46 THE FANTASTIC CLAN 



to sight the famous old Superstition Mountains, which are 

 not far from Phoenix, Arizona. We hope to find one more 

 baby cactus before the twilight passes Into the deepening 

 shadows of night, for then the end of our long hot trek Is at 

 hand. Milleri is a handsome fellow of mesa and foothill, 

 boasting rose-purple or pink flowers, a showy Pincushion, re- 

 flecting the brightness and beauty of Nature around him, 

 especially the flaming rays of a gorgeous desert sunset; In- 

 deed, he most clearly resembles our Sunset Cactus. Seldom 

 alone, he and his companions form in symmetrical clumps, 

 two to nine inches high and two or three inches across, encased 

 in weak slender white spines with swollen pink bases, often 

 curved and bent on their dozen or so spiral rows of Interlock- 

 ing tubercles, the firm hooked central spines of a rich brown- 

 ish red, appearing black at a distance. 



HABITATS 



Along the highway from Lake Arrowhead in Southern 

 California toward Victorville and Palm Springs, out on the 

 Mojave Desert, southward to San Diego and old Mexico, 

 we may find these odd little baby cacti blossoming forth in 

 early spring Into striking clumps of variegated bloom, dotting 

 the landscape far and wide — their only mission In life, to 

 look beautiful. For above the ordinary tourist trails as high 

 as five thousand feet, farther down In sandy and gravelly 

 places on the foothills and bajadas or mesa-like mountain 

 slopes, and along the lower levels around Los Angeles, Cal- 

 ifornia Pincushions make their homes. In sunny exposures 

 where Nature's boon of rain is scarce, preferring common 

 sand and rock, these tiniest of the Fantastic Clan thrive best. 



Out on the great Arizona desert the Pincushion Cacti ap- 

 pear In abundance; the vast stretches contain a surprise for 

 the tourist and the wearied student In these bits of desert 



