158 THE FANTASTIC CLAN 



rections from Covillei, the Traveler's Compass, and thus 

 has saved his life through knowledge of desert lore, while a 

 stranger schooled in books but lacking the wisdom which 

 comes from long association with desert life could easily 

 lose himself in the arid wastes, only to perish anon. 



This Traveler's Friend Is a handsome fellow; the crim- 

 son and orange-red hues of the brilliant blossoms shade into 

 the yellow and purple-red tints of the style and Its branches, 

 harmonizing with eight or nine pink and reddish spines and 

 their translucent yellow tips, a splash of gay rainbow hues 

 against the drab background of rocky, gravelly soil along 

 the foothills of southern and western Arizona and out on 

 the mesas of Northern Mexico. In old Mexico the natives 

 still utilize this Bisnaga by making from It the delicious cac- 

 tus candy which Is so prized by tourists, and seized upon with 

 delight as one of their first discoveries in the land of the 

 cactus clan. 



Turk's Head (Echinocactus horizonthalonius) 

 Southern Arizona, Northern Mexico, and Western Texas 



This species grows sparingly in arid, rocky, or stony soil 

 of slopes and hillsides from western Texas to southern Ari- 

 zona and adjacent Mexico. It differs from others of Its kind 

 In the coloring of the blossoms, which are the most delicately 

 tinted of all the cactus flowers, pale rose to deep pink suffused 

 with lavender hues, and In the light blue-green of the stems, 

 which are nearly a foot high and about half as wide; also In 

 the spiny characteristics, the stout twisted, awl-shaped thorns 

 converging toward the tip of the plant. The flowers are 

 large for the species, two and one-half Inches long or more 

 and nearly as broad when fully open, blossoming for but one 

 day and only in the very brightest of sunshine. Horizon- 

 thalonius looks quite like a Turk's head when in flower, with 



