USEFUL, NATIVE PLANTS OF NEW MEXICO STANDLEY. 451 



This was unknown to botanists until the year 1846, when it was dis- 

 covered by Dr. Wislizenus who was making a journey of scientific 

 exploration through the Southwest. He first saw the viznaga near 

 the village of Dona Ana at the lower end of the Jornado del Muerto, 

 on August 5, and speaks of it in these words: 



Before reaching Donana I met on the road with the largest cactus of the kind I have 

 ever seen. It was an oval Echinocactus with enormous fishhook-like prickles, measur- 

 ing in height 4 feet and in the largest circumference 6 feet 8 inches. It had yellow 

 flowers and at the same time seed, both of which I took along with some of the ribs. 



These specimens ultimately reached Dr. George Engelmann of St. 

 Louis, the first botanist to make an extensive study of our North 

 American Cactacese, who named the species in honor of its discoverer. 

 This viznaga is seen in cultivation in the Southwest and occasionally 

 in the East. The plants that have been mutliated assume strange 

 forms, and bifurcate or cristate steins are not uncommon. 



The barrel cactus is a potential source of water in extreme need. 

 When its top is removed and the juicy white pulp macerated with a 

 club a quantity of a clear watery liquid is extracted from it. While 

 this will serve as a substitute for water in cases of severe thirst its 

 taste is not altogether agreeable, and fortunately in New Mexico 

 water is rarely so scarce as to necessitate such a substitute. The pulp 

 of the viznaga is used more satisfactorily for another purpose. When 

 cut into strips or cubes, boiled several hours until tender, then cooked 

 in a thick sirup winch is usually prepared from the crude brown sugar 

 so largely used in Mexico, molded into rough cones known as pilon- 

 cillos, the resultant product is a candied pulp similar to candied pine- 

 apple or citron, of a delicious flavor (pi. 5). Large quantities of it are 

 made every spring by the native people and sold by vendors about 

 the streets of nearly all southwestern towns. It is known as dulce 

 de viznaga. More recently another possible use for the plant has 

 been found. The flesh after being cut into long thin strips and, 

 treated with a glycerin solution forms a sort of vegetable leather 

 which has been manufactured into souvenirs for the tourist trade. 



Remarkable among the novel curios to be found in the shops of 

 the towns frequented by tourists are the canes made from the stems 

 of the cholla (Opuntia arborescens) . These are long narrow cylinders 

 of wood composed of a network of coarse woody bundles with many 

 interstices. They are the woody part of the cholla from which flesh 

 and spines have been removed. Although easy to prepare, to one 

 who is ignorant of the method of manufacture they appear to have 

 been whittled from a solid stick of wood with painstaking care. This 

 tree cactus is another of the plants first made known to science 

 through the explorations of Dr. Wislizenus. Among the Spanish 

 people it is sometimes known as velas de coyote (coyote candles). 



