
4 THE, STORY OF, CACIUS 

one leaf after another in a regular chain; as it gets older the chains branch and 
hang down. The best example of this is; the old favorite, the Christmas Cactus, 
Zygocactus truncatus. 
PARTS OF A CACTUS PLANT 
A cactus plant has numerous organs and each has a distinct function, and 
may be likened to the human body in a great many ways. The woody axis 
may be likened to our skeleton, as its function is to hold up the plant, the 
pulpy cellular tissue is not unlike our flesh and contains the cells that store 
up the non-evaporating mucilaginous substance on which the plant lives through 
the long periods of drought. 
The cuticle which surround this mass is similar to the skin which covers 
our body and has as many functions if not more. It will grow back in exactly 
the same way, first forming a scab tissue and eventually changes to skin but 
in some cases, it is hard and woody, also very unsightly. 
The stomata are the pores of the plant and have nearly the same uses as 
our pores. Sometimes the flowers grow out from a line close to the areoles, 
this line we believe is a continuation of the areoles as they are always connected. 
The areoles also grow the leaves and contain the stomata but these latter 
are sometimes placed in the same way as the flowers. When a pad is placed 
on soil, new roots will.grow out of the areoles on the underside and new 
shoots will grow out of the areoles on the upper side, and when a plant is cut 
in two or the head is crushed, a new stem or branch will grow out of the 
uppermost areoles. This proves that the roots areedirectly connected with the 
areoles by veins or pipes which carry the life-blood to the new part. This 
brings up the vascular system which may be likened to the veins of the human 
body. The Pereskia and the Pereskiopsis retain their leaves because they live 
in a tropical climate and the Opuntia sublata retains its leaves with plenty 
of water and care, otherwise, they drop off. 
SPINES AND THEIR USE 
The spines could be called the clothes of the cactus, as they are the 
protection. Without spines, cacti would soon disappear as the wild animals 
would eat them in very short order. 
The spines are of two distinct and different kinds and each has a function 
to perform. The centrals are usually much longer and always stronger. They 
stand out. from the plant and are the plants defense. Some are curved and 
others are straight, some have hooks and others have sheaths which come off 
very easily and stay in anything that touches that particular spine. 
The other spines are called laterals, they usually stand out in a lateral 
circle from the areoles and keep certain insects away from the plant. They also 
are a camouflage as they sometime take on the coloring of the surrounding 
ground or foliage. They are sometimes plumose and at other times lasio or lasi 
but in every case their use is the same. 
Although most plants have both centrals and laterals, a few have only one 
kind or the other. A good example of a cactus with only laterals is the 
Echinocereus rigidissimus (106) and a very good example of a cactus without 
laterals is the rare Thelocactus rinconensis. 
The spines are of every conceivable shape and size, from the ten inch spines 
of the Ferocactus down to the minute spines of the Neomammillaria denudata 
(85). The feathery spines of the plumosa are in no way comparable to the 
heavy stiff spines of the Homalocephala texensis, which can easily enter 
a horse’s hoof. This has earned for this cactus the sobriquet of Manco 
Caballo, Devil’s Head. The spines of the Ferocactus wislizeni (31) are hooked 
and so strong that one spine can support fifty pounds without breaking. 
Spines have been used by primitive man in all his pursuits, hunting, fishing, 
sewing clothes, and in one case reported by Dr. Safford, they were used in 
closing shrouds by interlapping them in the cloth and winding the ends with 
cord made of gut. The Indians used the hooked spines of the Ferocactus 
wislizeni for fishhooks by using short pieces of spines for barbs. These, they 
reversed and tied on the tip with a gut treated with a waterproofing compound 
of some sort so the gut would not become soft in the water and stretch, 

26 Prickly Pear in Flower. 29 Ariocarpus fissuratus in bloom. 
27 Echinopsis tubiflora in bloom. 30 Mammillaria macromeris. 
28 Echinocereus stramineus. 31 Ferocactus wislizeni in bloom. 
