Cylindropuntia
| Cholla | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Cylindropuntia kleiniae | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Core eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Cactaceae |
| Subfamily: | Opuntioideae |
| Tribe: | Cylindropuntieae |
| Genus: | Cylindropuntia (Engelm.) F.M.Knuth |
| Species | |
|
Numerous, see text | |
Cylindropuntia is a genus of cacti (family Cactaceae), containing the cholla, native to northern Mexico and the Southwestern United States. They are known for their barbed spines that tenaciously attach to skin, fur, and clothing.
Stands of cholla are called cholla gardens. Individuals within these colonies often exhibit the same DNA as they were formerly tubercles of an original plant.
Classification
Cylindropuntia was formerly treated as a subgenus of Opuntia, but have now been separated based on their cylindrical stems (Opuntia species have flattened stems) and the presence of papery epidermal sheaths on the spines (Opuntia has no sheaths).[1] A few species of mat- or clump-forming opuntioid cacti are currently placed in the genus Grusonia.
The roughly 35 species of Cylindropuntia are native to the southwest and southcentral 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.[2]
Selected species
- Cylindropuntia abyssi
- Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa - buckhorn cholla
- Cylindropuntia alcahes
- Cylindropuntia arbuscula - pencil cholla
- Cylindropuntia bigelovii - teddy-bear cholla
- Cylindropuntia californica
- Cylindropuntia caribaea
- Cylindropuntia cholla
- Cylindropuntia cylindrica - cane cactus
- Cylindropuntia echinocarpa - silver cholla
- Cylindropuntia fulgida - jumping cholla or hanging chain cholla
- Cylindropuntia imbricata - cane cholla, tree cholla
- Cylindropuntia kelvinensis
- Cylindropuntia kleiniae
- Cylindropuntia leptocaulis - desert Christmas cactus, Christmas Cholla, tasajillo
- Cylindropuntia mortolensis
- Cylindropuntia molesta - agujilla
- Cylindropuntia munzii
- Cylindropuntia prolifera
- Cylindropuntia ramosissima - diamond cholla
- Cylindropuntia rosea
- Cylindropuntia schottii - dog cholla
- Cylindropuntia spinosior - Tasajo cholla
- Cylindropuntia stanlyi - devil cholla
- Cylindropuntia tunicata
- Cylindropuntia × tetracantha
- Cylindropuntia versicolor - staghorn cholla
- Cylindropuntia × vivipara
- Cylindropuntia whipplei - rat-tail cholla
- Cylindropuntia wolfii
In popular culture
- John Grady, the protagonist of Cormack McCarthy's novel All the Pretty Horses, describes riding his horse after a heavy storm and seeing small birds that had been impaled on roadside cholla. [3]
- In JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run the protagonists Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli are attacked early on in the Arizona Desert by an enemy named "Mrs. Robinson", who utilizes insects raised in his own body to trigger patches of cholla cacti into "firing" their needles at Johnny and Gyro, a trait that the cacti exhibit within this fictional universe.[4]
References
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cylindropuntia. |