BOTAMCAL LABORATORY IN THE DESERT. 



34i 



main for some t ime attached, Lend 

 a shaggy top-knot appearance 

 which for the while del racts from 

 the dignity of the plant. When 

 the fruits are ripe, the fleshy peri- 

 carps split, disclosing the crim- 

 son pulps studded with small. 

 bla< k seeds. The effect, at this 

 time, if one stands at a modest 

 range suggests a mass of crimson 

 flowers. The fruits are sought for 

 by Mexicanos and Papagos with an 







I 



Barrel Cactus. 



to quench the thirst. The prickly 

 pears are found in profusion, and 

 represent at least two species, one 

 a shrubby form, four feet in height, 

 the other a sprawler. The fruits 

 of these two plants are also col- 

 lected and eaten. 



Smallest among these curious 

 plants is a species of Mamillaria, 

 each protuberance of which is sur- 

 mounted by a radiating group of 



Barrel Cactus Cut Across. 



avidity wdrich to my own taste is 

 scarcely justified by their flavor, 

 that of a ripening fig. 



Another prominent member of 

 the cacti is the barrel-cactus 

 {Ecliinocactus Wislezeni), which 

 is two feet in height and eighteen 

 inches in diameter, and is armed 

 with large hooked spines. In this 

 plant, as will be seen in the illus- 

 tration, the rind is remarkably de- 

 veloped, this tissue containing 

 about eighty per cent, water. As 

 the sap when extracted is potable, 

 this species, as well as certain 

 others, is used as a source of water 





Mammillaria. 



