Chain Fruit Cholla

Chain Fruit Cholla Exhibit, Desert Foothills Scenic Drive, 1995

The spine covered joints of this plant seem to “jump” when only slightly touched. Anyone walking in the desert who has stepped on a fallen joint will never forget why these plants are also referred to as jumping cholla. Its name is pronounced CHOY-ah. It is also known as choya, and chain cholla. A member of the Cactus Family.

• Blooms from May through August with beautiful pink to lavender flowers which grow from the previous year’s fruit.
• Green, oval fruit hangs from the plant in “chains’ which increase in length each year.
• Found at from 1,000 to 3,000′ elevation.
• The plant is pollinated by bees and eaten by cattle (very few cattle remain in the immediate vicinity of the Scenic Drive). Curved-billed thrashers and cactus wrens build their nests in the middle of these plants; a very safe place indeed.