This is not a story about the Christmas cactus, a succulent with wintertime blooms and Central American origin. The Christmas cholla, or Cylindropuntia leptocaulis, as its scientifically known, bears ...

Across the American southwest, they’re known as the teddy bear cacti, with puppet-like arms coated with a seemingly soft fuzz. Although they look cute, these plants, formally called cholla, are ...

Spring has once again returned to the deserts of North America, and with her return, so too have the amazing colorful blooms of desert wildflowers and cacti. Because of the winter rains, this land, so ...

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 ...

The spines of the jumping cholla cactus slide in with ease, but they’re grueling to extract. You can thank their barbs. ByKatherine J. Wu Tuesday, November 20, 2018 NOVA NextNOVA Next This unfortunate ...

As anyone who’s gotten too close to a jumping cholla cactus can attest, the experience is singularly painful — and difficult to resolve, as the cactus’ spines are particularly stubborn to remove.

A Harris's antelope squirrel amongst the spines of the cholla cactus, where it painstakingly searches for cactus fruit - one of the only sources of moisture around. Whilst filming the amazing Harris’ ...