The Main Plant entry for Chollas (Cylindropuntia)

Spiny, shrubby cacti from the same tribe as the prickly pears, but with cylindrical stems. Native to Mexico and the SW US, plus the Caribbean. The common name cholla is pronounced choya.

These plants are often treated as weeds and rarely viewed as desirable in gardens. In part that's because of their sharp, barbed spines which hurt even more coming out than they did going in. In part that's because of the unkempt, ragged appearance of most chollas, which tend to shed branches at the slightest provocation or upon the slightest impact.

Set these plants back from traffic of humans and pets. They are generally quite dangerous. This feature can be exploited if your goal is to exclude traffic from an area, but be aware that weeding around chollas can be painful.

Chollas are sun-loving, drought-tolerant plants with pretty flowers and ugly stems. Some species (eg. bigelovii) have ornamental spines but most do not. They are incredibly durable and can survive persistent, harsh abuse.

Reply to this comment

"Cylindropuntia is a genus of cacti (family Cactaceae), containing the cholla. They were formerly treated as a subgenus of Opuntia but have now been separated based on their cylindrical stems ('Opuntia' have flattened stems) and the presence of papery epidermal sheaths on the spines ('Opuntia' have no sheaths). A few species of mat or clump forming opuntioid cacti are currently placed in the genus Grusonia.

There are about 35 species of Cylindropuntia native to the southwest and south central United States, Mexico and the West Indies, The Flora of North America recognizes 22 species. Some species have been introduced to South America (Chile, Ecuador, Peru) and South Africa."

Taken from wikipedia's page at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...

Reply to this comment