Sunset set Tonto National Forest with Saguaro & Teddy Bear Cholla Cactus. "Cactus Hill"

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The plant has a soft appearance due to its solid mass of very formidable spines that completely cover the stems. From a distance, the stems appear soft and fuzzy, giving it the name "teddy bear". The teddy-bear cholla is an erect plant, standing 1 to 5 ft ( to m) tall with a distinct trunk. The branches are at the top of the trunk and are nearly horizontal. Lower branches typically fall off, and the trunk darkens with age. The silvery-white spines, which are actually a form of leaf, almost completely obscure the stem with a fuzzy-looking, but impenetrable, defense. The spines are 1 in ( cm) long and are covered with a detachable, paper-like sheath.

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Size: 4256px × 2831px
Location: Tonto National Forest, AZ.
Photo credit: © Morey Milbradt / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: arizona, bear, boulders, cactus, cholla, cholla], cloud, clouds, day, desert, evening, flora, forest, hill, milbradt, morey, national, outdoors, rocks, saguaro, sharp, sky, sonoran, spines, sunlight, sunrise, sunset, tall, teddy, tonto, vertical