GIANT CACTUS OR SAHUARO (_Cereus giganteus_) ” 124 MEXICAN NIGHT BLOOMING CEREUS; SERPENT CACTUS; REINA DE NOCHE (_Cereus serpentinus_) ” 125 DESERT CHRISTMAS CACTUS; TASAJILLO (_Opuntia leptocaulis_) 128 PROLIFIC TREE CHOLLA (_Opuntia arbuscula_) 128 MANY COLORED TREE CHOLLA (_Opuntia versicolor_) 131 POPULAR CHOLLA (_Opuntia tetracantha_) 131 THORNBER’S CHOLLA (_Opuntia Thornberi_) 135 MANY COLORED TREE CHOLLA (_Opuntia versicolor_) 135 JUMPING CHOLLA (_Opuntia fulgida_) ” 136 CURSED CHOLLA; DEVIL CACTUS (_Opuntia Stanlyi_) ” 137 BUCKHORN CHOLLA (_Opuntia acanthocarpa_) ” 137 CURSED CHOLLA; DEVIL CHOLLA (_Opuntia Stanlyi_) 138 JUMPING CHOLLA (_Opuntia fulgida_) 138 SPINY TREE CHOLLA (_Opuntia spinosior_) ” 140 CANDY BARREL CACTUS; FISHHOOK CACTUS (_Echinocactus Wislizeni_) ” 160 PINK FLOWERED VISNAGITA (_Echinocactus Johnsonii_) ” 160 MEXICAN FRUIT CACTUS (_Echinocactus hamatacanthus_) ” 161 GIANT VISNAGA; GIANT BARREL CACTUS (_Echinocactus Visnaga_) ” 161 THE FANTASTIC CLAN CHAPTER I A DESERT FASHION SHOW Kipling once said, “When you’ve heard the East a-calling, you won’t have anything else.” And this is true of the desert. The charm of the desert, once it gets its hold on you, always brings you back. There are no fears nor dreads out there; it is the place where mankind can go and rest. When springtime comes it is time to be on the move, to see new places, new things, to enjoy, to learn. Early in April we start on a trek or trip by automobile across the Giant Amphitheater of the Sun, somewhere on the great desert along the Mexico-California frontier and thence on into Southern California; seeking out the plants and flowers which appear now in gay spring tints and hues, scrutinizing their wondrous beauty, their colorings and fantastic shapes, their scientific make-up and their dwelling places, and occasionally their grotesque appearance.