LIFE HISTORIES OF FAMILIAR PLANTS 



from the attacks of animals inhabiting the desert 

 districts where they grow — hungry and thirsty ani- 

 mals, ever roaming and seeking succulent material 

 that will quench their thirst. 



On the sandy and sun-scorched plains, when 

 every spring has long dried up, and all ordinary 

 green plants have become shrivelled and burnt, the 

 tempting reservoirs of the cacti stand out fresh and 

 green, surviving throughout the greatest droughts ; 

 yet the goaded animals, maddened, and sometimes 

 almost dying with thirst, rarely attack them. 

 You have but to make a slight acquaintance with 

 cactiform plants to learn the reason why ! 



There are no plants on the earth more fear- 

 fully armed and, conversely, there are no plants 

 that need greater protection. The leaves they 

 once had have all been modified into sharp and 

 irritating bristles and stout spines with points 

 that can inflict terrible wounds on an attacking 

 animal. Sometimes a single species will possess 

 several forms of weapons, all arranged one with 

 the other to offer an unassailable protection ; 

 hence it happens that animals will rather starve 

 than attempt to reach the nourishment that 

 would sustain their lives. Occasionally, wild 

 horses and asses will make an attack by kick- 

 ing at the plants with their hoofs, in this way 

 exposing some of the softer internal tissues, but 

 even these strong animals often get severely in- 

 jured and not infrequently lamed as a result of 

 their efforts. 



Sometimes the cacti are protected only with 



lOO 



