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| Cylindropuntia fulgida | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Cactaceae |
| Genus: | Cylindropuntia |
| Species: | C. fulgida |
| Binomial name | |
| Cylindropuntia fulgida | |
 | |
| Natural range | |
| Synonyms | |
Opuntia fulgida | |
Cylindropuntia fulgida, thejumping cholla, also known as thehanging chain cholla, is achollacactus native toSonora and theSouthwestern United States.[1]
The greatest range of the jumping cholla is the entirety ofSonora, except theSierra Madre Occidental cordillera on the east and northern California, including the major islands ofTiburon andIsla Ángel de la Guarda.[2]
In the Southwestern United States, the range extends into theColorado Desert ofCalifornia, and in Arizona. There it occurs south and southwest of theArizona transition zone of theMogollon Rim; in the northwest-centralSonoran Desert of Arizona, it is in a few selected locales. It also reaches into the northeast section of theMojave Desert in southern Nevada and Utah, and in the very southern section of theGreat Basin Desert of southern Utah. It also occurs just south of the east-west section of theBill Williams River, east of theColorado River in theYuma Desert, and in parts of the Eastern Plains ofColorado.[citation needed]
Cylindropuntia fulgida grows at elevations ranging from 300 to 1,000 m (980 to 3,280 feet). While the name "jumping cholla" is applied especially to this species, it is also used as a general term for all chollas.
The jumping cholla is an arborescent (tree-like)plant with one low-branchingtrunk. It often grows to heights of 4 m (13 feet), with drooping branches of chainedfruit. Thestems are light green and are stronglytuberculate, with tubercles (small, wart-like projections on the stems) measuring 6 to 9 millimetres (1⁄4 to1⁄3 in). Together, the plants form forests that may range over manyhectares.
The plant'sleaves have been reduced tospines, 6 to 12 of which grow from eachareole. Young branches are covered with2 to 3 cm (3⁄4 to1+1⁄6 inches) silvery-yellow spines, which darken to a gray color with age. These spines form a dense layer that obscures the stems. Slower growing or older branches have sparse and/or shorter spines. As the spines fall off of older parts, the brown-blackbark is revealed. It becomes rough and scaly with age.
Flowers are white and pink, streaked with lavender, and are roughly 2.5 cm (1 inch) wide. The flowers are displayed at the joint tips (or old fruit tips), blooming in mid-summer. According to naturalists/writers Henry and Rebecca Northen, a curiosity of these flowers is thatC. fulgida opens its flowers atexactly 3:00 p.m. solar time, and can be used to set one's watch.[3]
Most of the fleshy, green fruits are sterile,pear-shaped to nearly round, wrinkled with a few spines. They are typically about4 cm (1+1⁄2 inches) long, often producing flowers the following year which add new fruits to those of previous seasons. It is these hanging chains of fruit which give it the name "hanging chain cholla".
The "jumping cholla" name comes from the ease with which the stems detach when brushed. Another more sparingly used name is monkey cups, due to the nature of the plant's structure. Often the merest touch will leave a person with bits of cactus hanging on their clothes to be discovered later when either sitting or leaning on them. The ground around a mature plant will often be covered with dead stems, and young plants are started from stems that have fallen from the adult. They attach themselves to desert animals and are dispersed for short distances. Extinct, hairy megafauna may have played a role in their historic, more widespread dispersal in this manner.
Other names for this cactus include chain fruit cholla, cholla brincadora, and velas de coyote.
During droughts, animals like thebighorn sheep and some deer species like the desert mule deer, rely on the plant's fruit forfood andwater. Because they grow in inaccessible and hostile places of thedesert, populations of this cactus are stable.Cactus wren are also known to nest in jumping cholla.
