A DESERT GRAVEYARD 161 



This growth was named by scientists for Dr. John Le 

 Conte, who discovered it in the lower Gila River country of 

 Arizona. It is a very interesting specimen and has the 

 following names, any and all of which seem to fit: Echino- 

 cacttis Le Contei, Ferocactus Le Contei, Barrel Cactus, Nig- 

 ger Head Cactus, and Candy Cactus. It prefers the arid 

 rocky or gravelly desert lands, bajadas and foothill slopes, 

 and seeks always the hottest exposures with very little 

 rainfall. 



Pink Flowered Visnagita (Echinocactus 



Johnsonii) 



Eastern California, Northwestern Arizona, Western Utah, 

 and Southern Nevada 



This very attractive and interesting Visnagita rarely grows 

 In any abundance. It is quite outstanding because of its sym- 

 phony of color radiating rose and gray and purple hues from 

 the thorns, and the large deep pink blooms two and one-half 

 Inches long and broad, bell-shaped panicles clustering In a 

 mass of cream-white hairs. The erect ascending spines grow 

 straight or slightly curved, in dense layers, and sharp. 

 Johnsonii likes the sunny exposures and seeks the arid rocky 

 or gravelly soils. The species is named for Joseph Ellis 

 Johnson, an amateur botanist of southern Utah. 



Golden Spined Barrel Cactus (Echinocactus 



Rostii) 



Southeastern California, Western Arizona, and 

 Lower California 



Echinocactus Rostii, or the beautiful Golden Spined Barrel 

 Cactus, with its bright yellow stamens and petals tinged with 

 red, when in bloom, and the striking golden-yellow spines, 



