34 THE FANTASTIC CLAN 



on the foothills, where It would seem that the sun would 

 burn them up; still others are placed boldly on the mesas 

 where wind and rain and sandstorms play hide and seek 

 around them. Naturally the question of growth, which is 

 next to the most vital problem of all "Where do they get their 

 moisture?" now presents itself. We will begin at the bot- 

 tom of the ladder, to-day, and will select the Baby Pincushion, 

 the smallest of the cactus family. 



GROWTH 



Several natural groups or genera go to make up the Pin- 

 cushion Cacti, and of these the two most important in the 

 great desert of the Southwest are the interesting plants of 

 Coryphantha and Mammillaria. The name "Coryphantha" 

 alludes to the plant's habit of bearing the flowers at its top; 

 Mammillaria is from mammilla, a nipple, referring to the 

 tubercles or knobs of the plant. They are the smallest of the 

 large and important cactus family (Cactaceae), the Fantastic 

 Clan, and their stems are single or in clusters and from one 

 to twelve inches in height and diameter, often as broad as 

 long, or broader. Often, too, the upper surface Is almost 

 flattened, while the main part of the plant Is a carrot-shaped 

 fleshy root, which Nature, the great Builder, has made a res- 

 ervoir of food and water for this, her baby of the Fantastic 

 Clan, to withstand the drying desert winds that sweep across 

 the mesas and up the canons, and the months of drought and 

 fiery heat in the desert sun, when no rains come to freshen 

 and beautify the earth and to gladden the hearts of native 

 dwellers on the desert. The stem Is studded with tubercles 

 spirally arranged, and each crowned with an areola bearing a 

 cluster of slender but stout spines, often hooked like the tines 

 on a spear; and usually with hairs. This spiral arrange- 

 ment gives the plant a very attractive appearance. Some 



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