Tuesday, November 5, 2013

CACTUS RIDERS, AND THE MIRACLE OF CHOLLA PROPAGATION

One of my favorite cacti so far is the Cholla (pronounced CHOY-yuh) - they look like fuzzy, light-colored trees from a distance, and dot the landscape here amidst the tall, traditional Saguaros and the prickly Beaver Tail cactus. They seem a pale yellowish closer up, but you really don't want to get too close. What looks like fuzz from a distance is a mass of poky sharp spines coming from the flesh, which breaks off from the plant in chunks, and then into tiny pieces (joints of the plant with several spines attached) that spread far and wide, riding on anything they can attach to until they find a place to seed.
A cute, fuzzy little Cholla
A family of Chollas

A Cholla with lots of potential riders at its base
Fuzzy

More fuzziness

Fuzzy and poky
A rider broken off from its chunk in the background

One joint that is on its way to being carried and planted

 We've had to remove several of these small miracles from our flip-flops and hiking boots, using tweezers and pliers!


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