CACTUS FAMILY. Cactaccae. 



deep pink, with a whitish pistil, yellow anthers, and 

 crimson filaments. The joints have a strong fishy smell, 

 when cut, and are dotted with tufts of small, brown bristles, 

 exceedingly unpleasant to get in one's fingers. This is 

 rare and grows at the Grand Canyon. Prickly pears usu- 

 ally have yellow flowers and long spines. 



There are fifty or more common kinds 

 Common Prickly -._, -~ 

 Pear of Prickly Pear, many of them as yet un- 



Opuntia described and little known. They have 



Yellow flattened joints and yellow flowers, like 



Spring, summer th Qne illustrated which is typical, often 

 Southwest 



measuring three or tour inches across, the 



petals variously tinted outside with salmon, rose, and 

 brown. 



There are many kinds of Cactus, round, cylindrical, or 

 oval plants, covered with knobs, bearing clusters of spines, 

 those of some species having hooked tips. They may be 

 known by their smooth fruits, without scales or spines. 



A quaint little plant, often no bigger 

 Pincushion Cactus . ,.,,. , , .!, , 



Cdctus Gr&hami than a billiard ball, with long, blackish, 

 (Mamillaria) hooklike spines, projecting from stars of 

 pink smaller spines. The flowers are pink and 



Spring ^ e b err i es are smoo th, fleshy fingers of 



brightest scarlet, edible, pretty and odd. 

 Sometimes we see one of these prickly little balls peeping 

 from under a rock and again we find them growing in a 

 colony, looking much like a pile of sea-urchins. This 

 grows in the Grand Canyon, and there are similar kinds in 

 southern California. 



There are many kinds of Cereus, with cylindrical or oval 

 stems, from a few inches to forty feet tall, not jointed, with 

 ribs or rows of knobs, running lengthwise, and clusters of 

 spines. 



These tree-like plants are wonderfully 

 Column Cactus, ,. -r- , -, , 

 Sahuaro dignified and solemn in aspect, with none 



Ctre us giganttus of the grotesque or ferocious effect so corn- 

 White m on among their relations. They grow in 

 prmg, summer num bers on the mountain slopes around 

 Tucson and are easily recognized by their 

 size and very upright form, rearing their thick, cylindrical 

 branches straight up in the air, to a height of thirty or 

 forty feet. They are smooth and light green, armed with 

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