Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa × bigelovii
Red teddy bear cholla
Cacti · Cactaceae
Cylindropuntia bigelovii
(Engelm.) F.M.Knuth
Teddy bear cholla
Packed by hand and shipped by USPS from Phoenix, Arizona. Shipping is priced at checkout from the packed weight and box size. Shipping details
Few plants glow like a teddy bear cholla backlit by low sun. The “fur” is a dense coat of barbed spines, each in a papery sheath, and the joints let go at the lightest touch. In the wild, that is how the plant spreads: a fallen joint roots wherever it comes to rest.
Ships bare-root, wrapped in paper inside a hard mailing tube. Pot it in a fast-draining mineral mix, give it bright light, and wait about a week before the first watering.
Field notes
Xeromorphs · Phoenix, ArizonaCylindropuntia bigelovii(Engelm.) F.M.Knuth
- Family
- Cactaceae
- Native range
- Sonoran and Mojave Deserts — Arizona, California, Nevada, Baja California and Sonora
- Habit
- Upright, trunk-forming shrub to about 5 ft, branches crowded near the top and densely spined.
- Light
- Full sun. The pale gold spines color best in strong light.
- Water
- Deep, infrequent soaks in the warm months; dry from late fall through winter.
- Hardiness
- To 20 °F (−7 °C), kept dry
- Propagation
- Rooted cutting