DESERT PLACES MADE TO BLOOM 



By Mrs. E. F. Rush. 



THE prickly growths of the desert are not void of blossom. 

 In the spring of the desert year, these leafless plants bring 

 forth flowers that for beauty of color and outline, texture and 

 fragrance, cannot be excelled by plants of the most carefully 

 nurtured hot house forms. It is as if nature endeavored to 

 "make good" by this lonely, leafless, patient denzen of the 

 desert. 



The prickly pear or Indian fig, a native of the desert or 

 Great Plains of North America, is the most praiseworthy of 

 this great plant family. The blossoms of yellow, and some- 

 times a cardinal red, are followed by a species of peculiar, 

 pear-shaped, purple-colored fruit about as large as an Qgg. 

 This fruit is edible, and forms an important adjunct to the 

 culinary resources of the American Indian housewife. 



In Mexico, the large, flat, prickly lobes or "leaves" of 

 this plant are shaved of their thorns and shredded by the na- 

 tives, the green shreds resembling string beans. When 

 cooked and served in the same manner as the green bean, a 

 novice could scarcely tell the difference between this cactus 

 vegetable and the bean. 



The Sahuaro, or giant Sahuaro, as the natives call it, 

 grows to an unusual height and age in Southern Arizona, the 

 one shown being approximately two hundred years old. The 

 Sahuaro appears very clannish, preferring to grow in groups, 

 In the moonlight these "groves" of Sahuaro look like an ap- 

 proaching army ! 



There are about 1000 species of Cactaceae, almost with- 

 out exception natives of America. The group Cactus is to 



