that stretches through eastern California, southern Nevada, and eastern Arizona.
• Height: Approximately 4 inches at most.
• Joints: are segments that can be up to an inch in diameter and are ovoid in shape.
• Flowers: have a lemon-yellow color with a sage-green core.
• Fruit: is golden, fleshy, and up to three inches in length.
• Height: between 6,000 and 8,000 feet.

Opuntia Schotti

• Desert: The Chihuahuan Desert is a desert located in west Texas.
• Height: Between 10 and 13 centimeters.
• Joints: are formed at the base of more established joints and are found lying on the ground.
• Flowers: are lemon yellow to greenish yellow in color.
• Fruit: is yellow, spiky, and about three inches long.
• Elevation: 1,000-5,000 feet.

Opuntia Stanlyi

• The Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts stretch from southern California to the southwestern corner of New Mexico.
• Height: Between 10 and 13 centimeters
• Joints are formed at the base of more established joints and are found lying on the ground.
• Flowers are lemon yellow to greenish yellow in color.
• The fruit is yellow, spiky, and about three inches long.
• Elevation ranges from 100 to 1,200 metres.

The Diamond Cholla, Also Known As The Pencil Cactus

Opuntia Ramoissima

The distinctive yellow or tan spine sheaths of this plant, which typically grows as a low shrub in the harshest deserts, have an orange tip. Only cholla has a grooved surface.

• Desert: the Sonoran Desert, which spans parts of southeastern California, southern Nevada, and southwestern Arizona.
• Height: Between 1 and 1.5 meters.
• The joints are grooved, forming tubercles in the shape of diamonds. The stems are pencil-sized and grey.
• Flowers range in color from deep pink to apricot.
• Fruit: thorny and brittle burrs.
• Height: between 100 and 3,000 feet.

Klein's Cholla

Opuntia kleiniae

This trunkless variety of cholla has stems that are more robust than those of the Pencil and Christmas chollas. The spines develop in clusters of four and point downward.

• Desert: the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts stretch from the middle of Arizona to the western part of Texas.
• Height: between 3 and 7 feet.
• Thick and tuberculate are the joints.
• Flower colors range from pink to purple.
• Fruit: either an orange or a velvety crimson
• Elevation: Cholla cactus grows at elevations between 6,000 and 2,000 feet.

Pencil Cholla

Opuntia Arbuscula

The Pencil Cholla is a species of cholla that, like Klein's and Christmas chollas, develops a trunk rather than spreading out like a shrub. Appreciates gravelly and sandy plains, as well as valleys and washes.

• Desert: The Sonoran Desert spans southeastern California and southwestern Arizona.
• Height: 2-5 feet.
• Joints: Long, pencil-sized, pencil-green joints with no tubercles. Joints are thin and long.
• Flowers: colors range from yellow to orange.
• Fruit: Fleshy and green.
• Elevation: between 3,000 and 10,000 feet.

Cholla De Sand

Opuntia Pulchella

This cholla develops as a clump from a tuber covered with bristles and prefers sandy flats and dry lake edges at higher elevations.

• Desert: The Northern Mojave Desert is a desert that stretches from eastern California to southern Utah.
• Height: No more than ten inches.
• Joints: ranging from a narrowly club-shaped to a cylindrical shape and measuring 1 inch in diameter.
• Flowers: Range in color from pink to magenta, and their filaments are yellow-green.
• Fruit: thorny, smooth, reddish-orange, meaty, and up to an inch in length.
• Elevation: between 1,500 and 2,100 metres.

Cholla In Silver And Gold

Opuntia Echinocarpa

This cholla is also known as Silver and Gold cholla due to its sheaths, which can be either white or yellow. This species has many small terminal joints at the terminals of longer ones, and the trunks on these plants are rather short.

• Desert: the Sonoran Desert, which spans southeastern California, southern Nevada, and western Arizona.
• Height: Between 1 and 1.5 meters.
• Joints: are triangular in shape, yellowish green in color, and have short, colorful spines.
• Flowers: have a greenish-yellow color, and the outer sections are striped with crimson.
• Fruit: When mature, the fruit is spiny and dries out.
• Elevation: between 300 and 1,500 metres.

Staghorn Cholla / Tree Cholla / Deerhorn Cholla

Opuntia Versicolor

This tree-like cactus hybridizes easily with Buckhorn and Cane chollas, making identification difficult due to its forked branches that resemble deer antlers.

• Desert: the Sonoran Desert extends south into Mexico and is located within 100 miles of Tucson, Arizona.
• Height: 3-15 feet.
• Joints: are a dull green color and create extremely long stems.
• Flowers: All varieties (Versicolor).
• Fruit: a green, pear-shaped fruit that is fleshy and can sometimes form chains.
• Elevation: between 300 and 1,200 metres.

Teddy Bear Cholla Or A Jumping Cholla

Opuntia Bigelovii

It resembles the fuzzy arms and legs of a Teddy Bear, and you can identify it by its dense, straw-colored spines and yellow to green blossoms. Some people say it looks like a Teddy Bear.

• Desert: the Sonoran Desert, which spans southeastern California, southern Nevada, and western Arizona.
• Height: between 5 and 9 feet.
• Joints: are triangular in shape, yellowish green in color, and have short, colorful spines.
• Flowers: that range from greenish to yellow and have streaks of purple.
• Fruit: shaped like an egg, yellow, and about an inch long.
• Elevation: ranges from 100 to 5,000 feet.

Tree Cholla

Opuntia Imbricata Cholla Cactus

This cholla, which is green and has relatively few spines, is similar to the Cane Cholla, which likewise becomes purple when the temperature drops. Prevalent in the desert flats, as well as in stands of pinyon and juniper.

• Desert: The Chihuahuan Desert, which spans the states of New Mexico and Texas, continues northward into semiarid regions of eastern Colorado and western Oklahoma.
• Height: Between 3.5 and 2.1 meters.
• Joints: Extremely fatty and tuberculated in the joints
• Flowers: Deep lavender to red.
• Fruit: yellow, oval, and 2 inches in length.
• Elevation: Between 2,000 and 7,000 feet.

Whipple Cholla (Whipple Cholla)

Opuntia Whipplei 

You'll frequently find these cholla growing as shrubs or mats on plains and grasslands.

• Desert: The Chihuahuan Desert is a desert that is located in western New Mexico and eastern Arizona.
• Height: Between 24 and 76 centimeters
• Joints: are green in color and can be up to six inches in length.
• Flowers: are light to lemon yellow in color.
• Fruits: are yellow, spineless, round to ovoid, and around 1 1/2 inches in length.
• Elevation: between 1,500 and 2,100 metres.

Wolf's Cholla

Opuntia Wolfie

This common cholla found in the Colorado Desert has sheaths that are translucent and brown spines that measure one inch.

• Desert: The westernmost edge of the Sonoran Desert all the way down to Baja, California.
• Height: A maximum height of 6 feet.
• Joints: are arranged in cylindrical segments, branching out from the base.
• Flowers have a light brown color with violet filaments.
• Fruit: Dry, tuberculated, and about one inch in length.
• Elevation: between 300 and 1,200 metres.