Our journey is almost ended, and our notebooks are filled with much interesting matter about cacti heretofore unknown; we have found and studied many interesting specimens of the cactus family perhaps never before seen by the majority of travelers. We know now that it is necessary to see them from both far and near to appreciate the loveliness of these weird desert growths; and it seems very strange to us that so much glorious color and beauty has to be hidden away out here underneath the midnight blue of the sky, for only a privileged few to enjoy. Crimson Flowered Hedgehog Cactus (_Echinocereus coccineus_) _Northern Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado_ Yet one more of the lovely Strawberry group must be added to our list, growing far up in the towering mountains of northern Arizona and hence not included in this present trek. The Crimson Flowered Hedgehog Cactus is this flaming cactus flower, which grows generally at altitudes of five to seven thousand feet, its scarlet blossoms flashing here and there over the mountain slopes, or dotting the oak, juniper, and pine formations in dense masses of brilliant hue, compact clumps one to six feet across of twenty to three hundred stems all closely set together; usually growing in rounded mounds which exclude all other growth, and sometimes comprising an important part of the pine and juniper plant coverings. The stems are five to seven inches high, green and yellow-green, forming a pleasing contrast to the crimson blossoms. The translucent whitish spines, about a dozen in number, are flask-shaped at their bases and spreading, while the flowers are slightly fragrant, a rare characteristic among the _Echinocereus_ group. The fruit is spiny, and grows from densely felted masses which remain as scars on the stems for years. This Hedgehog Cactus may be easily distinguished from _Echinocereus Rosei_ by its white or yellowish white spines. And now the desert flower parade of color and beauty has passed in review. One is not sorry to have come, for even when the days are hot and dusty, the cooling desert winds appear with the approach of night. We recall having read a great deal about the magic and lure of the desert and its wondrous plants and flowers, and we realize now that one must come and _see_ them to appreciate the beauty that lives and thrives away out there underneath the stars, forever guarded by that All-seeing Providence which placed them there so carefully and wisely that they might tell us something of His Plan of things entire, wherein the smallest blade of grass receives from Nature as does the wisest seer; for the Infinite Mind of Nature is no respecter of persons or things, and treats plants and animals and humans without favor or prejudice, portraying therein God’s eternal care and watchfulness over all. The Hedgehog or Strawberry Cactus Group (_Echinocereus_) How to identify and how they grow