132 THE FANTASTIC CLAN 



three feet high from which appear many fantastic arms in- 

 tricately branched to form a broad rounded head, five to ten 

 feet across. This dwarf tree is adequately protected from 

 the hot sun and animal marauder by sharp sheathed thorns 

 about a half-inch long, encasing its entire body in an impene- 

 trable suit of armor far more effective than any coat of mail 

 donned by warrior of old. The flowers cluster at the tips 

 of the brightly colored joints, which are two to ten inches 

 long; the small fruit remain green on the plant for about a 

 year. Versicolor is a good name for this bright Cholla since 

 it means "variegated or diversified in color." 



Popular Cholla (Opuntia tetracantha) 



Southern Arizona 



This slender little Cholla is interesting because of its inch- 

 long purple-brown and yellow flowers, unfolding once in the 

 afternoon, then closing at night never to open again. Many 

 of them seem to sulk on their heavy moisture-laden stems dur- 

 ing the hot dry hours of the desert day, and then swiftly to un- 

 fold themselves and parade in evanescent beauty when the 

 long shadows of a' departing day begin to paint the mountain 

 slopes, bidding the day to hurry and beckoning night to ap- 

 proach for the fashion show of the desert flowers. Tetra- 

 cantha is a very popular addition to a cactus garden, and many 

 are the tourists who carry one or more of these smallest of 

 the Cholla back to their homes to preserve as relics from the 

 land of the burning sun. The bloom, yellow-green suffused 

 with purple, reminds one of a small old-fashioned dahlia; 

 May and June is blossoming time, and only a few minutes is 

 required for a flower to open in full. A rare and attractive 

 species is this matchless little beauty, spreading over the sandy 

 desert mesas and in gravelly or rocky foothills in southern 

 Arizona. The name tetracantha alludes to the four reddish 

 brown thorns enclosed in loose straw-colored sheaths. 



