40 THE FANTASTIC CLAN 



Slender Pincushion Cactus (Mammillaria 



fasciculata [Mammillaria Thornberi^) 



Southern Arizona 



The Slender Pincushion Cactus, typical native of the 

 desert, is commonly so called because of the tiny slender stems 

 an inch or less in diameter and seven or eight inches tall, 

 growing in dense clumps of fifty to two hundred or more 

 plants of all sizes; some growing from seed, some from off- 

 shoots of the axils near their bases. Out from the dozen or 

 so rows of tubercles spring the white thorns with their black 

 tips, and the central hooked spine twisted from its bulbous 

 base; then the funnel-shaped pale purple and pink blossoms, 

 giving a decidedly pinkish cast to this whole lovely pincushion. 

 The bright scarlet berries, while they are odd, are pretty and 

 also are edible. This plant was first discovered by Lieuten- 

 ant Colonel Emory in 1846; it was never seen again until 

 1902, when it was rediscovered by one of the writers and 

 Mr. Orcutt, along the Gila River in Arizona, from which 

 the Gila monster is named. 



Cream Pincushion Cactus (Mammillaria 



Johnstonii) 

 Southern Arizona and Northern Sonora 



This gayly decorated Pincushion we see peering over sol- 

 itary rocks and gladdening the hearts of the tired travelers 

 along the desert track, with his pink and white daintiness of 

 blossom and comb of brown and white thorns is another 

 "Cream Cactus" ; for it is said many an Indian has owed his 

 life to the thick milk-white fluid which this unique growth 

 yields to those who know the secret. This fat fellow looks 

 like a huge coconut, with a green body, and stout thorns 



