THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 7 
have no spines — or, merely rudimentary ones — they being un- 
necessary, owing to the protection of the plant itself by man. 
Very properly, moreover, the cacti have developed into won- 
derfully prolific forms. So much so that even a small section of 
a ''leaf" will, if planted, take root and produce another plant of 
the same kind. Many forms have most beautiful blossoms. 
Take, for instance, the night-blooming cereus, which is a cactus, 
pure and simple, and a close relative of the ungainly giant cactus 
of Arizona deserts. Some of these latter attain to a height of 
more than fifty feet, a diameter of two or three feet, and are cov- 
ered the whole way with myraids of poisonous spines or thorns. 
Of the species indigenous to Los Angeles county, all are rel- 
atively small in size, but none the less interesting and beautiful. 
The most plentiful of all our forms is the ''prickly pear," a species 
of tuna known to botanists as one of the Opuntias — a large group 
of flat-lobed cacti. The fruit of this is commonly eaten by In- 
dians, children, birds and even some forms of quadrupeds, such as 
skunks, ground squirrels, etc. In some parts of the Southwest 
this cactus is fed to cattle in time of drought, the spines being first 
removed by burning. Southern California could as well afford 
to lose her missions as her huge beds of this cactus. In fact, to 
me, at least, the beauty of an old Spanish abode is doubled by the 
presence of the usual clump of cactus, crowned with vari-colored 
blo'ssoms or dark-purple fruit; as the season may be. About 
many of these old haciendas cacti (mostly of this variety) were 
planted as hedges, while to this day delicious preserves and jellies 
are made from its fruit by the older Mexican women. 
The "rainbow" cactus, sO' called on account of the varied and 
brilliant colorings of its spines, is found in the dry washes of our 
canons. This plant is globular in form, covered with spines, and 
bearing a profusion of large crimson flowers. It is a species fre- 
quently seen in eastern hothouses, but should not be confused 
with the "old-man" cactus, which does not, to my knowledg*e, 
grow wild in Los Angeles county. 
The Cholla, or cane cactus, bears about the same relation to 
the traveler in Southern California that the "wait-a-bit" thorn 
