THE VOICE OF THE DESERT 



112 



center enough water to save a human life. But water stor- 

 age to a greater or less degree is common among the cacti 

 and my candidate is one which stores little water and yet 

 represents a sort of ultimate in the twin arts of economy 

 and lying low. 



Wander down into the driest desert region in northern 

 Sonora, Mexico, and you are hkely to find lying about 

 under thorny bushes certain amorphous ma5ses of grayish 

 wood eight inches or more in diameter. They look rather 

 like a gnarled bur from some old apple tree; they have 

 neither roots nor stems, and they seem about as dead as 

 anything could be. Pick one up and you will find it heavy 

 as well as dry, and quite hard — as Httle like a living plant 

 as anything you can imagine. 



This, however, is the resting stage of Ibervillea sonorae, 

 a member of the gourd family. Sometime towards the end 

 of May, it comes to life by sending out a few shoots up- 

 ward and a few roots dovmward. It "knows" that Sonora's 

 one season of scanty rainfall is about due and that it must 

 be prepared to take advantage of it. If the rain does come, 

 flowers and fruits appear before the whole thing dries up 

 again into a state of suspended animation which seems 

 almost as complete as that of a seed. At best, Ibervillea is 

 not much to look at: a few straggling stems, sriiall yellow. 

 flowers and, finally, a small berry-like fruit rather like a 

 small, soft gourd. Moreover, membership in the gourd 

 family is revealed by the structure of the flowers which, as 

 in most gourds and melons, are "monoecious," i.e., sepa- 

 rately sexed as male and female though both sorts are 

 borne on the same plant. 



Some years ago a specimen of Ibervillea was placed on 

 exhibition in a glass case at the New York Botanical 



