122 THE FANTASTIC CLAN 



to be on time, for Cholla never wait. The flowers open 

 wide very quickly, in the course of fifteen or twenty minutes, 

 especially on bright sunshiny days. An occasional Cholla 

 may bloom for the second day, but this Is a very uncommon 

 occurrence. 



In speaking of the fruit of Cane Cacti we must tell you 

 that they, too, are very Irregular and mysterious and fasci- 

 nating In their manner of growth; for the Cholla fruit are 

 different, and If you will but follow the fruit cycle you will 

 see that it Is grotesque. Irregular, and a phenomenon In Itself. 

 Can you Imagine fruit remaining on a tree for one year or for 

 several years, and for that matter as long as ten years at a 

 time, all hard, green, or ripe or juicy ? This Is what happens 

 on the Cholla dwarf trees. Most of the fruit stay on the 

 plants for a year or longer without spoiling or softening, 

 and will continue to remain for several seasons, ripe and 

 juicy and unchanged for long periods of time. The chain- 

 store Idea did not originate in modern times by any means, for 

 ages ago Nature Introduced this plan into her scheme of 

 things by Implanting a very Interesting peculiarity in some va- 

 rieties of the Cane Cacti, wherein new fruit and flowers grow 

 out from the ends of old ones or from the tips of old fruit, 

 and in such manner start a chain of some ten or twelve fruit, 

 all fresh, hard, green, or ripe, the first nine or ten years older 

 than the last, while the oldest will become larger, firmer, and 

 perhaps more woody but scarcely less succulent than the later 

 fruit. 



Still another interesting phenomenon in the growth cycle 

 of the Cholla is the manner in which he grows on and on in 

 the process of evolution. In some varieties the fruit, falling 

 to the ground, develop roots and grow into new plants im- 

 mediately, while the seeds within remain unchanged and 

 do not germinate, though viable and capable of growth at 



