Chain Fruit Cholla Flowers

I did a post on the chain fruit cholla, also known as the hanging chain or jumping cholla, in 2010 and as part of that post noted that they bloom from June to August, but that I had not seen the blooms before.

During a wet end of February this year.

Chain fruit cholla are one of the things that make OPCNM so great.

They almost look like little necklaces hanging from trees.

I went to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in mid-June this year and finally saw my first flowering chain fruit cholla, something I've wanted to see for a long time. 

All of these little balls are prior fruits. 

The skeleton of a dead chain fruit cholla.

Now, isn't that worth waiting for! 

With a different camera, lens and setting, I get a totally different color. Both are spectacular. 

They are beautiful. I only found them flowering in one area, near Quitobaquito Spring, very near the Mexico border.