USEFUL NATIVE PLANTS OF NEW MEXICO—STANDLEY. 449 
For the greater part of the year cactuses are little more than 
masses of spines, of bizarre but scarcely beautiful appearance; but in 
the spring with the advent of warm weather their buds develop and 
the plants are transformed into clusters of resplendent flowers. No 
southwestern plants produce more showy blossoms; hence they are 
admirably suited for cultivation in arid districts, where it is difficult 
or impossible to grow the ornamental plants favored elsewhere. The 
most beautiful of all our native cactuses are the species of the genus 
Kchinocereus. These are characterized by spiny cylindrical stems, 
seldom more than 1 foot high and 3 or 4 inches in diameter, growing 
singly or in clumps. Their flowers, borne profusely along the angles 
of the stems, are very large, often 6 inches long, and of bright and rich 
hues ranging through yellow, pink, scarlet, salmon, crimson, and 
purple. At the New Mexico Agricultural College beds of some of the 
different species have been established, each containing several hun- 
dred plants. When in full flower these present a display of color sel- 
dom equaled by any of our cultivated plants. Unfortunately they 
do not bloom all summer, but usually continue in flower several weeks. 
Other groups of the Cactaceze are almost equally handsome. The 
prickly pears are covered in early summer with yellow or whitish 
flowers. The cane cactus (Opuntia arborescens) bears hundreds of 
large red blossoms. The flowers of the Mamillarias are generally 
bright pink but too small to be showy, and those of the species of 
Kchinocactus are small and of dull tints. 
The most widely distributed of the cactuses are the prickly pears or 
flat-jomnted Opuntias, whose representatives in New Mexico number 
about 30 species, at least one or two of which occur in every section of 
the State (pls. 2,3). This is the group to which the so-called “‘spine- 
less cactus” belongs. While there are no native species in New 
Mexico that are completely spineless, at least two are practically so. 
The spineless sorts which are reputed to have been developed in eulti- 
vation are tender and can not endure the winters of even the southern 
part of the State. The common spiny prickly pears, the nopales of 
the Spanish-speaking people, are used as food for stock, especially 
when seasons of drought have depleted the ranges. They are less 
extensively utilized in New Mexico than in some other parts of the 
Southwest, chiefly because the stockmen of the State are unac- 
quainted with their possibilities. To prepare them for cattle feed 
the spines are singed off with a torch, after the plants have been 
hauled to some central point or while they are standing in the field. 
Experiments have been made to ascertain the feasibility of growing 
prickly pear in quantity for stock feed, but these have so far resulted 
in failure, chiefly because cottontails and jack rabbits eat them as 
rapidly as they grow and seem to prefer the cultivated plants. When 
38734°—sm 1911 29 
