Native Cacti and Succulents

This photo and the two insets show the flowers, a flower bud and the fruits of the Jumping Cholla Cactus, so called because the sections are easily detached and seem at times to "jump" onto one's shoes and clothes. The spines, as Jim has pointed out, can penetrate leather, so it is a very uncomfortable plant to be around.

This is a flower bud of the Jumping Cholla cactus, photographed at the Cholla Cactus Garden in Joshua Tree National Park. The garden is not really a garden at all but a large area filled with these cacti.

The fruits of the Jumping Cholla are edible and cattle are reported to love them, braving the spines to get at them. These were photographed at Cholla Cactus Garden in Joshua Tree National Park.

This was photographed by my wife near Dante's Overlook in Death Valley National Park and my best guess is that it is the Hedgehog Cactus, Echinocereus engelmannii. If it had been in flower it would have been easier to identify.

After driving through Titus Canyon, a drive that took us about six hours because of the rough roads, we started north on the Scotty's Castle Road, where my wife spotted a blooming Cholla among the many plants that were not in bloom. This is one of the Jumping Cholla,so-called in reference to the sections of the cactus which separate easily and just as easily attach to skin and shoes.

This was one of the few cacti we found in bloom in Death Valley, this one photographed along the Warm Spring Canyon Road.

These were blooming in the canyon through which we hiked to Darwin Falls on our last day in Death Valley National Park. They are the Beavertail Cactus, Opuntia basilaris.

The buds of these Hedgehog Cacti are almost as beautiful as the open flowers. This was seen and photographed along the trail to Fortynine Palms oasis in Joshua Tree National Park.

This is the flower, just opening, of the Hedgehog Cactus, one of the many different cacti we saw in Joshua Tree National Park last April. These were photographed along the trail to Frotynine Palms Oasis.