,\ iiictus wren on a cholla. 



Facing page: The mighty Saguaro Cactus and the fuzzy- 

 coated Cholla dominate the Sonoran deserts. 



A pack rat on a barrel cactus. These mammals romp about 

 among the most densely spined cactuses. 



spirally arranged rows of lumps all over them. Like all cactuses, 

 they contain a sort of skeleton — in this case a cylindrical tube 

 perforated all over with spirally distributed lines of irregular- 

 sized holes. This tube is woody and is filled with pulpy material 

 and wrapped around outside with a considerable thickness of 

 soft tissue, which in turn is completely enclosed in a leathery 

 skin armed with masses of spines on the lumps. The "sausages" 

 break off readily at the constrictions between them and fall to 

 the ground, where they may shrivel and die or may put out 

 roots and start a new plant. There are twenty species in this 

 province, among them the "Chain Fruit," the "Staghorn," and 

 the "Jumping" Cholla. This last is a devilish creature, completely 

 covered in needle-sharp spines, the sausages of which drop off 

 at the slightest provocation, almost literally jumping at you and 

 then bouncing on the ground. If you so much as brush against 

 one you may get a most unpleasant wound and one that can 

 become infected. But there is a worse one sometimes called the 

 "ramose," or "branching," which looks innocent enough, being 

 covered with strange little shields each bearing a single spine 

 concealed in a deceptive papery sheath. To barge into one of 

 these is exquisite agony. 



The other Opuntias, the Prickly Pears, are almost too well 

 known to warrant general description. They are the most wide- 

 spread of all types, with over 150 species. Their oval, pad-shaped 

 sections are variously armed with spines — few or many, tiny or 

 enormous — arranged in regular clusters. The pads grow one 

 from another either singly, in twos, in threes, or in groups, and 

 at all angles, so that the plant forms great clumps. Sometimes 

 these join up to make impenetrable forests covering acres, as the 

 Australians discovered to their dismay when these plants were 

 introduced to their continent. Perhaps most surprising of all the 

 Prickly Pears are those represented by a species called the Santa 

 Rita, which has orange-spined purple pads, or the Beavertail, 

 which is pale blue with bright yellow spines. Their flowers are 

 among the most exquisitely colored even among cactuses. These 

 are borne along the edges of the outermost pads, sometimes 

 alone, at other times in whole corollas. They come in the most 

 vivid reds and yellows. That of the Beavertail is a glowing, old- 

 rose pink with vivid yellow stamens. 



Cactus flowers, as has been said, are "all flower," due to the 

 fact that the sepals and petals are usually indistinguishable and 

 both are colored, while there is, of course, no supporting foliage. 

 They are also very often of comparatively enormous size; some, 

 as in the case of the Sand Dollars (Astrophyton). being as large 

 as the plant that supports them. Those of the largest species, 

 however, are often small and even insignificant. There is one 

 Cereus that has a flower over a foot in diameter. In their natural 

 habitats, cactuses flower at regular periods each year. This has 

 nothing to do with the rainfall, unlike the flowering of other 

 desert plants, which occurs only after rain. In the northern part 

 of the Sonoran Province, the first to come out in April are the 

 Beavertails and some Hedgehogs; in May the Chollas, Prickly 

 Pears, and Saguaros begin to bloom. Most of the others struggle 

 out in June, which is the time for the flowering of the wonderful 

 "Queen-of-the-Night" with its delicate, slender, pointed, multi- 

 rayed white star and central emergent corona of delicate flesh- 

 pink stamens. Some of the smaller Chollas bloom in July and 

 August, along with most of the Pincushions. By September only 

 the Barrels are left. Most individual cactus flowers last only one 

 day, but special atmospheric conditions may keep them opening 

 and closing for several days. The night-bloomers often all come 

 out together if a very hot day is succeeded by a very hot night 

 at the right time of year. Most of these start opening just before 

 sundown and close in mid-morning. 



