''Cylindropuntia'' is a genus of cacti ( family Cactaceae), containing species commonly known as chollas, native to northern Mexico and the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...

. They are known for their barbed spines that tenaciously attach to skin, fur, and clothing. Stands of cholla are called cholla gardens. Individuals within these colonies often exhibit the same DNA, as they were formerly tubercles of an original plant.

Taxonomy

''Cylindropuntia'' was formerly treated as a

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...

of ''

Opuntia ''Opuntia'', commonly called prickly pear or pear cactus, is a genus of flowering plants in the cactus family Cactaceae. Prickly pears are also known as ''tuna'' (fruit), ''sabra'', ''nopal'' (paddle, plural ''nopales'') from the Nahuatl word f ...

'', but have now been separated based on their cylindrical stems (''Opuntia'' species have flattened stems) and the presence of papery epidermal sheaths on the spines (''Opuntia'' has no sheaths). A few species of mat- or clump-forming opuntioid cacti are currently placed in the genus ''

Grusonia ''Grusonia'' is a genus of opuntioid cacti (family Cactaceae), originating from the North American Deserts in Southwest United States and northern Mexico, including Baja California. Authors differ on precise boundaries of the genus, which has b ...

''. Collectively, opuntias, chollas, and related plants are sometimes called opuntiads. The roughly 35 species of ''Cylindropuntia'' are native to the southwestern and south-central United States, Mexico, and the West Indies. ''The Flora of North America'' recognizes 22 species.Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 1993+. ''Flora of North America North of Mexico''. 16+ vols. New York and Oxford. Some species have been introduced to South America (Chile, Ecuador, Peru) and South Africa.

Species

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

accepts the following species:

Hybrids

Cholla wood in pet trade

Dried, dead ''Cylindropuntia'' sections are called "cholla wood" and are popular in the pet trade. In

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

s they are immersed partly or entirely into the water for pets to swim through, and in terrariums and other terrestrial

pet enclosure A pen is an enclosure for holding livestock. It may also perhaps be used as a term for an enclosure for other animals such as pets that are unwanted inside the house. The term describes types of enclosures that may confine one or many animal ...

s they are placed and propped up for climbing.

Notes

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile for ''Cylindropuntia'' (cholla)

Flora of North America: Key for ''Cylindropuntia''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q137197 Cacti of Mexico Cacti of the United States North American desert flora Opuntioideae genera Taxa named by George Engelmann