One of our neighbors offered to let us take a cutting from one of her succulents growing behind her house. The plant itself looks like it might be a variety of cholla (opuntia). It grows like a small tree with branches that dangle the little pods seen in the image.
We looked on the internet to see if we could figure out exactly what genus and species it is so we can evaluate its growth and flowering habits. I’m betting that our fellow desert dweller, Crotalus can help us figure this out. Click on the image to enlarge.
Heh! Thanks for the vote of confidence, Damsel! That is indeed a cholla. It’s Cylindropuntia fulgida var. mammillata, known as Chain-Fruit Cholla. Notice how the fruits never ripen, but sprout new flowers and fruits at their ends. The much spinier variety, var. fulgida, is known as the feared Jumping Cholla, and it also has the chain-fruit peculiarity. Cylindropuntia bigelovii, the Teddy Bear Cholla, is also known as a “jumper”.
When I told you about the Desert Christmas Cactus, I had forgotten that the chollas are segregated into the genus “Cylindropuntia”, while the original genus “Opuntia” is now reserved for the flat-pads, such as the Beavertail Cactus and the Prickly Pears. My bad.
Why do they call them ‘jumpers’? Do they tend to start growing where they weren’t expected?
Thanks for the informative comment Crotalus! Damsel knew that you would have some information.
Jim, I got this from WikiPedia:
Thanks Crotalus! I knew you’d know. I’ve seen a lot of these around town. One of our new neighbors has offered a clipping but didn’t tell us the name. We have plenty of cholla naturally around the house but not this one. Maybe we’ll try it.
That’s the way those “jumpers” propagate, so it should be very easy to start and grow. The joint either falls off the plant naturally, or an animal (or human) brushes against it, the joint hooks on by sharp (ouch!) barbed spines, and easily detaches from the parent plant. Later, it falls off, (or you fling it off with a pair of sticks) and it roots where it lands. And yes, that gives the impression that the cactus has jumped on you.
Have fun with it, but remember; give this one some room. It is a small tree. Nice thing about var. mammillata is the spines are a lot less ferocious. It’s much easier to handle.