Teddy Bear ("Jumping") Cholla

This is one of Arizona's nastiest cacti. I'm fairly certain that

it's possessed by the Devil. The spines are 2 inches long, very

thick and sturdy, and instead of detatching from the cactus, a golf-

ball-sized chunk of the cactus detatches along with them. The

spines are practically indestructible, but the cactus itself is

quite fragile. Even the wind can make pieces of it fall off, and

they will stick in ANYTHING: your clothes, skin, leather, the bottom

of your shoe, car tires, horse hooves, anything. Since each ball is

covered in spines sticking out in all directions, it can be very

difficult to get the cactus chunk off you without poking your

fingers full of holes. One good way to remove them is with a wide-

toothed comb. Still, this is one of Arizona's meanest plants... and

that's saying a lot, because everything in Arizona bites, stings, or

lacerates you in some way. They're very photogenic, though!

I enjoy photographing the various species of cholla too. These guys make terrific candidates for backlighting too. Have a look at my black and white work and you'll find some that are backlit and they just positively glow. Good work on this one; it is tack-sharp. Cheers! Chris

Actually, the jumping cholla (or hanging cholla, or chain fruit cholla, by other names) are different than the Teddy Bear cholla. They both hurt though :-) This looks like more like a chain fruit cholla.

http://wc.pima.edu/~bfiero/tucsonecology/plants/cactuses_cfch.htm

 

Laurent, this is definitely the Teddy-bear Cholla, (Opuntia bigelovii). The Hanging Chain Cholla has longer bodies with less-dense needle coverage. I shot this picture with nearly horizontal lighting just seconds before sunset, which makes the bodies on the shadow side look darker than you'd expect from a Teddy Bear. I also realize that in this photo the bodies look longer, like a Hanging Chain, and I'm not sure why. Something to do with my position, angle, and the lighting. Not sure. But it's definitely a Teddy Bear. One way you can tell the difference is the sheer density of bodies and needles. Hanging Chain aren't this "full".

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Teddy_bear_cholla_opuntia_bigelovii.jpg

 

Although not part of its proper name, the Teddy Bear is also known colloquially as a "jumping" cactus.