CACTUS FAMILY (Cactaceae)
Succulent herbs and shrubs; stems usually spiny and leafless; sepals and petals not differentiated, few or many; stamens many; ovary inferior; fruit pulpy, often edible.
Devil’s Tongue. Low Prickly Pear (Opuntia humifusa) grows in dry, rocky or sandy soil from Texas to Missouri, the flowers blooming in May and June and the fruits ripening to a rose-red in the late summer and fall. The flat-jointed stems are often oval but vary in shape and in the number of large spines growing from the spine cushions scattered over the stems. Sometimes no spines are present, but often 1-2 occur along the margins. Numerous short leaves, which are present only in the spring in this and other cacti, grow from the spine cushions. The spine cushions also bear dense clusters of slender, short brown spines. The flowers are yellow with red centers, 3-4 in. broad, widely spreading. Like many other cacti, they open in bright sunlight. The plant is low and has tuberous roots.
Texas Prickly Pear. Lindheimer’s Cactus (Opuntia lindheimeri) has flowers which are yellow upon opening but which take on a lovely saffron-red the next day. Flowers of both colors are often present on the same joint. The large purple pear-shaped fruits are edible and ripen in the summer and fall. The plants often grow in large clumps and attain a great height. The spine cushions of the oval joints bear 2-3 rather short, stout, stiff spines. It is the common prickly pear from Central Texas south into Mexico.
The pencil cactus or tasajillo (Opuntia leptocaulis), conspicuous for its small stems and bright red fruits, is abundant in the state and Mexico. “Cholla,” or walking-stick cactus (Opuntia imbricata), with long slender stems and purple flowers, is common on western plains.
The cactus family has numerous representatives in Texas, but drastic legislation is needed to save some of the natural beauty spots of the western part of the state. The showy “viznaga” or barrel-cactus, used in making cactus candy, is almost exterminated in the vicinity of El Paso; and cactus fanciers are making great ravages on many others. The fruits of many are edible; the young leaves of the prickly pears are cooked for greens; and the stems are used for cattle feed after the spines have been burned.