BISXAGA. BARBEL CACTUS (Echinocactus cylindraceus, 

 Engelm.). Stout, cylindrical, leafless plants a foot or more in 

 diameter and from 1 to 6 feet or even more in height, prom- 

 inently ribbed and bearing on the ribs bundles of hooked spines 

 that are transversely barred. Flowers greenish-yellow, an 

 in oh or so in diameter, forming a circlet at the top of the plant; 

 blooming in the spring on the desert and arid hillsides of 

 Southeastern California and eastward. 



Bisnaga is the common Mexican name for Echinocactus, of 

 which there are several species in the Southwest. The firm, 

 juicy heart of the big cylinders has the quality of an unripe 

 water-melon and is to some extent used in the making of the 

 so-called cactus candy for sale by confectioners. It is as the 

 water barrels of the desert, however, that the Bisnagas are 

 best known. If the top is cut off and the pulp of the interior 

 pounded up, it yields a considerable quantity of drinkable 

 water, capable of assuaging thirst. 



The spines are quite beautiful and those of one species have 

 been used by Indians for fishhooks, and of another by white 

 men for gramophone needles. 



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