Teddy bear (cactus)..and bunnies!

Not that I particularly need an excuse to post pictures of cute rabbits (or hares - what's the difference anyway?), but it is Friday and that makes this post a bit more festive anyway.  Why not throw in a few pics of this desert cottontail.  Which, by the way, is a true rabbit.
 

 

I saw this in a small park next to what looked like unmanaged desert on the way back to Phoenix, right off of I-17.   There were literally dozens of them when we drove into the park, scampering to safety before we could even hop out of the jeep.  Luckily, I found this one hidden in a mess of cholla, or Cylindropuntia.

That genus name should be vaguely familiar.  Cylindropuntia literally means cylindrical Opuntia.  Indeed, for some time chollas (pronounced CHOH-ya) were considered members of the Opuntia genus, but the absence of paddle-like stems has finally merited its own genus.   

Above, a small cholla, no more than 24" high.  I am stumped about which species of Cylindropuntia this is.  It looks quite a bit like C. tunicata, but that's native to Chile and I doubt this plant is an invader, they were ubiquitous in Arizona.  If it was an invasive non-native, I'm sure I'd have figured this out via books or websites.  C. spinosior is the most common cholla in Arizona, but this looks too hairy or spiny to be considered a member of that species.  Frankly, to go along with the thematic 'cuteness' of bunnies, I'm hoping this is C. bigelovii, or teddy bear cholla. 

There are 22 species of Cylindropuntia in the United States, so chances are this specimen is none of the above.  Though seeing a common name like teddy bear cholla (called that because from afar the plant looks more fuzzy than spiny).

 Happy Friday!

Prickly Pear

In addition to the saguaro, prickly pear must be one of the most recognizable American cacti.  This species is most like Opuntia engelmannii.  It's an invasive weed in Australia, South Africa and other regions that match the climate of the Sonoran Desert, as are many other species in this genus. 

I've seen this plant in Barcelona and New Jersey - both locations that are just not 'right' for the prickly pear.  But here, in the desert, it was a pleasure to observe.  The large, ping-pong paddle-like leaves are covered in long spines and in the spring, the plant has very large yellow flowers.  I was sorry to miss the floral display, but thrilled to see this plant in fruit.

We took an off-road jeep tour at sunset in Sedona - in the photo above our guide is harvesting a prickly pear for our sampling.   Even though the fruit appears to be spineless, it's actually covered in very small spines.  Grabbing this without the protection of gloves or a piece of paper would mean you'd be picking spines out of your fingers all day. 

Once you have a prickly pear in your hand, you can use a knife to cut away the skin, then scoop our the deep red, beet-colored flesh.  I wasn't sure what to expect but was surprised at how delicious the fruit is.  It's tangy and sweet, reminiscent of a plum, though it does have a grit to it from the seeds.

The fruit, which is commonly called 'tunas,' is used to make jams and, appropriately enough, to flavor margaritas. 

There are many species of Opuntia in the American Southwest.  The region I was visiting is most populated with O. engelmannii, but there is also O. phaeacantha var. discata (tulip prickly pear) and O. basilaris (beavertail prickly pear), which is spineless.

Opuntia is named for Opus, an ancient Greek city where cactus-like plants grow. 

Saguaro

I spent this past holiday weekend in Arizona and took hundreds of pics of the beautiful ecosystems there.  Our home base was in Sedona, but we spent time in the Grand Canyon and Phoenix as well.  Phoenix is in the northern limit of the Sonoran desert - known perhaps best for its most famous inhabitant, the Saguaro cactus, Carnegiea gigantea.
 

 

The saguaro is endemic to the Sonoran Desert, which stretches from Phoenix to northern Mexico.  Some occur near the lower Colorado River in California as well.  It's a massively tall tree, reaching heights up to fifty feet.  When you encounter one that tall, you can speculate that it's lived for as long as two hundred years. 

 

The tree's structure is not like a typical woody tree - instead the interior is comprised of wooden rods.  This allows the plant to expand and contract based on the amount of water it is storing.  Roots are shallow and stretch as far as fifty feet away from the trunk - this maximizes the amount of water the plant can capture during the rare rainfall.

 

The saguaro provides habitat to many desert birds, including gila woodpeckers and flickers, as well as desert raptors like elf and screech owls.  In addition to the many bird species found in the Sonoran Desert (350), there are 60 mammals, 20 amphibians, 30 fish and 100 reptiles.  In this little roadside park, I saw dozens of desert cottontails and greater roadrunners.

 

Here a younger saguaro is in the foreground to the right.  Saguaros must reach fourteen to sixteen feet in height (age 75, approximately) before it begins to branch.  

Saguaros are by far, one of the most iconographic American plants.  It's easy to overlook how big they get.  For precisely that reason, here's a shot illustrating its massive size.  For the record, I'm about 5'-3"!!