A DESERT GRAVEYARD 169 



pie. There are no leaves nor spicules. The flowers are of 

 medium size and are borne toward the tips of the plants, 

 opening in the forenoon and closing in the afternoon of the 

 same day. The blossoms persist on the mature fruit, which 

 is shallowly tubercled, and scaly. The Echinocacti have 

 no spines on the ovaries or fruit, which differentiates them 

 from the Echinocereus Cacti. The stems of some species 

 contain a fluid which, though a little saline, is palatable on 

 the desert. 



How to grow 



The plants are grown from seed sown a quarter- to a half- 

 inch deep in sandy soil mixed with a small amount of pow- 

 dered charcoal and leaf mold in flats or pots, in part shade 

 and given enough water to keep the soil moist but not wet. 

 When a half-inch high or so the seedling plants should be 

 planted in small pots. A south exposure is preferable for 

 growing these species. They will thrive outside or indoors. 



Interlacing Spine Cactus (Echinocactus 



intertextus) 



(Named from the numerous interlacing or overlapping 

 radial spines) 



How to identify and how it grows 



The Interlacing Spine Cactus looks very much like a flat- 

 tened cylinder, growing from one and one-half to six inches 

 high and to four inches in diameter. It has thirteen spiral 

 ribs spaced about three-quarters of an inch apart, obtuse and 

 sometimes rounded. The ridges of these are dull green 

 and scurfy. The areolas are very short and crowded close 

 together. There are from twenty to thirty radial spines, 

 a half-inch long, which radiate much like the spokes of a 

 wheel. All these spines are interlocking with one another 



