98 THE PLANT WORLD 



It would be difficult to estimate exactly the importance 

 of the sahuaro to the animal life of the area which is 

 inhabits. Its flowers opening in May and June offer food 

 and shelter to countless swarms of small bees and gnats. 

 The ripening fruits furnish a profusion of seeds and a wealth 

 of sweetish pulp to birds and small mammals, while the 

 Indian makes use of both portions of the fruit, fresh, 

 fermented and preserved. Scores of tribal bat<"]es have been 

 fought in Papagueria over the sahuaro harvest. The seeds 

 which reach the ground quickly germinate in the baking soil, 

 and the tiny capsules of acid water stored in the plump 

 spineless hypocotyl constitute a most attractive morsel for 

 thirsty and hungry animals, and not one seedling in n 

 million survives the first year in consequence. The bases 

 of large plants are stripped and gnawed by rabbits and hares 

 in the southern portion of the habitat, while the carpentarios, 

 or woodpeckers bore huge cavities into the soft outer tissue 

 which are quickly lined with a callus formation, forming a 

 fine nest cavity. These cavities also offer storage room and 

 shelter for swarms of honey bees. With so many animals 

 making use of its fleshy trunk and branches, the greater 

 number of the sahuaros perish before reaching a height of 

 forty feet. The central pith and the thick outer cylinder 

 of pulp quickly decay leaving a fascicle of woody rods which 

 anastomose in the older lower portions but which are free 

 in the upper terminal parts. The callus bags developed 

 around the cavities made by birds also resist decay and may 

 be seen hanging to various parts of the woody skeleton. 

 Decay generally begins in the lower part of the trunk which 

 goes to pieces first, with the result that some of the upper 

 branches retain their form and normal appearance for many 

 months while attached to a naked skeleton high up in the 

 air and separated from any available supply of water by 

 many feet. 1 he illustration given in Fig. 2, shows such 

 a living green branch which has maintained an independent 

 existence on the dead skeleton for about 14 months. 



