CONTENTS
PAGE [PREFACE] vii [FOREWORD] ix [I A DESERT FASHION SHOW] 1 (Cereus) [II CACTUS SPINES AND PECULIARITIES] 27 [III THE BABY CACTUS] 32 (Pincushion) [IV THE PARADE OF THE DESERT FLOWERS] 62 (Hedgehog or Strawberry) [V THE PAINTED CANVAS OF THE DESERT] 88 (Prickly Pears) [VI MINIATURE FORTRESSES ON THE DESERT] 119 (Cholla) [VII A DESERT GRAVEYARD] 153 (Barrel or Bisnaga) [VIII CONCLUSION] 185 [GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY] 187 [INDEX] 191
ILLUSTRATIONS
[MEXICAN NIGHT BLOOMING CEREUS; REINA DE NOCHE; SERPENT CACTUS (Cereus serpentinus)] Frontispiece PAGE [SENITA, ZINA, OR SINA (Cereus Schottii)] 4 [NIGHT BLOOMING CEREUS; GODDESS OF THE NIGHT; LA REINA DE NOCHE; THE QUEEN OF NIGHT (Cereus Greggii)] Facing 8 [SAHUARO OR GIANT CACTUS (Cereus giganteus); AND PALO VERDE] ” 9 [SHORT SPINED STRAWBERRY CACTUS (Echinocereus Bonkeræ)] ” 28 [HORNED TOAD CACTUS (Mammillaria Mainæ)] ” 40 [SLENDER PINCUSHION CACTUS (Mammillaria fasciculata)] ” 40 [SUNSET CACTUS (Mammillaria Grahamii)] ” 41 [BENT SPINE PINCUSHION (Coryphantha recurvata)] ” 41 [GOLDEN SPINED STRAWBERRY CACTUS (Echinocereus chrysocentrus)] ” 66 [TURK’S HEAD (Echinocactus horizonthalonius)] ” 66 [TRAVELER’S FRIEND; CANDY CACTUS; TRAVELER’S COMPASS (Echinocactus Covillei)] ” 66 [DESERT STRAWBERRIES; FENDLER’S HEDGEHOG CACTUS (Echinocereus Fendleri)] ” 67 [INDIAN STRAWBERRY CACTUS; ENGELMANN’S HEDGEHOG CACTUS (Echinocereus Engelmannii)] ” 67 [SHORT SPINED STRAWBERRY CACTUS (Echinocereus Bonkeræ)] ” 72 [SALMON FLOWERED HEDGEHOG CACTUS (Echinocereus Leeanus)] ” 72 [CREAM PINCUSHION CACTUS (Mammillaria Johnstonii)] ” 73 [SHOWY PINCUSHION CACTUS (Coryphantha aggregata)] ” 73 [SNOWBALL PINCUSHION (Mammillaria Oliviæ)] ” 73 [CALIFORNIA PINCUSHION (Mammillaria tetrancistera)] ” 73 [RAINBOW CACTUS (Echinocereus rigidissimus)] ” 84 [PAPAGO FRUIT CACTUS (Opuntia Blakeana)] 91 [DELICATE PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia delicata)] 92 [WHIPPLE’S CHOLLA (Opuntia Whipplei)] 93 [PURPLE PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia santa rita)] 93 [SMOOTH PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia laevis)] 95 [FOOTHILL PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia Toumeyi)] 96 [DISCUS PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia discata)] 98 [ENGELMANN’S PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia Engelmannii)] 99 [BEAVER TAIL (Opuntia basilaris)] ” 100 [FLAPJACK PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia chlorotica)] ” 100 [PORCUPINE PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia hystricina)] ” 101 [TEDDY BEAR CACTUS (Opuntia Bigelovii)] ” 101 [GOLDEN PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia Covillei)] 102 [PORCUPINE PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia hystricina)] 105 [LONG SPINED PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia macrocentra)] 105 [GIANT CACTUS OR SAHUARO (Cereus giganteus)] ” 124 [MEXICAN NIGHT BLOOMING CEREUS; SERPENT CACTUS; REINA DE NOCHE (Cereus serpentinus)] ” 125 [DESERT CHRISTMAS CACTUS; TASAJILLO (Opuntia leptocaulis)] 128 [PROLIFIC TREE CHOLLA (Opuntia arbuscula)] 128 [MANY COLORED TREE CHOLLA (Opuntia versicolor)] 131 [POPULAR CHOLLA (Opuntia tetracantha)] 131 [THORNBER’S CHOLLA (Opuntia Thornberi)] 135 [MANY COLORED TREE CHOLLA (Opuntia versicolor)] 135 [JUMPING CHOLLA (Opuntia fulgida)] ” 136 [CURSED CHOLLA; DEVIL CACTUS (Opuntia Stanlyi)] ” 137 [BUCKHORN CHOLLA (Opuntia acanthocarpa)] ” 137 [CURSED CHOLLA; DEVIL CHOLLA (Opuntia Stanlyi)] 138 [JUMPING CHOLLA (Opuntia fulgida)] 138 [SPINY TREE CHOLLA (Opuntia spinosior)] ” 140 [CANDY BARREL CACTUS; FISHHOOK CACTUS (Echinocactus Wislizeni)] ” 160 [PINK FLOWERED VISNAGITA (Echinocactus Johnsonii)] ” 160 [MEXICAN FRUIT CACTUS (Echinocactus hamatacanthus)] ” 161 [GIANT VISNAGA; GIANT BARREL CACTUS (Echinocactus Visnaga)] ” 161
THE FANTASTIC CLAN
CHAPTER I
A DESERT FASHION SHOW
Kipling once said, “When you’ve heard the East a-calling, you won’t have anything else.” And this is true of the desert. The charm of the desert, once it gets its hold on you, always brings you back. There are no fears nor dreads out there; it is the place where mankind can go and rest.
When springtime comes it is time to be on the move, to see new places, new things, to enjoy, to learn. Early in April we start on a trek or trip by automobile across the Giant Amphitheater of the Sun, somewhere on the great desert along the Mexico-California frontier and thence on into Southern California; seeking out the plants and flowers which appear now in gay spring tints and hues, scrutinizing their wondrous beauty, their colorings and fantastic shapes, their scientific make-up and their dwelling places, and occasionally their grotesque appearance.
The desert is an enormous caldron of burning sand, rolling and rising and sinking here and there. But in the spring these arid lands present a striking parade of beautiful flowers—a veritable fashion show! It is early in the morning of a cloudless April day; the night dew is on most of the blossoms, and they are fresh from its bath. There is no dust and their colors are still bright as we inhale the fragrant scent. The desert glow is brightening, for the sun is rising just over the eastern rim of the foothills, and we stop to gaze upon the first of a colony of cacti called the Cereus Group. The name Cereus is musical; we find that it is from the Latin, meaning torch, and is given to this genus in the family of Cactaceæ because of the beautiful candelabralike branching of some of its members.