Plant Fact Sheet

Cactaceae
Teddy Bear Cholla
Opuntia bigelovii

Teddy Bear or Jumping Cholla has an upright trunk that can reach 3 to 5 feet tall with closely spaced horizontal branches near the top of the trunk. Older, lower branches often die and fall off, giving the cactus a vertical appearance. A dense covering of yellowish spines, making it difficult to see the stem itself, protects the stems. With its spiny stems, this cactus may look soft from a distance, hence the common name Teddy Bear. This covering of spines not only provides protection from herbivores like rabbits and rodents, it is also believed to protect the stems from intense sunlight and may be a cooling mechanism for the cactus. The spines are very sharp and well barbed. Younger spines are yellowish and turn black with age, which is easily observed by examining the base of a taller plant. Yellow-green flowers emerge at the tips of the stems in spring, and the fruits that follow usually have no viable seed.

Teddy Bear Cholla occurs abundantly in warm regions of the Mojave Desert, in the Sonoran Desert, and also in Baja California. It prefers to grow on rocky south facing slopes and hillsides below 3,000 feet elevation.

The chollas and the prickly pear cacti, which are classified in the genus Opuntia, have a segmented growth pattern. The prickly pears have flattened segments, or pads, and the chollas have cylindrical segments. The segments of the Teddy Bear Cholla are easily detached from the plant by a soft touch of a passing animal or human, or even by strong winds. Since this species usually makes no viable seed, it relies on detached segments to form new plants by rooting and growing. Because the spines are so well barbed, loose segments of the cactus easily stick to passing animals and can be transported far from the mother plant before they become dislodged at their new home site. Many people might swear that the cactus jumped at them and grabbed them, which explains the common name Jumping Cholla. This is a testament to the efficiency of the barbed spines at attaching to passers-by.

Teddy Bear Cholla can grow so dense that it can form impenetrable stands. Due to its vegetative reproductive method, in some forests all of the plants may be clones that grew from pieces of a single pioneer plant that was transported to the new area.

When a piece of this cholla sticks to an unsuspecting human, a good method to remove the cactus is with a hair comb. But because the spines are so well barbed, be prepared to give a good tug.