108 THE FANTASTIC CLAN 



ored a medium green suffused with beautiful purples. The 

 spicules and spines are very distinctive, the former growing 

 In fringes and easily dislodged. The spine colors are brown 

 or purple and tone off into gray, and the thorns are very 

 sharp and needlelike, dangerous when the plant Is not handled 

 cautiously. The flowers — beautiful and also very showy, 

 from two to three Inches long, bright satin-yellow with red- 

 brown centers — appear in April and May; the fruit ripens 

 in July and Is of a pale pink-purple, quite sweet. 



How to grow 



This species will grow outside and Is not injured by tem- 

 peratures as low as twenty-five degrees below freezing. 

 With temperatures lower than this it should be protected 

 or grown indoors. Mature cuttings composed of one joint 

 planted at almost any season, but preferably early In spring, 

 with a half of the cutting covered, grow very readily. They 

 may be planted In any position or simply laid on the surface 

 of moist soil. Very little Irrigation Is necessary, but water- 

 ing once a month during the growing season is beneficial. 

 Grown indoors or out. 



Delicate Prickly Pear (Opuntia delicata) 



(Named from Its small size and delicate structure) 



How to identify and how it grows 



Delicata, or the Delicate Prickly Pear, is formed by stems 

 three to ten Inches long which are thin, wrinkled or dished 

 joints of bluish green and purplish tones. These joints or 

 stems are covered with bright yellowish spicules which seem 

 to be arranged In circular bundles, and with three twisted 

 spines one-fourth inch to three Inches long, all three very 

 slender, delicate and whitish. The flowers are two or three 

 inches long and wide, of a bright satiny yellowish hue; the 



