Found in a backyard in CA. What is this bark? Is it a nest? How did this pattern happen?

by basketballshorts6

23 Comments

  1. SignificantDrawer374

    Looks like dried up cactus

  2. GardenSherie

    We saw these everywhere in Joshua Tree, California ….dried up cacti tree

  3. 7LeagueBoots

    Not bark, internal structure of certain cactus.

    Ocotillo (*Fouquieria splendens*), which is not a cactus, has a similar internal structure.

  4. duckweedlagoon

    Cholla wood! Cactus “skeleton”! My guys love them — wish they weren’t so hard to get out here 😢

    That is a *lovely* specimen BTW — my loaches would be all under and through that!

  5. mossling

    A quick PSA on cholla wood and animals-

    Cholla wood is often sold in pet stores, for many types of pets. People see it at the store and assume it’s safe; and most of the time, it is. But there are countless stories of people whose pets (mainly fish or reptiles) have gotten stuck in the small holes and died. 

    So before you (generic “you”) put that pretty piece of cholla in your pet’s home, make sure you are aware of the risk. 

  6. Chumknuckle

    I had a lamp made from this material. Ended up being a wolf spider house 💀

  7. likes2milk

    In fairness i have no idea. Is it the be akin to a climbing ivy vine growing up a tree. I have seen them make intricate patterns.

  8. celeste00tine

    Always wondered if there were plants like these

  9. sidhescreams

    I had a bunch of prickly pear skeleton (this one’s a different cactus) that I picked up after a freeze melted them here. They’re equally as cool, and very delicate. I was cleaning clutter and binned them recently, and am still regretful.

  10. ApologeticCannibal

    That’s not tree bark it’s cholla cactus

  11. Lily_Queen

    Ah yes, the bark of the lady of the night tree. 😆

  12. Obvious-Pop178

    Cholla PSA if you get a piece of cholla, otherwise known as jumping cactus stuck in you, do not try to use pliers to get it off. It will just roll and stick in deeper. Take a stiff comb and put it between the body of the piece and the skin it’s stuck on, then flick it straight away from you. You may still have to pick out a needle or two left behind

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