THE BABY CACTUS 33 



stillness of the arid spaces with only the midnight blue of 

 the heavens to caress them, and the dew of the night zephyrs 

 to kiss them when the torrid sun has gone. 



Early in the morning of a fine April day near Needles, 

 California, on the Arizona border, we continue our journey 

 into the desert. Before us stretches a panorama the like of 

 which few among us have ever beheld ; a picture majestic, tre- 

 mendous, suggestive of the grandeur of Nature's workshop, 

 the vastness of those great sweeps of arid lands, covered with 

 symmetrical, cross-patch, lacework, fantastic growths, of 

 every size and shape and color imaginable. The Cholla are 

 there. Giant Sahuaro rear their great trunks high into the 

 air, and fantastic Joshua Trees lean toward us, their weird 

 grotesque arms with long grasping fingers all pointing in one 

 direction as if to guide the weary traveler on his way. And 

 peering forth from among rocks, In the lee of a Giant Sahuaro 

 or growing In a forest of the grotesque Joshua whose fantastic 

 arms seem to engulf these tiny cacti, we find the Baby Pin- 

 cushion, our Mammlllaria (Coryphantha) or Cactus Mam- 

 miliaria. He Is a funny little ball-like plant, two or three 

 inches in diameter, full of star-shaped spines, with an extra- 

 long one in each star cluster and rather hooked over on the 

 ends. These little aristocrats of the desert often cling to- 

 gether In groups, like a colony of sea urchins, and are very 

 dainty when In bloom In the balmy month of April, when all 

 the desert life is arraying itself in gay spring color and 

 blossom. 



Out on the desert mesas and along the bajadas^ or moun- 

 tain slopes, we find so many fantastic objects that it is hard 

 to decide just where to start. Nature has provided many 

 wonderful mysterious growths for her desert land of plants 

 and flowers, and she has been careful to place them where they 

 will be able to thrive and to evolve. Many will be found hid- 

 den away under rocks and in deep canon recesses; others out 



