This plant was purchased in September, 1995, at the Michigan Cactus and Succulent Society plant sale. Unfortunately, it has lost some branches, probably as a result of rot from getting too much rain in Summer 2000. I don't really have a way to keep excessive summer rains off of the Opuntia bed, but this one has only shown its suffering since Spring 2001.

Davis' devil cholla is most probably a wild hybrid, and I have heard that it is triploid, just like a mule, which means that it's chromosomes can't pair up during meiosis, making it sterile. My plant has made the characteristically unusual flowers, a copper color, apparently with no pollen produced. The fruits have no seeds, but when they are picked and set on the ground, they take root, just like a stem, and make a new plant. I have one such fruit cutting, and it started growing where I put it, even though I didn't want a plant there. I just wanted to save the fruit in case it had any seeds. None of the fruits from this plant have had any seeds when I cut them open; more evidence that the plant is sterile.

The same plant in Summer 1998, with no flowers. Note the fruit (two of them in the lower left corner, top picture) and spring growth, Spring 2000. Also note the flower (left side of bottom picture) and spring growth, also in Spring 2000. Although the two larger pictures (top and bottom) were taken in 2000, the fruit in the top picture is still on the plant from 1999. The fruit never ripens, stays on the plant, and acts like a stem.

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Click here or on any picture above to read how I grow this plant.