704 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



tias. The earliest of these in the vicinity 

 of Tucson is generally Bchinocereus 

 fendleri, in which a few brilliant crim- 

 son flowers are displayed from the 

 clumps of short, thickened, cylindrical 

 stems late in March, and continue for a 

 month, to be accompanied and followed 

 by equally noticeable bloom of two or 

 three other small species (see pictures, 

 pages 705, 710, 711). 



Chief of the group, however, is the 

 great saguaro, the flower-buds of which 

 develop as dense clusters on the portions 

 of the apices of the stems most exposed 

 to the sun, and have been seen to open 

 on March 25. The whitish flowers each 

 remain open buf a short time, and ap- 

 parently are pollinated by insects. A 

 succession of them ensues, and although 

 practically finished during May or June, 

 yet belated buds open at various times, 

 one having been seen as late as the mid- 

 dle of November. The seedy fruits ma- 

 ture in great quantity in midsummer, 

 and are much prized by the Papagoes, 

 who make much use of them in various 

 ways. 



The prickly pears, or opuntias, with 

 flat stems, begin to make some growth 

 of new joints and to push out flower- 

 buds in March, and late in that month 

 or early in April bloom in great profu- 

 sion, the fruits maturing early and drop- 

 ping to the ground. Fifteen or twenty 

 species are native to the Tucson region, 

 but the greatest confusion prevails as to 

 their identity. Of the various desert 

 plants, this group has been the subject 

 of the most inquiry as to its possible eco- 

 nomic utilization. 



After a consideration of the various 

 practical questions connected with open 

 cattle ranges, it has been found that the 

 best use of them for forage is made by 

 growing or allowing to grow spinose 

 species, from which the spines are 

 burned when they are to be consumed 

 by animals. This is now done with the 

 plants growing in various places. Un- 

 armed forms are subject to the attacks 

 of so many animals that it is practically 

 impossible to secure a crop without pro- 

 tecting fences. A few species are known 



in which the spines are very sparse. One 

 of these, Opuntia loevis, occurs in the 

 canyons of the Santa Catalina Moun- 

 tains, but chiefly on rocks' or in places, 

 inaccessible to grazing animals. 



THE see:ds 01^ the: dp:se:rt plants are: 

 AS e:xtraordinary as the:ir 

 storage: abii^ity 



Several species of birds make their 

 nests in the branches of the cylindrical 

 opuntias, where they are secure from 

 hawks and marauding animals, and 

 many rodents of the desert drag the de- 

 tached joints about their burrows, mak- 

 ing an effectual barricade against the 

 coyote and fox. 



The agaves form their great rosettes of 

 thickened leaves on the slopes running 

 up from the greater mesas, and after a 

 period of development, which varies 

 from a few to many years, a central 

 flower-stalk is sent up in the foresum- 

 mer with extraordinary rapidity, grow- 

 ing in length as much as a foot a day 

 and quickly forming flowers and seeds. 

 This effort exhausts the resources and 

 terminates the life of the individual, and 

 the entire cycle of these ''century-plants" 

 is directed to this one effort of arriving 

 at mature size, with an accumulated 

 food supply that will enable them to per- 

 fect a crop of fruits and seeds. 



This habit makes the agaves an im- 

 portant source of food for the south- 

 western Indians, who take the rosettes 

 when nearly mature, and, after cutting 

 away the tips of the leaves, bake the cen- 

 tral stem and attached leaf-bases for the 

 sugary substances to be obtained, mak- 

 ing what is known as mescal. The mes- 

 cal-pits, used a decade ago, are numer- 

 ous in the foothills of the mountains in 

 this region, and even yet one may occa- 

 sionally surprise an Indian feasting upon 

 this prized delicacy (see page 712). 



The seeds of the saguaro, which are 

 produced in enormous quantities, are de- 

 voured by the birds before being freed 

 from the fruits, but of the great number 

 that reach the ground and germinate, 

 not one in a million survives and makes 

 the curious globular plantlet a few 



