CACTI

In the West Indies there is found a leafy shrubby plant, having a woody stem and many branches, well formed leaves and long straight spines. These plants are the oldest types of cacti found today, while they do not look like cacti, they are nevertheless true members of the family, Cactaceae. Adaptation of this plant to desert conditions shows the Cacti representing the highest specialization of which a leafy shoot of seed plants is capable. Before desert species appeared, this plant had to change its structure and habits so as to equip itself for living in dry regions, by dropping its leaves and branches and acquiring spines, and succulence of the ability to store water for future use. In the barrel cactus the woody core of the stem is no larger than the forearm of a man, although the swollen cortex surrounding it is several inches in thickness. The epidermal or outer layer of the stem's covering is heavily waxed to prevent the escape of water, the hard curved spines which represent the vestiges of foliar organs of the earlier period, suggests that the ancestor of this plant was a branched shoot that had reached its extreme specialization in the barrel cactus. Desert plants have traveled farthest of any living organism along the road of biological adaptation. The cactus family is almost without exception found native only in the Western Hemisphere, from Canada south to Patagonia. Cacti in large quantities and great varieties grow in Mexico, South America and our Southwest. The distribution includes varied climates-hot arid deserts, cold rugged mountains and the tropical rain forests of South America where the Orchid Cactus (Epiphyllum) is found growing on branches of trees as epiphytes.

Like something left over from pre-historic times, the Giant Saguaro (Cereus giganteus) dominates the Arizona desert, towering forty to fifty feet above the tiny Pincushion, Cholla, Prickly Pear and other desert vegetation, proud and dignified with its fluted columns of massive trunks growing singly for ten or fifteen feet, then curving gracefully erect in numerous arms, each tipped with clusters of large satiny white flowers that open at night and close early in the afternoon, followed by egg shaped fruit that bursts into flower-like sections, conspicuous for red linings. Its crimson red pulp is gathered by the Indians for food. The growth of this giant is slow, approximately three quarters of an inch per year and it is usually sixty or seventy years old before producing its first blossoms. The Saguaro blossom is the official state flower of Arizona.

Another interesting denizen of the Arizona desert is the "jumping cholla." This plant has never retreated before man. They defy and challenge the intruder, and woe to the careless stranger who takes up the challenge of the most dangerously spiny of all plants. They are veritable fortresses of the desert, being a haven for such wild life as snakes, lizards and the Cactus Wren who builds her nest in the branches of this tree-like bush and rears her young in perfect security. The desert rat uses the fallen joints to build a mound over his nest and lives in absolute safety. The joints do not "jump" but are so loosely connected that the slightest contact will break them off.

The Cholla (Opuntia fulgida) is easily recognized by its black trunk and the candelabra-like arrangement of its branches, with their long, drooping, branched fruit chains, on which new flowers and fruit are formed year after year from the areoles of the old fruit. Large forests of these chollas are found near Superstition Mountain where some of the trees are from twelve to fifteen feet high. The Teddy Bear Cholla (Opuntia Bigelovii) is a small columnar plant only three or four feet high, with cylindrical branches on the terminal trunks. The straw-colored spines have translucent sheaths, and densely cover the short joints, the numerous spines are barbed and very difficult to remove from skin or flesh. The flowers are pale green with a suggestion of lavender on the edges and very beautiful.

The most interesting of the Cholla group, because of its variability of colors in flowers, is the Cane Cholla (Opuntia Spinosior), usually from six to fifteen feet high. This plant is markedly divaricately branched with a tendency to produce whorls of joints, crowned by a brilliant rainbow of color, the large lovely blossoms clustering around the tips of the thorny arms, ranging in color from pale yellow, orange, red, copper, maroon and shading into brown, purple, pink with tints of brownish purple and lavender. The aspect of this cholla is gray, but under seasonal differences in temperatures and moisture its appearance may be changed to a purple-green. The wood or inner core of this plant is used extensively for furniture and picture frames by local craftsmen.

The Prickly Pear includes many varieties and is widely distributed throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada, due no doubt to its ability to continue growth in a temperature of 137 degrees F. and not being injured by freezing weather in the colder regions. Of the many varieties found in Arizona the most common prickly pear is the Opuntia Engelmannii with its exquisite flowers of lemon yellow that change during the day to burnt orange or even red, followed by deep purple or maroon-purple fruit. The fruit of this prickly pear has been used for centuries by the Indians and still forms a considerable part of their diet today. The mucilaginous juice of this plant is used by Indians in the Southwest as a sizing to fix the colors painted on hides or receptacles made from hides by rubbing a freshly peeled pad over the painted object.

There are also other uses.

The Beaver Tail (Opuntia basilaris) is one of the most beautiful of the prickly pear group, its brilliant deep pink flowers appearing in clusters on the margin of the blue-gray joints. The spineless pads have the appearance of a fuzzy beaver tail hence the common name. However, they are not as harmless as they appear for the "velvety" aspect is the result of numerous brown glochids or barbed hair that are easily dislodged.

Near the beautiful Santa Rita Mountains not far from Tucson are found the Purple Prickly Pear (Opuntia Santa Rita), the round purple-gray joints are almost spineless and have the appearance of "flapjacks." Large deep yellow flowers almost four inches across, form bright spots of color against the purple background of the plant. The beautiful flowers of all prickly pear cactus may be picked and arranged in flat Indian baskets or trays and will remain fresh all day without water.Large fields of Barrel Cactus (Echinocactus Wizlizenii) decorate the landscape on the highway between Tucson and Benson, Arizona, some of the barrels weighing two and three hundred pounds and reaching a height of six feet, the larger specimens usually leaning southwest, making an excellent compass. The flowers often form complete crowns on the top of the plant, and range in color from lemon yellow, orange, orange-red to crimson red, all having a beautiful metallic sheen. This is the cactus commonly used for the highly advertised "Cactus Candy." The fleshy part is cut in small squares, soaked in water overnight, cooked until tender, drained and cooked in heavy syrup flavored with lemon or orange rind until it hasabsorbed all the syrup, place on waxed paper and allow to dry out.

The Strawberry Cactus (Echinocereus Engelmannii) is the first one to bloom in Spring, large clusters of rich purple flowers dotting the desert around Phoenix. These plants are found in clumps from a few to twenty, with stems about a foot high completely covered with a network of spines from one to three inches long. The brilliant flowers three to four inches across almost cover the plants. The fruit is covered with spines that drop off at maturity and the pinkish mass of sweet pulp when eaten with sugar and cream is a fair substitute for strawberries.

One of the most beautiful of all cacti found in Arizona is the Rainbow Cactus (Echinocereus rigidissimus), native to a restricted area from Baboquivari Mountains to the Santa Catalina Mountains and eastward to Southern Cochise County. This beautiful plant is a great favorite with collectors, but unfortunately, when removed from its natural habitat, it does not live long in cultivation, but it can be successfully grown from seed and will produce flowers when four or five years old. The large reddish-purple flowers crowning the top of the plant completely obscure the stem with its alternate zones of brilliantly colored spines.

The Arizona "Queen of the Night" (Peniocereus Greggii) is found on the desert of Southern Arizona. This plant grows in twos and threes under Palo Verde and Ironwood trees that afford it protection from the blazing summer sun. Having the appearance of old dead sticks, it is usually overlooked by the desert traveler. The root shaped like an oversized turnip and weighing from a few ounces to fifty and sixty pounds in old plants, stores food and moisture for future use and enables it to produce flowers each Summer whether it rains or not. The branches have a woody core and are usually an inch in diameter and dull gray in appearance, with finely barbed stiff spine formations resembling an insect. The lovely flowers five and six inches across are borne on a tube seven to ten inches long, the petals presenting a wonderful harmony of tint and hue, varying from waxy white to a delicate pink and lavender, and having a sweet spicy fragrance that will scent the air for one hundred feet. The flowers open at sunset and close shortly after sunrise the following day. Usually a plant will produce from one to thirty buds, depending on the size of the plant, but all the buds on one plant do not open in one night, a few will be a week or more late. The total flowering period lasts nearly five weeks.

While the Mescal Button (Lophophora Williams) is not a native of Arizona, it has been used for centuries by the Indians of the Southwest in religious rites. Much has been written about the "Peyote Cult" among the Indians by missionaries, scientists and botanists, since its use dates back to ancient times among the Aztecs of Mexico, and is still wide-spread among various Indian tribes in the Southwest today. The missionaries, unable to break up the cult reported the use of "Peyote" as paganism arrayed against the elevat-ing influence of Christianity and regarded its use as a sin. The Peyote or Mescal Button was not identified as a cactus until 1915 by W. E. Safford, a botanist with the United States Department of Agriculture. It does not look like cactus, being completely spineless. The Mescal Button is a simple hemisphere with six or eight converg-ing grooves and faint lines connecting them, a small tuft of matted hairs is borne in the center of each, the top is blue-gray in color, forming a button on the deep stout root. The pale pink flower one inch in diameter is borne on the newly formed areoles in the center of the plant. This sacred gift of the Indian Gods contains three alkaloids, viz: mescaline, lophophorine and anhalonine. When eaten raw, dried or cooked in a concoction, the first impression is one of energy and intellectual power and the effect on the optic nerve enables the eyes to see images of kaleidoscopic symetrical grouping in every conceivable color and tone, objects appearing in a jewel of splendor unknown to a natural world, but this blissful state is followed by a "hang-over." Scientists say it is neither intoxicating nor habit-forming. Its distribution ranges from the southern border of Texas to Queretaro, Mexico.Southern Arizona is the answer to the Cactophile's prayer, for any and all cacti may be successfully grown out doors the year around. Cacti not native to Arizona need the protection of a lath house and a little more water than the native variety.

There are many beautiful small species of cacti that produce exquisite flowers and can be purchased from dealers for a few cents, taking up very little room in a lath house or porch and needing little or no care, except an occasional drink of water. The Bishop's Cap (Astrophytum myriostigma) is an interesting specimen, shaped like a miniature Bishop's cap and covered with starlike white scales and being completely spineless, bearing a golden flower in the center of the plant. The small Button Cactus (Epithelantha micromeris) is one of the smallest of all cacti, only one inch in diameter and covered with soft harmless white spines in starlike formation, bearing a cluster of pale pink and sometimes almost white blossoms at the top of the plant. The night blooming hedgehog is another speciesthat does well either in a lath house or even out in the open sun. blooming all Summer and bearing from one to seven flowers at once. The Echinopsis multiplex with its lovely pink flowers four inches across is one of the best in this group.

Among the strangest of all is the Organ Pipe Cactus, weird in a way, but designed aptly for its habitat.

The Mexican and South American night bloomers planted either in the shade of large trees or against the inside walls of a lath house, will produce flowers the second year after a three foot cutting is planted. The Harrissia pomanensis is one of the most prolific bloom-ers, the lovely seven inch flowers of greenish-white emit a jasmine-like fragrance. No collection is complete without the beautiful Moon Cereus of Uruguay and Argentina (Selenicereus Macdonaldiae), a quick growing species, much branched and long stemmed with few spines, but long aerial roots that draw food and moisture from the air. This "Goddess of the Night" is epiphytic in habit and it is more important that the tops of the plants receive moisture than the roots. Your reward will be the largest and most beautiful of all cacti flowers, usually twelve inches long and fifteen inches across, the outer petals orange-purple, partly reflexed and forming a golden collar for the creamy white cup shaped inner petals, stamens and style are white with a many lobed yellowish stigma. The wonder that is their blossom, and the sadness and awe that comes with the knowledge that only for one night does such beauty last.

The Orchid Cacti (Epiphyllums) are amongst the easiest grown of all cacti, while the blossoms surpass even the rare Orchis in their brilliant coloring and size. The large blossoms are up to ten inches in diameter, the glowing satiny petals display a rainbow irridescence Vivid and clear are the shining reds in all shades from scarlet to deep crimson, bright are the pinks, salmon, orange, orange-red, snowy white and white with gold. More beautiful if possible, are the bicolors with scarlet outer petals and radiant violet throats. To understand their culture, one must remember that they are native to Central and South America, and found growing on the branches of trees like the rare Orchid (Cattleyas), they are not parasites, but air plants, using the trees solely as a means of support, deriving their nourishment from the atmosphere, their roots clasping the bark of their hosts where they absorb minerals and salts from the decaying vegetation among the lichens on the branches, from the sunlight they manufacture their own food so the tree is really nothing more than a resting place. The Orchid Cacti should be planted in five or six inch pots, containing one half leafmold and one half garden soil (not adobe) with a little powdered charcoal and bone meal added. They will do well under a large shade tree, porch or in a lath house and should be sprayed with a fine spray every day during the hot Arizona summer months and kept moist in winter while they rest, never allow them to become dry, always remember that they are at home in tropical rain forests where it rains nearly every day.

It is not necessary to know the botanical names of Cacti to enjoy these interesting plants, but most people once they have started a collection take pleasure in being able to point to a plant saying, "That is an Echinofossulocactus multicostatus!"-in plain English a many ribbed hedgehog cactus-Botanical names are useful when ordering cacti from dealers or identifying unlabeled plants. A copy of the University of Arizona Biological Science Bulletin No. 5 "THE CACTI OF ARIZONA" is a must to anyone interested in Arizona Cacti and for the Cactus Collector I would recommend "CACTI FOR THE AMATEUR" by Scott E. Haselton, a most authentic book.