The jumping cholla ((Cylindropuntia fulgida var. fulgida (Engelm.) F.M.Knuth var. fulgida ) has been receiving a lot attention from the local press and the legislature in Zimbabwe because of its declaration by the Environmental Management Agency as a

1

The Jumping cholla (Cylindropuntia fulgida
(Engelm.) F.M.Knuth var. fulgida ), a new
invasive species of the semi-arid areas of
Matebeleland in Zimbabwe Professor A. B.
Mashingaidze2 and Dr Joyce Ndlovu2 1Director,
Invasive Species Research and Management Unit,
Chinhoyi University of Technology, P. Bag 7724,
Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe 2Seniour Lecturer, School of
Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Department of
Biology, Chinhoyi University of Technology, P.
Bag 7724, Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe
ABSTRACT The Jumping cholla or Chain-fruit
cholla (Cylindropuntia fulgida) is a new invasive
cactus species that is invading the semi-arid
districts of Matebeleland. The weed was
introduced most likely as a ornamental plant by
landscape garden enthusiasts and there are
reports that local villages in Beit-Bridge and
Gwanda district planted it around their
homesteads in the belief that it protected them
against lighting strikes. The main method of
spread is though vegetative propagation when
segments of the thony cactus detach themselves
from the main plant at the slightest contact and
attach themselves to passing human, animal, bird
and vehicular traffic (hence jumping cholla) and
are carried to new areas. The detached segments
easily re-root, despite the aridity of the
environment, because they are succulent (store
water and nutrients) and the jumping cholla
establishes in new areas. The weed produces white
and pink flowers displayed at the tips of
segments or old fruits that remain attached to
terminal segments (hence chain fruit cholla or
hanging chain fruit cholla), but sexual
propagation is rare since most of the seeds
produced within the fruits are sterile. The
cactus is covered with 2-3cm silvery yellow
spines that have backward facing barbs making
them difficult and extremely painful to remove
once they imbed themselves into the flesh. The
plant forms thick impregnable thickets that deny
farmers and their animals access to grazing
areas, water holes and crop fields, injure and
kill domestic and wild animals. Villagers are
currently slashing and burying the weed but the
most sustainable method of controlling the weed
is the introduction a classical biological
control agent that is very specific for the
control of the jumping cholla, the cholla biotype
of the cochineal insect Dactylopius tomentosus,
which feeds on the plant and destroys it.

• DESCRIPTION (continued)
• additional protection and are very difficult to
  remove, causing irritation and skin disorders
  (irritant contact dermatitis) in humans and
  animals that come into contact with the weed. The
  major problem to communities in Matebeleland
  where it is now endemic is that it forms
  impregnable physical barriers that deny them
  access to grazing land, agricultural land and
  watering points. The spines cause injury to
  domestic and wild animals and so far there are
  reports that villagers have lost cattle, donkeys
  and goats to the weed, valuable assets in the
  semi-pastoral agricultural system that sustains
  livelihoods in semi-arid areas of Zimbabwe.

INTRODUCTION The jumping cholla ((Cylindropuntia
fulgida var. fulgida (Engelm.) F.M.Knuth var.
fulgida ) has been receiving a lot attention
from the local press and the legislature in
Zimbabwe because of its declaration by the
Environmental Management Agency as a noxious
invasive species and the social and economic
problems that the weed is reportedly causing to
villagers in Matebeleland South. The jumping
cholla is being commonly misidentified as Rosea
cactus which is the common name of another
similar cylindropuntia species, Opuntia rosea,
also known as the Hudson Pear. This confusion on
the nomenclature and taxonomic identification of
the jumping cholla continues despite fact that
the chain-fruit cholla or jumping cholla
Cylindropuntia fulgida (Engelm.) F.M.Knuth var.
fulgida or Opuntia fulgida (Engelm) has been
taxonomically confirmed as the species that has
invaded South Africa and Zimbabwe (Henderson and
Zimmermann, 2003 Paterson et al., 2011). The
species is reported by EMA to have invaded more
than 3000 hectares of land in Gwanda and
Beitbridge distrit of Matebeleland South province
in Zimbabwe and is spreading to other semi-arid
districts of Bulilima and Insiza. This objective
of this review is to clarify misconceptions
about the identity, origin and biology of the
weed to bring all practitioners and scientists to
the same level of understanding of what they are
dealing with and facilitate informed and
effective management of this invasive species to
the benefit of thousands of smallholder farmers
in Matebeleland South, whose livelihoods and
economic well-being are severely being disrupted
by the weed. TAXONOMY AND ORIGIN OF JUMPING
CHOLLA The jumping cholla cactus belongs to the
family Cactaceae that comprise approximately 1
600 species and 130 genera sub-divided into four
sub-families Pereskioideae, Opuntioideae,
Cactoideae) and Maihuenioideae (Anderson, 2001).
The sub-family Opuntioideae to which the jumbing
chola belongs, is sub-divided into five tribes
Tephrocacteae, Pterocacteae, Austrocylindropuntiea
e, Cylindropuntieae and Opuntieae (Wallace and
Dickie, 2002). The two largest genera within the
Opuntiod subfamily are the flat stemmed Opuntia
(29 species) and the terete (cylindrical but
usually slightly tapering at both ends) stemmed
Cylindropuntia (12 species) (Griffith and Potter,
2009). The jumbing cholla is a Cylindropuntia
species. TABLE 1 Classification of the jumping
cholla (Cylindropuntia fulgida (Engelm.) F.M.
Knuth) (USDA Natural Resources Conservation
Service, 2014) Kingdom Plantae Subdivision Trac
heobionta Vascular Plant Super-division Spermat
ophyta - Seed Plant Division Magnoliophyta -
Flowering Plant Class Magnoliopsida
Dicotyledon Subclass Caryophyllidae Order Caryo
phyllales Family Cactaceae Cactus
family Genus Cylindropuntia (Engelm.) Kreuzinger
- cholla Species Cylindropuntia fulgida
(Engelm.) F.M. Knuth jumbing cholla Variety Cyl
indropuntia fulgida (Engelm.) F.M. Knuth var.
fulgida jumping cholla Synonym Opuntia
fulgida Engelm. The cactus species is native to
the arid deserts of Sonoran Desert in north east
Mexico and the south eastern United States in the
Colorado Desert of California, the Yuma Desert of
Arizona and the Mojave Desert in Southern Nevada
and Utah. It has spread throughout the world
including Africa and Australia semi-arid regions
, where it is a problematic invasive
species.  
Fig 1 Close up of jumping cholla spine with
backward facing barbs that make it extremely
painful and difficult to remove once they are
imbedded in flesh

Fig 2 Cylindropuntia fulgida on a rocky outcrop
near Manama Mission in Gwanda district,
Matebeleland South Province, Zimbabwe (Courtesy
of Hyde, Wursten and Ballings, 2007)
MANAGEMENT OPTIONS FOR THE JUMPING
CHOLLA Currently villagers in Matebelelend are
being organized to slash the invasive species
and collect plant material and bury it in deep
pits. Although the method is effective for
removing small infestations of the weed, it is
labour intensive, time consuming and expensive to
effectively remove the weed from the large areas
that it has invaded. EMA has asked for US 2.5
million for this exercise but such resources have
not materialized from a cash-strapped government
. In addition any small pieces of the plant that
remain can be a source of re-infestation. Phloem
translocated phenoxy herbicides applied as
sprays or injections such as MSMA, triclopyr,
picloramtriclopyr and amitrole are effective
against the jumping cholla but need technical
know-how and are an expensive option
(Mashingaidze and Chivinge, 1995). The cheapest
and most sustainable method of managing the weed
is for quarantine authorities to introduce the
biological control agent for Cylindropuntia
fulgida, the cholla biotype of the cochineal
insect Dactylopius tomentosus, whose females
and nymphs feed on the plant, probably injecting
toxins into plant tissues, causing the
destruction of the plant.
REFERENCES Henderson L. and H. G. Zimmermann
2003. (Opuntia fulgida Engelm) misidentified as
rosea cactus (Opuntia rosea DC) in South Africa.
South African Journal of Plant and Soil 20 (1)
46-47. Paterson I. D., J.H. Hoffman, H. Klein, C.
W. Mathege, S. Neser and H.G. Zimmermann 2011.
Biological control of Cactaceae in South Africa.
African Entomology 19230-246. Mashingaidze A. B
and O. A. Chivinge 1995. Demystifying the dioxin
controversy associated with the use of 2.4 D to
control of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes)
in Lake Chivero in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe Journal of
Agricultural Research 33 (1) 1-11.
. DESCRIPTION AND IMPACT OF THE WEED The
Jumping cholla is an arborescent (tree like) low
branching cylindrical cactus species that can
grow to a height of 4-5 metres with drooping
branches of chain fruits (hence chain fruit
cholla). Stems are light green and covered with
small wart like projections , measuring 6-9 mm in
diameter, called tubercles. To reduce
transpiration, leaves have been reduced to
spines, 6-12 of which arise from small light to
dark coloured bumps called areoles on the surface
of stems and segments. Young branches are
completely covered with silvery to yellow spines
that darken to a grey colour with age. Smaller
detachable bristles , called glochids, grow out
of the areoles. Glochids provide