Rev Posted October 2, 2004 http://www.geocities.com/xakarii/mostpainful.html What makes this cholla so unique is that the stem segments or joints break off with the slightest touch and become firmly attached to various body extremities. Unlike the unrelated but truly amazing Mexican jumping beans and California jumping galls, this cholla doesn't really jump. If you barely touch or brush against the spines and then suddenly jerk away, the fuzzy stem fragment will be instantaneously upon you. Trying to pull out the barbed spines is not only frustrating and excruciating, but usually results in the joint or fragment becoming attached to another part of your anatomy. On a field trip to the Anza-Borrego Desert of San Diego County, several students attempted to remove a segment from a lady's shoe, only to have it transferred to the shoes of each chivalrous male. It finally ended up on the hand of a screaming (bleeding) student who promptly flipped it full force into Mr. Wolffia's groin region. From that day forward the Wayne's Word staff always carries a pair of needle-nose pliers when walking through jumping cholla country. Closeup microphotography with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) reveals why the spines of jumping cholla are so tenacious and difficult to pull out of skin. The spine is covered with sharp, overlapping scales or barbs that lie flat and allow the spine to penetrate skin readily like a very sharp needle. When you try to remove a spine, you are pulling against hundreds of tiny scales. In the process, other spines penetrate the skin from all directions, making the extraction very painful and seemingly hopeless. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rev Posted October 2, 2004 Opuntia fulgida or Opuntia bigelovii Ouch i remember well [ 01. October 2004, 22:50: Message edited by: reville ] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Torsten Posted October 2, 2004 I think the cacti with recurved sppines ae the worst. you think you got away and then as you pull out they tear you open. Is it true that they catch birds this way? by design (for fertiliser) or accident? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Absinthe Posted October 2, 2004 Oh I love these things, pity I don't have any yet. I was reading about one (hmmmm, I think it was fulgida) a while back, and it said that they were sterile, using the fact that animals will painfully and unwillingly transport a segment to a different location to propagate. This brings me to think about its evolution: I am guessing that there would be a correlation between ability to be pollinated and effectiveness of spine length/stickiness. So they may in fact not be sterile, they just have nothing else to cross-pollinate withm which is difficult in the first place. I want one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rev Posted October 2, 2004 I though most Opuntias were self pollinating I had O fulgida , id grabbed a cutting (or did it grab me?) from a no longer existing plant display at Kings park in Perth I kept it in a hanging basket and joked about using it outside my house windows after an attempted break in But then it got me - one too many times and so i decided that it wasnt worth the pain to keep this one still it means that soemwhere out there there are these cacti in collections I know someone who is the most likely person to have it as they have the biggets opuntia collection ive ever seen in Australia and i could put you in touch . PM me. [ 02. October 2004, 17:44: Message edited by: reville ] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
