Story and photos by Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist
With a little imagination, and a couple of hints, our Valley nature parks might be seen to decorate themselves for the holidays — naturally.
One such obvious plant is tasajillo (Opuntia leptocaulis), a pencil-thin, slender, jointed cactus often called Christmas cactus because its fruit turns red in December, dotting pockets of our scrub forests with natural holiday baubles.
Tasajillo can grow upright or sprawling, frequently forming large colonies. Tasajillo also is called desert Christmas cholla. Cholla, pronounced choy-a, is a cactus with a cylindrical stem as opposed to Texas prickly pear whose pads are flat. Tasajillo’s small nodules sport quite noticeable long, golden spines, and seemingly hundreds of tiny, barely visible spines.
Another common name is jumping cactus — take that as a caution to keep a safe distance when investigating a specimen. Folklore has it that parts of the cactus will jump out and cling to clothes.
In truth, the thin, multi-jointed, thorn-encrusted plant easily detaches when disturbed. Should a couple of pencil-thin joints stick onto clothing, don a pair of gloves before picking them off — avoid using bare fingertips, where you’re sure to get an invisible spine imbedded in your skin. If such an encounter happens, it’s best to pull the spines using a pair of tweezers, strong light and a magnifying glass.
Wildlife don’t have the problems humans do. The fruit is a treat for northern bobwhite quail, mockingbirds, curved-billed thrashers and many other songbirds. Coyotes and rodents also eat the fruit. The larger plants provide nesting sites for cactus wrens, and cover for quail, small mammals and lizards.
Tasajillo is readily spread by birds depositing seeds or animals breaking off the plants’ jointed branches, which take root easily when segments drop to the ground or are carried to new areas as animals travel through the habitat.
Other sights where nature appears to have decorated itself for the holidays is with Mexican caesalpinia (Caesalpinia Mexicana). The bright yellow clusters that sometimes bloom into December turn into golden bunches of seed pod ornaments, giving the trees a festive look.
The interesting thing about these seed pods is that when dry, they twist open with a resounding pop. The seeds shoot out to fall where they will. Before long, tiny upstarts will surround the mother plant.
Mexican Caesalpinia is a popular small tree for home landscapes. The blooms attract hummingbirds, bees and butterflies. The tree is a host for the curve-wing metalmark butterfly.
Not to be out-done, an appealing, if not popular, woody twining vine, Mexican tournefortia (Tournefortia volubilis), is making googly-eyes at all the girls and boys. Not the famed “Silver Bells,” or garlands of strung popcorn, but the black-tipped, milky-white berries are an unexpected delight to come upon during a nature walk.
With a stretch of the imagination, a brief cold snap can turn another native vine, Mexican Urvillea (Urvillea ulmacea), into bronze garlands, festooning the trees and shrubs it uses to twine itself through. An identifying clue: the seed pods are shaped like little footballs.
