OUR ADVENTURES IN THE LAND OF THE FLOWERING CACTUS

The Arizona desert to us is starkly beautiful at all times, but when touched by the magic of spring it becomes a land of enchantment. The weirdly beautiful cacti that dominate the landscape strangely resembles the vegetation of a past era, millions of years ago. Bristling with spines the grotesque forms of some of the cholla cactus at once fascinate and repel, leaving one wholly unprepared for the fantastic elegance achieved by even the ugliest member of the cactus clan when adorned with a jewel-like corsage of flowers that can be equalled in brilliant splendor by few flowering plants, and entitling them to the highest rating for sheer eye appeal of color and design.

The Arizona desert has been our studio for many years, and we have come to know and love this land of the Flowering Cactus. Photographing the exquisite cactus blossoms became our hobby and main recreation. When we came to Arizona we knew little or nothing about cacti or the desert, except some wild tales of Indians, cowboys and rattlesnakes in wide open spaces called the "desert." Our enjoyment of the desert and its strange plant and animal life did not depend on our knowledge of botany or zology-nor did we know the long botanical names of the plants we photographed, but our curiosity compelled us to learn what we could of these interesting plants, and this became a fascinating pastime giving to us a greater appreciation of one of nature's most successful experiments -that of molding plant organism to a higher degree of fitness for life in arid regions, and represents the ultimate adaptation of vegetable life on its way up from their primordial home in the sea shallows, to an unfavorable region of intense heat and uncertain rainfall. During the long period that vegetation has existed upon the earth, physical conditions have slowly changed and plants have had to adjust themselves to the changes or -as fossil records indicate become extinct.

We are often asked if we ever have adventures on the desert while photographing cacti. Of course each trip is an adventure usually pleasant. We try not to have unpleasant ones, so our photographic trips are carefully planned, for we have learned early in the game that carelessness can result in serious trouble. We have been stuck in a sandy wash and spent hours digging the car out and finding there was little or no time left to photograph the cacti we had traveled so many miles to find. Another time on a trip to the Mexican border we lost the car keys and did not discover the loss until we were loading our equipment back into the car to move on; so we searched the area around each plant we had photographed during a two hour period and did not find them. On returning to the

"ENGELMANN'S HEDGEHOG" Echinocereus Engelmanii EARL PETROFF

car we were lucky enough to find the keys on the ground at our feet, where they had fallen when we took our camera and other equipment from the car. This could have been serious so we have since made it a practice to carry two sets of keys. We are often asked if we are not afraid of being bitten by a rattlesnake when we are miles from civilization. We are not really afraid of rattlers, but we do have a healthy respect for them, and we make it a rule to look where we step-before stepping. Rattlesnakes like to rest in the shade of small shrubs and usually give you warning if you should pass within a few feet of them. We have seen very few snakes on the desert over the years-by actual count not more than six or seven at most. Years may go by without seeing a single rattlesnake. Anything can happen if one forgets the water jug on a desert outing-it is more essential than food. Drinking water, a shovel to dig out and a strong pair of tweezers in case of too chummy contact with the joints of a cholla cactus are the prime requisites for a desert outing.

The winter months on the desert is a time for exploring new territories for unusual or hard to find cacti. Cooking steaks and coffee over a campfire in the crisp cold air under turquoise skies is an added pleasure. March brings forth a sprinkling of gaily colored flowers on the chartreuse hedgehog (Echinomastus Johnsonii) and the silken flowered pink beavertail cactus (Opuntia basilaris) both found in abundance in the Joshua forest, west of Congress Junction on the Kingman Highway. Few plants are seen from the main highway, so it is necessary to turn off the highway onto the Alamo road for a distance of nine or ten miles. Walking in any direction, one will see many showy plants in the area. However, it is not until late April and early May that nature turns on her magic charm and turns the sunwashed desert into a vast garden. The spreading boughs of the blue palo verde trees fringing the desert washes, hide under veils of delicate golden blossoms, completely obscuring their bluish-green stems and leafless branches. The nearby whiplike ocotillo, leafless during rainless periods is now clothed in clusters of small emerald leaves over its swaying lengths, each wand tipped with a crowded panicle of flame colored blossoms. Two members of the yucca family add their tall spikes of creamy waxlike flowers to form the background for the fragile loveliness of the flowering cactus. In favorable years following winter rains, a large number of short lived herbaceous plants appear almost overnight it seems, carpeting the desert floor with a brilliant display of color from the simultaneous blooming of several hundred species, that usually complete their life cycle in seven or eight weeks. But in dry years, only cacti and some of the desert shrubs and trees will bloom.

There are two areas near Phoenix where a large number of cacti can be found to bloom approximately at the same time, making a lavish display during late April and May. Cave Creek, north of Phoenix, is perhaps the nearest desert area for a short trip. Here forming the background are scenic vistas of low mountains with many palo verde and ironwood trees in the foreground, while the regal saguaro marches over the desert and up the hillsides, bearing aloft their bouquets of creamy blossoms on the tips of their “arms” many feet above the desert floor. Here is to be seen the Spanish bayonet, a member of the yucca family, bearing bell-like creamy flowers that open wide with magnolia-like loveliness during the night, luring the dusty-white yucca moth to pollinate it. Many large clumpsof prickly pear cactus (Opuntia Engelmannii) bearing lemon yellow flowers when opening in the morning, which later in the day change to burnt orange and sometimes deep red, decorate the landscape. Several species of the purple flowered hedgehogs, some chollas and a large number of barrel cacti are all plentiful here. Any of the meandering desert roads beyond Cave Creek will lead to interesting spots for a Sunday outing. Parking is no problem herethe desert floor is mostly made up of decomposed granite, and only the dry sandy washes are unsafe. To feel the spell and mystery of the desert, walking over the desert floor is recommended rather than just riding through the desert in a car. The other area is some forty odd miles east of Phoenix On U. S. 60-70, where the Superstition Mountain dominates the landscape and many thousands of acres of unspoiled desert may still be seen so far free of housing projects. cts. Far from the hustle and bustle of modern civilization, here one can still enjoy solitude and beauty in a vast land of sunshine and tourquoise skies. The feeling of aloneness so desirable in our tension filled lives is here in the land of the Flowering Cactus. The second and third week in May is the ideal time to visit this senic region and find the desert at its best. The higher elevation makes a week's difference in the flowering period of many cacti. Near Tucson are several outstanding desert regions. One between Oracle Junction and Florence on U. S. 80-89 is noted for its large forest of cholla cactus. Several species are represented, such as the eight and ten foot Chainfruit cholla (Opuntia fulgida) with its long chains of green fruit hanging from grotesquely deformed branches, each fruit growing out of the fruit of the previous year, and representing eight and ten years of flowering and fruiting. These long chains of green fruit persist until the chain becomes too heavy when it drops to the ground where it will take root and become a new plant, not by the germination of its seeds, but vegetatively. The Cane (Opuntia spinosior) and Staghorn (Opuntia versicolor) are chollas noted for their ugly form and exquisitely colored flowers. A mixture of all the colors blended from the different bands of the spectrum, and creating a vast symphony of colors with many shades of yellow, green, orange, brown,pink, rose, red, lavender and purple-with only the color blue missing from the floral rainbow. And not to be overlooked is the Jumping cholla (Opuntia Bigelovii) glistening like pale gold in the sunshine. On close examination we find the cylindrical joints completely covered with inch and a half long spines, the spines covered with a golden transparent heath retrosely barbed that catches the suns rays and gives to the plant a golden halo. The joints are so loosely connected to the stem that the merest touch will detach them causing the victim to do the jumping that its common name implies. The spinosity of the cholla cactus has earned them the title of one of the worst pests on the rangeland by cattlemen.

In Organ Pipe National Monument

During the last week in August and the first week in September the Arizona barrel (Ferocactus Wislizenii) reigns supreme among the chollas here. Crowned with complete circles of large yellow, orange and red flowers, they present a festive look. The sunlight reflected on their silken petals imparts a metallic sheen to the brilliantly colored blossoms. The Barrel cactus is easily recognized by its globular, and in case of old plants cylindrical shapes, their strongly ribbed bodies are covered with reddishpurple slightly hooked spine clusters, some up to three inches long and a quarter inch wide. Its network of spines combined with the warlike covering on the parchment-like skin forms a natural lathhouse to protect it from the scorching rays of the midday sun. Their life span is believed to reach well over a hundred years. Most of the Barrel cacti are east of Oracle Junction.The Saguaro National Monument, only a short fifteen or so miles east of Tucson, is one of the state's richest desert regions. A total 63,284 acres have been set aside to preserve the Giant saguaro (Carnegiea giganteus) and other desert plants from the encroachment of civilization. Traveling through the forest on well surfaced roads gives one the impression of being in a world apart, a world of peace and tranquillity. Here the plants are found as the Master Artist moulded them in their diversified forms, from the Giant saguaro weighing several tons to the tiny fuzzy Fishhook only an inch or so across. Flowers are abundant in the monument throughout May and June. Among the many saguaros found here are a few weary old giants with drooping arms that offer to the desert lover a matchless gift of flowers within reach of your hand. The Giant saguaro always gives the impression of great dignity, but during May and June when each branch terminates in a

Editor's Note: Although the agave, yucca and ocotillo are not of the cactus family they lend their touch of splendor to the scene.

cluster of creamy blossoms, some forty or fifty feet above the desert floor, it takes on an air of snobbishness. Flowers open soon after sundown and usually close during midmorning, except on days when the sky is overcast. Then they remain open until mid-afternoon.

Along the Mexican border on the Ruby road off U. S. 89 the Arizona rainbow (Echinocereus rigidissimus) hides among the rocks and bear grass on the hillsides. Their large showy rose-pink flowers appear in a circle at the top of the plant, all but covering its multi-colored stem. The flat comb-like spines are arranged in alternately colored bands around the stem, red, yellow and white, from which characteristic the plant derives its common name. The proximity of Nogales Sonora, Mexico, is an extra incentive to make the long trip to the Rainbow country during May and June when the flowers are most abundant.

June also brings out the fragrant white flowers of Arizona's Queen of the Night (Peniocereus Greggii) but so well hidden is the plant in its native habitat that few people have ever seen it except in cultivation. Having the appearance of dead sticks under palo verde trees and other shrubs, the Queen is so well camouflaged that only the strong spicy fragrance of her flowers gives away her hiding place, occasionally a hunter will see a plant in fall when the large pear-shaped scarlet fruit is ripe. Many plants are in private gardens and their owners are more than happy to show them off when in flower. We once drove 35 miles to the home of friends who had a plant in bloom and it was well worth the trip-since it was the first we had ever seen. Actually they are plentiful throughout the Southern Arizona desert but are hard to find.

The small Fishhook cactus (Mammillaria microcarpa) is always a glorious sight when in bloom along the road to Cave Creek and Seven Springs where they are very numerous. Their flowers occur throughout the summer months, but the first two weeks in August nearly every plant wears a garland of tiny pink or candy stripe flowers. Most of the plants form clusters of three or more stems completely covered with gray-white spines strongly hooked. They are among the most photogenic of desert plants. Late in winter the small scarlet fruits have the appearance of shiny semi-precious gem stones.

Cacti are scattered throughout Arizona, with the largest concentration of plants located in the southern part of the state. The exact number of species native to our desert is around eighty. A few new cactus species have been Found in recent years in out-of-way places and a few species have been "lost."

We have always enjoyed our field trips to Organ Pipe National Monument, south of Ajo, along the Mexican border where large stands of Organ Pipe cactus (Lemaireocereus Thurberi) as well as many unusual spe-cies of cacti are found in abundance. This vast desert wonderland has been set aside so future generations may find their lives enriched by visits to the Land of the Flowering Cactus, a land beautiful, primitive and untouched.