CACTUS FAMILY. Cactaceac. 



A common and useful kind, the shape 

 ?1 Cactus, an( j Q ten t j ie g - ze Q a Barrel, covered with 



Eckinocdctus spines. The Indians cut off the top of the 



Wislizlni plant and pound the pulp with a stick 



Yellow, reddish into a soft mass, which they squeeze with 



their hands, extracting: a large amount of 

 Southwest 



watery juice, which is wholesome and not 



unpalatable and has often saved lives in the desert. Indians 

 use the spines for fish-hooks, hence a common name, Fish- 

 hook Cactus, and the celebrated cactus candy is made 

 from it. The flowers are large. 



There are many kinds of Echinocereus, oblong or cylin- 

 drical, spiny plants, generally a few inches tall, usually 

 growing in clumps; stems ridged, or with spiny ribs; fruits 

 spiny. 



This forms a clump of several stems, 



Hedgehog Cactus each about the gh and gize of & cucum . 

 Eckinocereus , . , 



polyacdnthus ker, an( * arme d Wltn bunches of long, stiff 

 Red spines. The flowers are two or three 



Spring inches long, with deep red petals, dull 



Am., New Mex. pink antners> an( j a bright green pistil. 



This grows in the Grand Canyon. 



There are many kinds of Opuntia, with jointed stems, 

 cylindrical or flattened, armed with bristles, usually with 

 spines. The fruits and fleshy joints are good for fodder, if 

 the spines are removed, and hence there has been much 

 inquiry into the economic value of these plants. It has 

 been found that the spiny species are the most valuable 

 for fodder, under extremely arid conditions, as the spines 

 can be burned off, while the unarmed forms are subject to 

 the attacks of so many animals that a crop cannot be 

 secured without the protection of fences. The spines are 

 removed either by singeing the growing plant with a torch, 

 or the upper parts are cut off and thrown into a fire, 

 or sometimes the plants are made into fodder by being 

 chopped up, spines and all, in a machine. The Prickly 

 Pears in Sicily and the Orient came from America. 

 g From three to six feet tall, resembling 



acanthocbrpa Cholla, with long, cylindrical joints and 



Yellow whitish spines. The pretty flowers are 



Sprmg about two inches long, with orange-yellow 



petals and an ivory-white pistil. The 

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