A DESERT GRAVEYARD 157 



spines. The latter form a dense, almost impenetrable coat 

 over the entire plant, giving a dull rose-purple effect which 

 can be seen unmistakably for two or three hundred feet or 

 farther in its arid rocky habitat. Purple Spined Visnagita 

 is much in demand by collectors, being easily recognized at a 

 distance by the eighteen or so brightly colored thorns; be- 

 cause of these gayly hued spines it is one of the handsomest 

 of all our smaller cacti, sometimes compared to that beau- 

 tiful splash of color, the Rainbow Cactus, near which it is 

 often found growing. 



Traveler's Friend (Echinocactus CovUlei) 



Southern and Western Arizona, and Sonora 



The Traveler's Friend! This name sounds rather in- 

 teresting, and upon examination Echinocactus Covillei is 

 found to merit his friendly title. If one gingerly cuts off 

 the top of the plant, crushing the fleshy part into a pulpy 

 mass with a handy stick, cool refreshing water is revealed, 

 fit for drinking and sufficient for one person. This Bisnaga 

 has proven a good friend to the desert wanderer, but it is 

 Nature, the marvelous architect, who is our real friend, by 

 providing an ingenious structure which enables this cactus 

 to store water in its fleshy-ribbed stems which grow from one 

 to five feet tall and a foot or so in diameter; thereby permit- 

 ting it to thrive and blossom in the terrible heat of the desert, 

 and during the long, long seasons of drought to save many 

 an Indian and other desert traveler from dying of starvation 

 or thirst out on the broad mesas in this land of blazing sun- 

 light. r\lso, if you are in cactus country and should ever 

 become lost on the desert, look for CovUlei, for he always 

 leans toward the southwest and when other signs fail you 

 can depend upon him to guide you in the right direction. 

 Many a lost Indian or Mexican has obtained water and di- 



