CERRILLOS HILLS HISTORIC PARK

The medicinal or remedio uses referenced in this text are solely to inform the reader of the traditional and historical folkways of the people of New Mexico. This information is not medical advice. Always consult your physician before using any medicinal product.

The most common species of cholla in New Mexico, the cane cholla, is identified by its brilliant magenta flowers. The bright yellow, spineless fruit may remain on the plant until the following year. Cane cholla is a bushy cactus with spiny, cylindrical, fleshy stems, which when dead show a latticed woody skeleton. It may grow to be as tall as a person. The spines are very finely barbed and difficult to remove from flesh.



Historically, cholla is said to have been famine food, the dethorned joints, flower buds, and fruit were all eaten. Cholla is a good source of calcium.

It is thought entraña, "entrails", comes from the resemblance of the woody lattice skeleton of the cholla to tripe.

A cholla with a thick covering of spines, at all angles, some spines much longer than others, the Dagger cholla is identified by its bright yellow flowers. This cholla, like the Cane cholla, has spiny, cylindrical, fleshy stems, which when dead show a latticed woody skeleton. Its spines are very finely barbed and difficult to remove.

Historically the dethorned joints, flower buds, and fruit of the cholla were all eaten, but it was regarded as a famine food. Cholla is a good source of calcium.

The stems of this cactus usually grow in clusters and are cylindrical and conspicuously ribbed. The white, dark brown, or purple spines grow on the vertical ridges, arranged in lighter-darker bands around the plant. The flowers come in many shades of yellow, pink, and red. The fruit are dry and plain.




E. triglochidiatus, known as the Claret Cup cactus, is pictured to the left. E. coccineus, the Scarlet hedgehog, is pictured bottom center. "coccineus" is Latin for scarlet red.

In the old days in New Mexico, and even occasionally today, stems of the hedgehog cactus were roasted in a pit or sliced and baked as a squash.

A wide-ranging and variable species found below 8,500 feet elevation from Canada to Mexico. Sometimes just a small ball or a single ribless cylinder protruding above the ground, but may grow in clusters. The spines of the mature plant are white, and the flowers come in many shades of yellow, pink, and red.

Pincushion cactus, the spines burned off or halved and scooped out, were eaten as a snack.

A flat stout-spined cactus typically arranged in a series of jointed pads, growing close to the ground. The flowers come in many shades of yellow, pink, and red. Opuntia macrorhiza is common in the Cerrillos Hills. O. phaeacantha has gray thorns and purple fruit.

From the Nahuatl term for this cactus, nocheznopalli, comes the Spanish "nopal".



This cactus produces succulent, fig-sized green (immature) or red (ripe) fruits called tunas. A ripe tuna, which was eaten uncooked, was one of the few sweets available before historic times. The nopal pad, which is also edible, was probably one of the 'starvation foods' of ancient times.

A wet winter or spring will encourage the cochineal insect, a parasite of the nopal cactus. Cochineal insects live under the white, fuzzy mold sometimes found on nopal pads. The female cochineal insect is the source of a natural bright scarlet dye. New World cochineal was first shown at the court of Spain in 1526, and by 1600 cochineal was second only to precious metals in value as an export from America. Coal tar-based dyes, first developed in the mid 1800s, replaced cochineal and other natural dyes, so today none but a few hobbyists and traditionalists use natural dyes.