
CACTUS FAMILY. Cactaceae. 
A common and useful kind, the shape 
Barrel Cactus, = nd often the size of a barrel, covered with 
Bi : : 
ane i spines. The Indians cut off the top of the 
Wislizéni plant and pound the pulp with a stick 
Yellow, reddish into a soft mass, which they squeeze with 
Susman their hands, extracting a large amount of 
Southwest 7.® . ¢ 
watery juice, which is wholesome and not 
unpalatable and has often saved lives in the desert. Indians 
use the spines for fish-hooks, hence a common name, Fish- 
hook Cactus, and the celebrated cactus candy is made 
from it. The flowers are large. 
There are many kinds of Echinocereus, oblong or cylin- 
drical, spiny plants, generally a few inches tall, usually 
growing in clumps; stems ridged, or with spiny ribs; fruits 
spiny. 
This forms a clump of several stems, 
each about the shape and size of a cucum- 
ber, and armed with bunches of long, stiff 
Hedgehog Cactus 
Echinocéreus 
polyacanihus ; 
Red spines. The flowers are two or three 
Spring inches long, with deep red petals, dull 
Ariz., New Mex. 
Tex pink anthers, and a bright green pistil. 
This grows in the Grand Canyon. 
There are many kinds of Opuntia, with jointed stems, 
cylindrical or flattened, armed with bristles, usually with 
spines. The fruits and fleshy joints are good for fodder, if 
the spines are removed, and hence there has been much 
inquiry into the economic value of these plants. It has 
been found that the spiny species are the most valuable 
for fodder, under extremely arid conditions, as the spines 
can be burned off, while the unarmed forms are subject to 
the attacks of so many animals that a crop cannot be 
secured without the protection of fences. The spines are 
removed either by singeing the growing plant with a torch, 
or the upper parts are cut off and thrown into a fire, 
or sometimes the plants are made into fodder by being 
chopped up, spines and all, in a machine. The Prickly 
Pears in Sicily and the Orient came from America. 
From three to six feet tall, resembling 
Opinti : é : wy: 
par ae Cholla, with long, cylindrical joints and 
Yellow whitish spines. The pretty flowers are 
Spring about two inches long, with orange-yellow 
Seatie oot petals and an ivory-white pistil. The 
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