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 

 Echinocereus. 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 Cactaceae 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 

 Echinocactus are small and of dull tints. 



The most Widely distributed of the cactuses are the prickly pears or 

 flat-jointed Opuntias, whose representatives m New Mexico number 

 about 30 species, at least one or two of which occur in every section of 

 the State (pis. 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 culti- 

 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 



