Cylindropuntia bigelovii
{{Short description|Species of cactus}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Speciesbox
|name = Teddy-bear cholla
|image = Cylindropuntia bigelovii.jpg
|image_caption =
|genus = Cylindropuntia
|species = bigelovii
|status = LC
|status_system = IUCN3.1
|authority = (Engelm.) F.M.Knuth
|synonyms = Opuntia bigelovii
}}
Cylindropuntia bigelovii, the teddy-bear cholla, is a cholla cactus species native to Northwestern Mexico, and to the United States in California, Arizona, and Nevada.
Description
Cylindropuntia bigelovii has a soft appearance due to its solid mass of very formidable spines that completely cover the stems, leading to its sardonic nickname of "teddy bear".
The teddy-bear cholla stands {{convert|1|to|5|ft|m|abbr=on}} tall with a distinct trunk. The branches or lobes 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 leaf, almost completely obscure the stem with a fuzzy-looking but impenetrable defense. The spines are {{convert|1|in|cm|abbr=on}} long and covered with a detachable, paper-like sheath.
Yellow-green flowers emerge at the tips of the stems in May and June. Flowers are usually {{convert|3.6|cm|in|abbr=on}} in length and produce fruit that is {{convert|1.9|cm|in|abbr=on}} in diameter, tuberculate, and may or may not have spines. These fruits contain few if any viable seeds as the plant usually reproduces through a dispersal strategy of dropped or carried stems.{{Cite web |url=http://www.livingdesert.org/plants/teddy_bear_cholla.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050204134817/http://www.livingdesert.org/plants/teddy_bear_cholla.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=2005-02-04 |title=The Living Desert - Teddy Bear Cholla |date=2005-02-04 |access-date=2018-07-16}} These stems are often carried for some distance by sticking to the fur or skin of animals and are especially painful to remove.{{Cite news |url=http://www.outdoorblueprint.com/national-parks/joshua-tree/hike-cholla-cactus-garden-nature-trail/ |title=Hike Cholla Cactus Garden Nature Trail |date=2015-03-09 |work=Outdoor Blueprint |access-date=2018-07-16 |language=en-US}} When a piece of this cholla sticks to an animal or person, a good method to remove the cactus is with a hair comb. The spines have microscopic barbs which point backwards and hold on tightly. Often small stands of these chollas form, most of which are clones of the same individual.
Like its cousin the jumping cholla, the stems 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.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}
Wildlife
Desert pack rats such as the desert woodrat gather these balls around their burrows, creating a defense against most predators like kit fox and coyote, however several species of snake feed on the rat, keeping its population balanced.{{Cite book |title=Joshua Tree National Park : cholla cactus garden self-guiding nature trail |last=National Park Service |year=2015 |location=[Twentynine Palms, CA]}}
The cactus wren can be found perched on the cholla and other cacti. They also use a variety of cacti for nesting purposes.
The "jumping" part of the name is said to have originated because a person who is walking in the desert can step on a grounded stem with the heel of a boot or a shoe, which can cause the stem to swivel up and embed spines in the walker's calf.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}
Distribution
Cylindropuntia bigelovii grows in desert regions at elevations to about {{convert|3,000|feet|m|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} in the "Low Desert" or Colorado Desert of Southern California, and in other Sonoran Desert regions of the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico.{{Cite web |title=Cylindropuntia bigelovii |url=https://ag.arizona.edu/pima/gardening/aridplants/Opuntia_bigelovii.html |website=ag.arizona.edu |access-date=2015-10-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303172530/http://ag.arizona.edu/pima/gardening/aridplants/Opuntia_bigelovii.html |archive-date=2016-03-03 |url-status=dead}}
In the Lower Colorado River Valley, the most dense Cylindropuntia bigelovii stands are at higher elevations, in the rockiest sites. There are fewer Sonoran Desert or Colorado Desert plant association species, but two are common though reduced in size: ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) and saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea).
The teddy bear cholla is also found in a protected Cholla Cactus Garden as part of the Joshua Tree National Park among other desert plants such as the desert senna, pencil cholla, creosote bush, jojoba, and climbing milkweed Funastrum cynanchoides which can climb and cover the teddy bear cholla and may even kill it.
File:Cholla Cactus Garden Nature Trail information display at Joshua Tree National Park.JPG
Gallery
File:Cylindropuntia bigelovii (Teddy-bear cholla) 1.jpg|A stand of Cylindropuntia bigelovii
File:Cylindropuntia bigelovii 2.jpg|Close up of teddy-bear cholla
File:Flowering teddy bear cholla 319.JPG|Fruiting Cylindropuntia bigelovii
File:Cholla Anza Borrego.jpg|Blooming Cylindropuntia bigelovii with bird nest, in Anza Borrego Desert State Park
File:Toter Kaktus.jpg|Skeleton of a dead teddy bear cholla.
File:Teddy_Bear_Cholla_(Jumping_Cholla).jpg|Teddy bear cholla from Arizona
References
{{Reflist}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20050204134817/http://www.livingdesert.org/plants/teddy_bear_cholla.asp The Living Desert]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20050316044049/http://ag.arizona.edu/pima/gardening/aridplants/Opuntia_bigelovii.html Teddy-bear Cholla] – University of Arizona Pima County Cooperative Extension entry
External links
{{Commons category}}
- [https://www.opuntiads.com/cyl/cylindropuntia-bigelovii/ Cylindropuntia bigelovii photo gallery at Opuntia Web]
- [http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?2702,2726,2732 Jepson Manual Treatment of Cylindropuntia bigelovii]
- [http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Cylindropuntia+bigelovii Cylindropuntia bigelovii — UC Photo gallery]
{{Taxonbar|from=Q148519}}
Category:Cacti of the United States
Category:Flora of the California desert regions
Category:Flora of the Sonoran Deserts
Category:Natural history of the Colorado Desert