The Fantastic Clan: The Cactus FamilyThornber, J. J. (John James)
Science
The Fantastic Clan: The Cactus Family
Thornber, J. J. (John James)
Cactus -- Southwest, New
Again the sun is fading over the western rim of the foothills, leaving a
flood of glory in his wake, and we are glad to sight the famous old
Superstition Mountains, which are not far from Phoenix, Arizona. We hope
to find one more baby cactus before the twilight passes into the
deepening shadows of night, for then the end of our long hot trek is at
hand. _Milleri_ is a handsome fellow of mesa and foothill, boasting
rose-purple or pink flowers, a showy Pincushion, reflecting the
brightness and beauty of Nature around him, especially the flaming rays
of a gorgeous desert sunset; indeed, he most clearly resembles our Sunset
Cactus. Seldom alone, he and his companions form in symmetrical clumps,
two to nine inches high and two or three inches across, encased in weak
slender white spines with swollen pink bases, often curved and bent on
their dozen or so spiral rows of interlocking tubercles, the firm hooked
central spines of a rich brownish red, appearing black at a distance.
HABITATS
Along the highway from Lake Arrowhead in Southern California toward
Victorville and Palm Springs, out on the Mojave Desert, southward to San
Diego and old Mexico, we may find these odd little baby cacti blossoming
forth in early spring into striking clumps of variegated bloom, dotting
the landscape far and wide—their only mission in life, to look beautiful.
For above the ordinary tourist trails as high as five thousand feet,
farther down in sandy and gravelly places on the foothills and _bajadas_
or mesa-like mountain slopes, and along the lower levels around Los
Angeles, California Pincushions make their homes. In sunny exposures
where Nature’s boon of rain is scarce, preferring common sand and rock,
these tiniest of the Fantastic Clan thrive best.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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