MINIATURE FORTRESSES 127 



Desert Christmas Cactus (Opuntia leptocauUs) 



Southern California, Arizona, Texas, and Northern Mexico 



The Desert Christmas Cactus Is a flaming Cholla shrub 

 with Its mass of bright red fruit in winter a brilliant sight on 

 the desert. The sprays of ripe fruit, sometimes used for 

 Christmas decoration, would undoubtedly be In great demand 

 were It not for the many fine reddish brown spicules which dry 

 and In falling become lodged In the clothing and flesh. One 

 of the writers has seen bushes on the desert several feet In 

 height, as one solid mass of brilliant carmine In winter, and 

 some of the ripe fruit stays on the plants practically all the 

 time. A very peculiar phenomenon has been observed from 

 time to time : a fruit or short branch will sometimes appear 

 growing directly out of another fruit on this fantastic Opun- 

 tia leptocauUs, and thus Nature Impregnates her seeming 

 freaks of fancy in thoughtful system and design upon these 

 strange Cactaceae. This miniature fortress, leptocauUs, is 

 covered with sheathed Cholla thorns which are sharp and 

 pointed, tan with translucent yellow tips and loose whitish 

 sheaths. The Inch-long flowers are pale yellowish or green- 

 ish yellow, and these lazy blossoms have a bad habit of open- 

 ing their greenish yellow eyes at three o'clock in the after- 

 noon, then closing their petals towards evening. 



BUCKHORN Cholla (Opuntia acanthocarpa) 



Southern California, Western and Central Arizona, South- 

 ern Utah, Northern Mexico, and Southern Nevada 



Fierce and thorny cacti are Opuntia acanthocarpa, some- 

 times appearing on the broad desert land as dwarf trees four 

 to six feet tall, again growing as densely spiny shrubs, Impreg- 

 nable fortresses defying man and beast. Over the arid sandy 

 or gravelly soils of the southwestern desert, this fierce 



