Chain fruit cholla on Ajo Mountain Drive, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, AZ
About this photograph
- Creator
- Margery H. Freeman
- Date created
- Unknown
- Location
- Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona
- License
- This photograph copyright ©2009. All Rights Reserved
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- Search LEARN NC for Arizona, AZ, cacti, Chain fruit cholla, National Monument, Organ Pipe Cactus, plants, and Sonoran Desert.
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Chain fruit cholla on Ajo Mountain Drive, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona. Chain fruit cholla is also known as jumping cholla for the ease with which the cactus’ stems detach. Just brushing by it can leave stems attached to your clothing, giving the impression that the stem jumped on you. The cactus uses this as a mechanism for starting new plants, as animals can carry the stems for a great distance before depositing them elsewhere. Animals like the bighorn sheep rely on the juicy fruit for water during droughts.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt created Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument on April 13, 1937. The monument protects a diverse section of the Sonoran Desert, 95% of which is designated wilderness. It hosts twenty-six species of cacti, including its namesake, the organ pipe cactus, as well as the giant saguaro. The monument has been home to Native American, Mexican, and European groups, and was formerly the intersection of many trading routes. Mining, ranching, and overgrazing once scarred the land, and evidence from these activities is still apparent today. In 1976, the United Nations declared the monument an International Biosphere Reserve.
