PARADE OF THE DESERT FLOWERS 79 



about the width of a teacup, the sepals and petals usually 

 bright pink with beautiful light purple tinting, while the fila- 

 ments are pale lavender and the anthers yellow — another 

 striking color scheme of Nature's combination. The fruit 

 is elliptical, of the size of a very small egg, and quite spiny. 

 This cactus grows well in groups of twenty or so on the 

 sandy gravelly mesas or along the rocky slopes, and is a 

 very characteristic species on the arid southwestern deserts. 



Hoiv to grow 



These plants grow outside without Injury from twenty or 

 twenty-five degrees of frost; In colder climates they should 

 be protected out of doors or grown in a dry, hot, sunny glass 

 house. Large plants are transplanted easily in early spring, 

 with care not to injure the roots or stems; they thrive in 

 gravelly, stony soils with occasional watering to keep moisture 

 in the soil during the growing season. Young plants grow 

 easily from seed with the usual care, moist sandy soil, partial 

 shade, and a dry atmosphere. 



Spiny Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus 



poly acanthus) 



(Named polyacanthus from Its many spines, though It is not 

 as spiny as some other species) 



How to identify and how it grows 



The Spiny Hedgehog Cactus consists of a cylindrical sys- 

 tem of stems growing to ten inches in height, about two 

 Inches in diameter, with the usual system of ridges, nine to 

 eleven or so. It has the same spine clusters along these 

 ridges, radially arranged, and with the central spines the 

 longer, nearly two inches In length. In this case the spine 

 bases are flask-shaped and spreading. At first the colors are 

 pale yellow, later becoming grayish, pink-gray, or purple-gray 

 with darker tips. This change denotes the age of the plant. 



