The Jumping Cholla are among the most abundant and characteristic Cane Cacti on the ranges of southern Arizona, often excluding all other growth and spreading rapidly over the broad grazing grounds. They are a beautiful sight on the desert with their translucent white spines covered with loose silvery sheaths glistening in the bright sunshine, and a sight that will not easily be forgotten. The plants blossom from June to September and in Mexico are known as “Vela de Cojote” because of the shining spines; in the noonday rays of the sun at a distance of a mile or more, a forest of these plants on a hot day resembles a wavering, glistening white sheet of light, because of the tremendous heat vibrations of the vertical rays of the sun. [Illustration: JUMPING CHOLLA (Opuntia fulgida)] One can scarcely walk among these plants without some of the joints “jumping forth” as it were and becoming attached to the clothing; a strong wind will dislodge them, and woe to the human or animal caught by these cruel thorns. [Illustration: CURSED CHOLLA; DEVIL CACTUS (Opuntia Stanlyi)] A creeping crawling mass of rough hairy spines and sheaths, stout sharp swords, dangerous and effective in harshly repulsing advance of animal or ignorant human, is the Devil Cactus or Cursed Cholla, a veritable fortress on the desert. [Illustration: BUCKHORN CHOLLA (Opuntia acanthocarpa)] Over the arid sandy or gravelly soils of the southwestern desert, this fierce Cholla has fought his way and proved his right to existence, asking nothing from the hand of man and having little to give. Cursed Cholla (_Opuntia Stanlyi_) _Northern Mexico, Southern Arizona, and New Mexico_ Prostrate stems worming their way in impenetrable patches of six to twelve feet across the sandy soils of southern Arizona and Northern Mexico, a creeping, crawling mass of rough hairy spines and sheaths, stout sharp swords dangerous and effective in harshly repulsing advance of animal or ignorant human, is the Devil Cactus or Cursed Cholla, a veritable fortress on the desert. A welcome retreat for small rodents, snakes, and lizards, this terrible growth, _Opuntia Stanlyi_, is an object of fear to man and beast alike! spreading over the grazing lands and creating impenetrable areas dangerous and worthless for stock. One shudders when he sees the awful thing, repellent yet strangely magnetic, and generally tourists are glad to turn from it and retrace their steps to the highway. Whipple’s Cholla (_Opuntia Whipplei_) _Northern Arizona, New Mexico, Western Colorado, and Southern Utah_