Chain Fruit Cholla – Desert Botanical Garden, Papago Park, Phoenix, Arizona

The chain fruit cholla is a shrubby cactus that looks as much like a tree in the desert as a cactus possibly can. It sprout many irregular spiny, segmented "branches" that droop from a central trunk. These "branches" are covered with a dense layer of sharp spines which in turn have a straw-colored sheath that turns gray as the plant matures. The sheath reflects sunlight and prevents overheating. As the cholla gets older the spines fall off and leave a rough and scaly bark on the trunk and old branches. It is the largest of the cholla, and can grow to a height of 15 feet, and be 6 feet across.

The segmented branches have light-green leaves about ½ inch to 1 inch long when they are young. One inch long white and pink flowers streaked with lavender bloom from June to August. The flowers bloom at the end of the branches and on old fruit. The pear shaped fruit is about 1.5 inches long and half as wide. Clusters of these fruits sometimes stay attached for many years. New flowers will bloom on them every year and the chains grow longer with every year, sometimes as long as 2 feet. That is why they are called chain fruit cholla.

The chain fruit cholla is also called jumping cholla because the segments break off easily when brushed up against and sticks to whatever brushed against it, giving the impression that the cactus jumped. The detached segment attach themselves to desert animals which disperses them for short distances. Accordingly, the ground around a cholla is usually covered with segments that have fallen off the parent. The fruit is not always fertile and the cholla relies mainly on fallen stem joints and fruit to take root and grow new plants.

The chain fruit cholla is commonly found in dry, sandy soils of bajadas, valleys floors, and plains of the Sonoran and Chihuahua Desert, south Arizona and northwest Mexico. It is found at elevations up to 4,000 feet above sea level. During droughts animals like the Bighorn Sheep rely on the juicy fruit for food and water. Large forests of chain fruit cholla grow in Arizona. Because it grows in inaccessible and hostile places, it is not vulnerable to habitat loss and is therefore not endangered.