Holiday hiker's guide to cholla
Newcomers to the desert are having horrible accidents with cholla. One was a golfer who fell into one making a shot in the rough. Another mountain biker got flipped into major cholla and had to be rescued. If you don't know what cholla cactus is, read on if you ever plan to walk or hike this desert.
What Clark Moorten and I share is a love-hate relationship with all species of genus Opuntia. This is the genus for paddle stem prickly pears cactus we so easily identify by its shape. Another group of Opuntias known as cholla, bear cigar shaped stems spined as densely as an old baby bottle brush. Botanists have recently split it into a new genus for the cholla called: Cylindropuntia. As always, the older books will group cholla into Opuntia, while newer cactus lexicons are splitting the two.
Hikers must understand why many of these plants are commonly called "jumping cholla." The native Opuntia bigelovii, also called teddy bear cactus, is a jumper. If you doubt, just try to touch one. Get it in your skin, and it requires pliers to get it out because there are barbs on the large wicked spines. No other spine stick is so painful deeper down; a few others bleed once removed like these do.
The spine barbs are designed not to release, but to attach to a hiker or a passing animal. Cholla pieces are carried with them until it finally drops off at a new location to root and start a new plant. That's how cholla spread because it's too dry for them to reproduce by seed here.
Like the prickly pear, cholla also carry glochids hidden at the base of the bigger spines. You may not ever see them, but you'll feel them if they attach to your skin. Smaller than a baby's eyelash, they are painful, impossible to remove, likely to cause long-term irritation and easily infest your clothing. A sleeve brushed against a cholla picks up glochids that make it unwearable in the future as they don't come out of cloth well and can even penetrate heavy leather work gloves. As you walk down trails, be super aware of what you're walking past and avoid contact with any and all cholla and their spines.
More:The conundrums of plant nomenclatures
Another problem is that because cholla don't make seed most of the time, the remnant ovary of the flower becomes a dry, spiny marble. Each cholla releases them over the summer littering the ground all around the parent plant. If they had made fruits and seeds, animals would be feeding on them, but they are gathered only by pack rats.
These cholla marbles often afflict dog's feet. When they are removed, a lot of individual spines remain behind, each with a tiny callus ball on the end where it detached from the marble itself. Extract these residuals by finding the balls and grabbing them with tweezers to avoid breaking them off to leave microscopic tips in the flesh. Use a pen flashlight to illuminate them so they cast shadows, which makes them easier to see and remove. Always check your shoes after hiking and promptly remove any hitchhiking spines and marbles that will later drop off in your carpet. Stepping on chollas barefoot in the middle of the night is even worse than Legos!
When hiking, be sure to be prepared for cholla emergencies with a pocket comb, penlight, tweezers and a pair of needle nose pliers. Always carry a pocket comb like equestrians do to easily remove a piece of cholla from humans or animals quickly and safely. Slide the comb in underneath than flick it out with a single rapid jerk. Be sure to inspect for remnant spines afterward and pluck those out too.
More:Careful raking in the desert and keeping your pathways beautiful
Cholla cactus is an accident waiting to happen every day of the year. Anyone off-road and hiking the wild lands of the desert should identify them and be vigilant. Becoming distracted for even a minute in heavy cholla country can be devastating. But if you know the cholla a little bit better, you'll come to appreciate their reproductive strategy that included you and your hike that day.
