PAINTED CANVAS OF THE DESERT 97 



tivated now in cactus gardens, and one should not miss it 

 even though it takes several hours to reach the destination. 

 A striking plant on account of its long lance-shaped joints, 

 Cow's Tongue grows three to five feet tall with a spread of 

 three to six feet, in spring covered with great satiny yellow 

 blossoms nearly four inches long, tinted in green and golden 

 shades, and forming in numerous patches, great splashes of 

 gold against the dull brown and grays of desert prairie lands 

 in southern Texas. The fruit is quite tasty (it is com- 

 mercialized by Mexicans), eaten raw and made into spicy 

 jam or syrup. We note the characteristic tongue-shaped 

 joints, a foot or two long, which give the plant its specific 

 name linguiformis (tongue-shaped), and also its common 

 name Cow's Tongue. The late afternoon shadows begin 

 to creep over the rolling prairies and the sun is sinking low 

 on the horizon in one last attempt to linger here awhile, ere 

 it sweeps our no man's land in a vast flood of glory and is no 

 more. Many tourists prefer to travel at this hour and while 

 the desert moon is shining, for the cool and alluring night 

 breezes render motoring delightful over the arid sands 

 during the latter part of May. 



Discus Prickly Pear (Opuntia discata) 



Northern Sonora and Southern Arizona 



We have crossed the international border once more, this 

 time driving to Nogales, Arizona, then across the street 

 into Nogales, Sonora, looking for a well-known Prickly 

 Pear growing on the grassy mesas and bajadas of northern 

 Sonora and of southern Arizona. Its name discata refers 

 to the large circular and disklike joints of the stems, nearly 

 a foot in diameter and about half an inch thick, which form 

 the many ascending and spreading branches of this shrub; 

 and it seems to us we could almost use them in throwing the 



