PAPAGO FRUIT CACTUS (Opuntia Blakeana)PAPAGO FRUIT CACTUS (Opuntia Blakeana)
PAPAGO FRUIT CACTUS (Opuntia Blakeana)
Southern Arizona
At altitudes of three to five thousand feet in the sandy and clay loams across southern Arizona one may see a prickly pear calleddelicataon account of its small size and its slender joints and spines. This babyOpuntiawas only recently discovered and is considered a rare find, thoughlittle is known about its distribution. The tiny plants are sometimes but three inches high, growing to ten inches in different specimens, with one or several stems, long needlelike spines and large yellow flowers, as usual blooming in the morning and closing up their petals in the afternoon. New and interesting specimens of the cactus clan are discovered now and then, and it gives the botanist and the layman much pleasure to study and classify them, to look up their haunts and habits and place them where they belong, so that all may see and know them.
DELICATE PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia delicata)DELICATE PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia delicata)
DELICATE PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia delicata)
Southern Arizona
WHIPPLE’S CHOLLA (Opuntia Whipplei)WHIPPLE’S CHOLLA (Opuntia Whipplei)
WHIPPLE’S CHOLLA (Opuntia Whipplei)
PURPLE PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia santa rita)PURPLE PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia santa rita)
PURPLE PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia santa rita)
We are approaching the beautiful Santa Rita Mountains not far from Tucson, Arizona, nearing also the end of our long afternoon’s work, for the blue and purple haze that betokens the close of a hot desert day is gathering around the distant peaks and the sun hangs low over the horizon, seeming loath to bid farewell to mountain and desert cañons and to weary mortals here below. A symphony in purple and yellow greets our tired eyes and brightens our jaded spirits as we motor slowly along the highroad; and we stop to get a closer view of this handsomest of all the brilliantOpuntia, the Purple Prickly Pear. A dash of purple in the sepals tones into golden yellow in petals and stamens of the large beautiful blooms, three inches across when full open and nearly four inches in length, the lemon and deep yellow flowers in vivid contrast to the bright purple joints ofsanta ritain the spring. Then in summer the densely glaucous gray-blue joints form a striking color scheme together with the bright purple fruit. Two to five feet tall, the plants branch from a short thick trunk in numerous stemlike appendages which look like so many “flapjacks” on the desert. They prefer the gravelly or rocky soils at levels of three to five thousand feet, and grow over drabbajadasand somber foothill slopes near the high Santa Ritas, where they were discovered by Dr. David Griffiths and named for this majestic range which towers in sight of these brilliantly beautiful and slender-spined pearlike cacti. These rare plants are finding a place in many gardens throughout the Southwest, and even abroad in England they may be grown satisfactorily in indoor cactus gardens.
Southern Arizona
The Smooth Prickly Pear is a dainty morsel, and how the cattle like to espy it in the few open spaces where it ventures to grow! For this cactus is nearly spineless and clings to the inaccessible cañon slopes where stock cannot prey upon it. In April and May it forms a striking picture on the desert canvas, a great patch of large, showy, lemon-colored blossoms peering forth from the jutting and protecting rocks on all sides of the steep mountain cliffs here in southern Arizona;in July it changes this brilliant coloring with almost kaleidoscopic swiftness to purple and pink splashes of the fine large fruit. Truly the desert is aflame with glory when the prickly pears come forth in bloom! Is it the soul of the Flower trying to find expression in beauty and fragrance, attuned to the soul of the poet and the lover of desert creation, striving to grow in tune with the Universe? Here is a lesson, perchance, that he who runs may read; for those who can pierce the vale of mysteries it is called “in tune with the Infinite.”
Opuntia laevisis three to six feet tall with erect wide-spreading branches ascending from the base. A very few needlelike spicules develop along the stem, crowned by the large striking lemon-colored flowers with orange-red centers, nearly three inches long and as broad, opening in the morning and folding up in late afternoon.
SMOOTH PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia laevis)SMOOTH PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia laevis)
SMOOTH PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia laevis)
Southern Arizona and Sonora
Opuntia Toumeyiis a most attractive species and a distinctive type among cacti, covering the foothills of southernArizona mountains with its waxy green joints and pink spines, sometimes brownish white thorns, and bright golden satiny blooms shading into red and orange at their bases and yellow-green toward the margins, suffused with purple-brown, a lovely harmony of color splashing across the painted canvas of brilliant desert flowers. Appearing in loose golden clumps, one and one-half to three feet tall, with the spicules forming a dense pinkish gray fringe about the upper half of the areolas, this prickly pear roams the rocky, gravelly foothills and mountains here in southern Arizona and in Sonora.
FOOTHILL PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia Toumeyi)FOOTHILL PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia Toumeyi)
FOOTHILL PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia Toumeyi)
Southern Texas
We leave the foothills andbajadasof southern Arizona and cross the Rio Grande into the prairie lands of southern Texas in search of a peculiar Prickly Pear growing in the vicinity of San Antonio, Texas; thisOpuntiais widely cultivatednow in cactus gardens, and one should not miss it even though it takes several hours to reach the destination. A striking plant on account of its long lance-shaped joints, Cow’s Tongue grows three to five feet tall with a spread of three to six feet, in spring covered with great satiny yellow blossoms nearly four inches long, tinted in green and golden shades, and forming in numerous patches, great splashes of gold against the dull brown and grays of desert prairie lands in southern Texas. The fruit is quite tasty (it is commercialized by Mexicans), eaten raw and made into spicy jam or syrup. We note the characteristic tongue-shaped joints, a foot or two long, which give the plant its specific namelinguiformis(tongue-shaped), and also its common name Cow’s Tongue. The late afternoon shadows begin to creep over the rolling prairies and the sun is sinking low on the horizon in one last attempt to linger here awhile, ere it sweeps our no man’s land in a vast flood of glory and is no more. Many tourists prefer to travel at this hour and while the desert moon is shining, for the cool and alluring night breezes render motoring delightful over the arid sands during the latter part of May.
Northern Sonora and Southern Arizona
DISCUS PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia discata)DISCUS PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia discata)
DISCUS PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia discata)
We have crossed the international border once more, this time driving to Nogales, Arizona, then across the street into Nogales, Sonora, looking for a well-known Prickly Pear growing on the grassy mesas andbajadasof northern Sonora and of southern Arizona. Its namediscatarefers to the large circular and disklike joints of the stems, nearly a foot in diameter and about half an inch thick, which form the many ascending and spreading branches of this shrub; and it seems to us we could almost use them in throwing thediscus in the marvelous Olympiad Games to be held this summer, here in the giant amphitheater of the sun. The beautiful plants grow in large clumps about five feet high and five to ten feet across, standing forth as most striking figures on the desert canvas with their erect spreading pear-like arms and the vivid harmony of color in their large and brilliant blooms; glossy lemon-yellow shading into deep orange, then the yellow-green tints of the sepals and the cream-white suffused with a delicate pinkish cast of the club-like styles. There is a little animal living on the desert known as the trade rat or pack rat which invariably seeks theOpuntia discatafor building his home; if the habitat of this little rat is investigated about five bushels of débris will be found including cactus joints, stems, sticks, and even stones, all carefully piled away in and under these plants. This is a sure sign of the pack rat’s nest, for in such a home his needs are all taken care of; thediscatagives him protectionfrom wandering coyotes and dogs, water and food in its succulent stems, and still more food in the ripe sweet fruit. The latter is covered with many fine spicules and the Indians skillfully remove these by rubbing, so as not to get the prickers into the fingers; for they are very annoying and irritating if they find their way into the flesh. The ripe fruit is gathered for food by Mexicans and Indians, who make from it a fine syrup, delicious preserves and other delicacies.
ENGELMANN’S PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia Engelmannii)ENGELMANN’S PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia Engelmannii)
ENGELMANN’S PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia Engelmannii)
Northern Mexico, Arizona, and Texas
Next in our journey across the land of the burning sun we find Engelmann’s Prickly Pear here in Northern Mexico—a very fine, large Opuntia which grows also in Texas and Arizona. This cactus like several others has been named in honor of Dr. George Engelmann, an early outstanding student of cacti. The plant is a rather large shrub six totwelve feet across and three to five feet tall, with many divergent and ascending branches from the base, these often rooting and forming an impenetrable growth. Its large bluish green joints contrast vividly in the spring with the huge golden or lemon-yellow flowers which appear in great numbers in April and May; while again in July there is another marked contrast to the deep purple or maroon-purple fruit, which is pear-shaped and often three inches long. As many as sixteen fruit are borne on a single joint or pad of the Prickly Pear. These the Mexicans and Indians eat when ripe, and the natives make a most palatable syrup from the jams or conserves.
Northern Mexico, Central Arizona, and Western Texas
TheOpuntia macrocentragrows in sandy soil or clay loam at levels of three to five thousand feet. The plants are no more than three feet tall and are calledmacrocentrain allusion to the long spines, over three inches in length. The large showy blossoms are about three inches long with light yellow petals and bright red or orange-red centers. This flower also opens and closes in the daytime and lasts for one day only. The olive-green joints of the plants, which are suffused with purple or sometimes purple throughout, the dark purple-brown spines, and the yellow bloom create an uncommon sight here on the open desert out over the mesas andbajadasin Northern Mexico.
Southeastern California, Western Arizona, Northern Sonora, Southern Nevada, and Southern Utah
BEAVER TAIL (Opuntia basilaris)BEAVER TAIL (Opuntia basilaris)
BEAVER TAIL (Opuntia basilaris)
An odd and interesting little Prickly Pear, with its many spicules appearing each like a small fuzzy tail, and called by the natives Beaver Tail.
FLAPJACK PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia chlorotica)FLAPJACK PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia chlorotica)
FLAPJACK PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia chlorotica)
PORCUPINE PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia hystricina)PORCUPINE PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia hystricina)
PORCUPINE PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia hystricina)
TEDDY BEAR CACTUS (Opuntia Bigelovii)TEDDY BEAR CACTUS (Opuntia Bigelovii)
TEDDY BEAR CACTUS (Opuntia Bigelovii)
In southeastern California we run across that odd and interesting little Prickly Pear with its many spicules appearing like a small fuzzy tail, and hence called by the natives Beaver Tail. Because of its habit of growth and its spineless joints of light blue or blue-gray and bright rose-colored flowers, thebasilarisis different from all other Prickly Pear cacti. Beaver Tail blooms profusely, and when in blossom the clumps of plants on the mesas are bright rose and purple, the flowers almost completely hiding the shrubs and forming a brilliant splash of hue and tint, a solid, unbroken patch of color on the gray or brown stretches of mesa and foothill.
Basilarisprefers the most arid and sterile sandy or gravelly soil at altitudes of a thousand feet and less, on thebajadasof Nevada, Utah, western Arizona, and here in Southern California. This cactus does not grow very tall, seldom more than a foot, and the spread of the rosettelike growth is about three feet across. The large beautiful blooms, three inches long and nearly as broad, appear in clusters on the margin of a joint, opening in the forenoon and closing as the sunlight fades. There are no spines, and the closely set areolas, crowded with spicules which are easily dislodged, form the chief protection of the shrub; spicules are very small and light and when dried fall off, and carried by the wind are easily caught in one’s clothing or body; they are effective protectors and neither rodents nor grazing animals eat plants where they appear and even man fears them more than cactus thorns because of the difficulty of extracting them and on account of the pain and sores which they cause.
Southern California
GOLDEN PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia Covillei)GOLDEN PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia Covillei)
GOLDEN PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia Covillei)
We are approaching the lovely Santa Monica range in Southern California. Mt. San Bernardino with his crown of snow towers in the distance; Mt. Baldy with his white head bald almost the entire year round, we perceive even farther west; and magnificent old San Gorgonio rears his stately crest far above all the surrounding peaks. This is one of the most beauteous spots in Southern California. The vast depths of that great natural amphitheater near Redlands and Riverside as viewed from Smiley Heights form a panorama gorgeous beyond description, with every color of the rainbow brilliantly present, a marvelous thrilling picture painted against the landscape far and near: marvelous in its splashes of purples and greens and pinks and orange-reds against the somber background of the grand old mountains; thrilling in the vastness of the limitless panorama spread out before us on all sides, as we stand here on Smiley Heights gazing into the great cañons below, which seem to magnetize us against our will and to draw us down into their depths by the sheer force of distance immeasurable. Truly a fit setting for our littleOpuntia Covillei, playing hishumble part in all this gorgeous portraiture of plant and flower, mountain and valley and rocky cliff; and with the touch of the Master Artist he takes his modest place in the great aurora borealis of the desert. Bright yellow and nearly four inches long are his large beautiful blooms, toning into the green of the stigma lobes in a happy combination of Nature’s making, and forming, over the two- or three-foot stems with their pale blue-green joints or dull green pearlike appendages, a becoming aureole of gold, quite dazzling in the brilliant sunlight. Sometimes he grows in dense thickets several yards across and fringed with thick clusters of inch-long brown and yellowish white spines and spicules, sharp and needlelike, harshly repulsing the daring tourist who presumes to pluck his beautiful blossoms too rashly.
Southern California, Arizona, Lower California, Northern Mexico, New Mexico, and Nevada
We are nearing the end of our long quest for the brilliant Prickly Pears, having crossed the Arizona and California deserts on our way, dipped down into southern Texas and Northern Mexico, and now are intent on finding a distinctive growth here in southwestern California calledOpuntia chlorotica. Light purple is the fruit of this typical cactus, the stems yellow or light green; straw-colored and brownish are the slender bristlelike spines, translucent yellow the spicules. Almost a gay rainbow of itself,chloroticagraces the mountain cañons and foothills of six great sections of the vast southwestern desert. A short trunk, half a foot or a foot tall, branches into many jointed “flapjacks” six to ten inches long and about as wide, which combine to form a compact rounded head three to six feet high. The scaly fissured faces of the pearlike basal joints so typical of the prickly pear arelight brown and purplish, the others pale green and bluish green; the slender yellowish spicules are not quite half an inch long, the bristling spines a trifle longer. The bloom, as of so many of the prickly pear species, is of a light lemon-yellow with a brilliant orange-red center, about two and one-half inches long and across; like others of this clan it opens early in the morning, closing when the late afternoon shadows begin to spell the end of the hot desert day. Seldom appearing in clumps, generally growing alone,chloroticadelights to cover the foothills and low mountain cañons with her pretty lemon blossoms, her short stout trunks, and their numerous flat pearlike joints.
Northern Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada
As we approach Los Angeles, California, we recall a peculiar little growth in northern Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico calledOpuntia hystricina; also the Porcupine Prickly Pear, its long slender needlelike spines, reddish or red-brown, giving the plant a shaggy appearance strongly resembling that bristling little animal. In fact the name of the specieshystricinacomes from the Greek word for “porcupine.” Only a foot or so tall, its thorny stems spread out into loose clumps, the flat hairy joints, five or six inches long, looking just like so many bristling young porcupines; then with a crescent mass of light yellowish spicules an eighth-inch long or less, and six to ten finely grooved white and brownish spines, encircled sometimes with white and brown bands. In lovely contrast appear the beautiful large purple blossoms, three inches long and with as great a spread when fully expanded in April or May, opening but once, then closing in late afternoon never to open again. Thriving in the clay loam and gravelly soils of mountains and rocky cañons in northern Arizona and Nevada, ranging far up from five to seven thousand feet, this hardy cactus will endure temperatures even below zero without the slightest injury.
PORCUPINE PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia hystricina)PORCUPINE PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia hystricina)
PORCUPINE PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia hystricina)
LONG SPINED PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia macrocentra)LONG SPINED PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia macrocentra)
LONG SPINED PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia macrocentra)
And now the borealis of desert color has passed us by in its rush to the coolness and stillness of the desert night, only to recuperate and renew its gay attire and appear in fresh array of hue and tint in the morrow’s pearly dawn. In ages long gone by, when worlds were in the making, with the swish of the eternal paintbrush the flowers received their colorings, and it is with awe and admiration we have greeted these colorful creations come forth at the touch of the Master Artist; for we find them only here in the land of the burning sun, where they are born to their lonely vigil under the sky and stars, but to live and thrive and to fade and die, only to reappear anon in eternal and varied expressions of the Infinite Mind of Nature. Thus to-day passes into to-morrow, when new fields are waiting to be painted on the glorious canvas of the desert, and so we must take our leave of gorgeous bloom and brilliant filigree alike, and hurry along as the setting sun traces a last fiery pattern across the flaming heavens.
These plants are large or small shrubs, consisting of several jointed stems, the flat platelike joints or branches pear-shaped, elongated, thorny, but not distinctly tubercled, the clumps of joints from one to six or more feet in height, and from two to ten or twelve feet across. Spicules, sometimes called glochidia, are always present. The plants always have scalelike leaves which soon fall off. The Prickly Pears, like the Cholla, have spines of but one kind and of many differentsizes, but they are not fierce nor as dangerous as the thorns of the Cholla, and they are never sheathed. The flowers are symmetrical and very beautiful, among the most brilliant of all the gorgeous cactus bloom, large flaming orange or yellow blossoms, usually. They open in the forenoon and close in the late afternoon of the same day, generally, soon falling away from the young fruit. The latter is covered with tubercles and always has spicules, scales, and generally spines, is either fleshy or dry, and is edible, often purple, falling away soon after maturity.
Plants grow readily from cuttings of one or two joints set a few inches deep in moist sandy soil and given enough water to keep the soil moist; the cut surfaces should be allowed to dry thoroughly before planting. If mature cuttings are used and planted in early spring, many species will blossom the same season. Plants can be grown also from seeds planted a half-inch deep in sandy soil out of doors or in flats, with part shade and watered enough to keep the soil moist but not wet; but these develop very slowly and remain a long time in the soil before they germinate. All species grow indoors or out, preferably in a southern exposure.
(Named in honor of Dr. William P. Blake, professor of geology in the University of Arizona and director of the College of Mines)
Blakeana, or the Papago Fruit Cactus, is formed by stems a foot or so high which grow on the desert in clumps eight feet or more in diameter. The branches or joints are pear-shaped, about three inches wide and eight inches long, coloreda medium green suffused with beautiful purples. The spicules and spines are very distinctive, the former growing in fringes and easily dislodged. The spine colors are brown or purple and tone off into gray, and the thorns are very sharp and needlelike, dangerous when the plant is not handled cautiously. The flowers—beautiful and also very showy, from two to three inches long, bright satin-yellow with red-brown centers—appear in April and May; the fruit ripens in July and is of a pale pink-purple, quite sweet.
This species will grow outside and is not injured by temperatures as low as twenty-five degrees below freezing. With temperatures lower than this it should be protected or grown indoors. Mature cuttings composed of one joint planted at almost any season, but preferably early in spring, with a half of the cutting covered, grow very readily. They may be planted in any position or simply laid on the surface of moist soil. Very little irrigation is necessary, but watering once a month during the growing season is beneficial. Grown indoors or out.
(Named from its small size and delicate structure)
Delicata, or the Delicate Prickly Pear, is formed by stems three to ten inches long which are thin, wrinkled or dished joints of bluish green and purplish tones. These joints or stems are covered with bright yellowish spicules which seem to be arranged in circular bundles, and with three twisted spines one-fourth inch to three inches long, all three very slender, delicate and whitish. The flowers are two or three inches long and wide, of a bright satiny yellowish hue; thefruit is pear-shaped and slender. This plant has small joints, and with its long weak slender spines and large beautiful flowers is a very attractive species. At the same time it is quite a rare specimen of the Cactacea Family.
Plants grow indoors and out, and are not injured by temperatures of twenty-five or thirty degrees below freezing. With colder weather they require protection. They are difficult to transplant on account of the fleshy spindle-shaped roots, which decay if injured. Plants grow readily from the cuttings of two joints or stems with the lower cutting covered with soil, and prefer a sandy soil. They may be grown also from seeds, but these germinate slowly. Thedelicatathrives with moderate irrigation and should be watered once a month during its growing season and given good drainage.
(Named from the Santa Rita Mountains near Tucson, Arizona, in the vicinity of which it was discovered)
Santa rita, or the Purple Prickly Pear, is a plant from two to five feet tall composed of jointed compact stems, a foot or less in length and half as wide, forming into a head. These joints are a bluish gray suffused with purple tones and are circular. This characteristic shape distinguishes the species from the ordinary Prickly Pear, which has oblong or elongated joints. The spicules form in a translucent yellowish fringe; there are one or two twisted yellow spines, growing on many specimens to three inches in length. The flowers are about three inches long, and are very showy with their satiny lemon-yellow colorings appearing in April and May. The light green and purple fruit is elliptical. This plant is thehandsomest of all the southwestern Prickly Pears, while the purplish circular joints with but a few slender spines make it quite distinctive.
This variety is popular in cactus gardens and grows easily from mature cuttings; if they are set in the ground early in spring, the plants blossom during the same season. Half of the cutting should be covered, and then the plant should be watered lightly during the growing season to keep the soil moist. The plant prefers gravelly or loamy soils. Fine symmetrical plants are grown from seeds, though these germinate slowly. This plant is not injured by zero temperatures, and grows indoors or out.
(The specific namelaevismeans “smooth”)
The Smooth Prickly Pear is practically devoid of the spines so prevalent in the cactus family. Many specimens reach a height of six feet; the joints or branches are from six to twelve inches long and loosely branched from the base, and are a yellowish green. The spicules are yellow and brown or a mixture of these two colors, while the one or two slender deflexed spines are white or tan. The flowers are large and quite showy, and with their lemon-yellow petals and orange centers present a very beautiful color scheme. The bloom is about three inches long and as broad, blossoming in April and May; the purple fruit ripens in July, and is about the size of a large walnut; its flesh is pink fading into purple.
These plants grow indoors or out and will endure temperatures twenty-five or thirty degrees below freezing withoutinjury. Young plants may be transplanted at any season, or mature cuttings may be planted early in spring. They grow well in any ordinary soil, preferably gravelly loam or rocky soil, and should be watered once a month to keep the soil moist during the growing season. The seeds are slow to germinate.
(Named in honor of James W. Toumey, former professor of botany at the University of Arizona)
The Foothill Prickly Pear is another of the clump-growing variety of the cactus clan, reaching to a height of about three feet. The stems form readily in large clumps along the foothills and low-lying mesas and swales in sunny exposures, where the plants do best. This species has the usual system of spicules and spines, the former a fourth-inch, the latter about three inches long. The spicules are tawny or yellow and brown, while the needlelike crooked spines are white or a light red-brown. In the gathering shadows these thorns give the plant a pinkish gray cast. The bright showy blossoms are about the length and width of a teacup, are a bright yellow with orange centers, and appear in April and May. The elliptical purple fruit ripens in July.
Plants grow indoors and out and are not injured by thirty degrees of frost, but require protection for temperatures below zero. They grow easily from mature cuttings planted at almost any season. Before planting, place cuttings in shade for about two weeks to allow cut to heal. Cover about half of the cutting with soil and plant in rocky or gravellyclay; water lightly during the growing season and in droughty periods.
(All three names refer to the characteristic tongue-shaped joints)
The Cow’s Tongue is an oddly formed Prickly Pear which grows tongue-shaped joints a foot to thirty inches long. These flattened, tongue-shaped joints are about as wide as a man’s hand and a little thinner, covered with well spaced spicules and spines. The edges of the joints are also fringed with needlelike thorns which are dangerous to handle. These light greenish stems or joints form into thickets growing from three to five feet high and creating a very good hedge. The spicules are a light yellowish; some of the spines are a straw color, and it is to be noted that about half of them are a pale purple and brown, not more than two inches long, the spicules about half as long. The flowers are about the diameter of a large cup and are very showy, of a beautiful satiny yellowish hue. The fruit is light purple, the flesh greenish, ripening in July.
This odd-looking cactus may be easily recognized among all other Prickly Pears by its characteristic tongue-shaped joints.
Plants are not injured in outdoor zero temperatures, but for colder weather they should be covered or grown indoors. They grow readily from cuttings set about six inches deep in moist soil and watered lightly bi-weekly during the growing season. Cuttings should remain out of the ground for twoweeks in shade before planting, to callus over the cut ends. Almost any kind of soil will answer.
(The names refer to the disk-shaped joints)
The Discus Prickly Pear, ordiscata, also grows in clumps from three to five feet high and as much as ten feet across, and has numerous ascending and spreading branches. This plant, too, will make an excellent cactus hedge. Its spreading branches are the disk-shaped joints of the stems, nearly a foot in diameter and circular and platelike, of a pale blue-green which in some lights is changeable. These disks are covered with fringes of yellow and brown spicules, needlelike and tough, and the edges also are fringed with them. Placed among the spicules are three or four twisted stout spines, white with yellow tips, and awl-shaped. The large flowers are three or four inches long, and are very showy and conspicuous with their bright satiny yellow tints. They bloom in April and May, and the pear-shaped deep purple fruit, three inches or so long, comes in July.
Plants grow outside and indoors, enduring zero temperatures without injury. Plant mature cuttings of one joint six inches deep in moist soil early in spring and water about once a month to keep the soil lightly moist. They will grow in almost any soil, but best in sandy loam. Plants also grow from seed, but these are slow to germinate.
(Named in honor of Dr. George Engelmann, an early and outstanding student of cacti)
Engelmann’s Prickly Pear is a large spreading shrub six to twelve feet in diameter growing to five feet in height,with distinctive “pancakelike” greenish joints, about the size of a medium-sized meat platter, but somewhat elliptical and ascending from the base. The general color of this plant is greenish. Its spicules are abundant in fringes along the joints, colored orange-yellow or brownish, while the four spines are awl-shaped with purplish and tawny yellow bodies, and slightly banded. The brilliant satiny yellow flowers are large and very showy. They have the curious characteristic of changing to orange in the afternoon and orange-red in the evening, and are a little less than five inches in width and length. The plant blossoms in May and June, and the pear-shaped purple fruit comes in July.
Treat cuttings in all respects asOpuntia discata.Engelmanniiare not injured by zero temperatures.
(The namemacrocentrarefers to the long spines)
The Long Spined Prickly Pear is a plant about three feet tall growing from stems which ascend from the base. These joints are about the size of a man’s hand, circular or egg-shaped, and are of a dull olive-green suffused with purple, sometimes purple throughout. This plant has a system of spicules and spines arranged much in the usual cactus fashion. The spicules are formed in bundles, generally crescent-shaped and red-brown or tawny. The young spines are a deep red-purple, while the older spines are often cross-banded, purple-brown, reddish, or nearly black, three inches long, or longer, fierce and needlelike and sometimes twisted. The flowers, about three inches long and broad, are yellow with bright red or orange-red centers which make them quite attractive. The pink-purple fruit is elliptical and comes in July; the fruit-meat is light greenish.
Plants may be grown in zero temperatures without injury, and thrive outdoors or indoors. They grow easily from mature cuttings set out at almost any time, but preferably early in spring; the cut should be allowed to callus over before planting. They should be watered once a month or so during the growing season to keep the soil slightly moist. Gravelly clay soils are preferred, though the plants grow well in sandy clay or loam.
The Beaver Tail, orOpuntia basilaris, gets both its common and its specific name from the appearance of the joints growing from the base, which are covered with spicules and resemble a beaver’s tail. This plant is usually about a foot tall and two or three feet across the spread of the rosettelike growth, with the fanlike or beaver-tail joints coming from the bases. These joints are about six by nine inches and of a blue-green suffused with purple and covered with fine white hairs. The older joints become crosswise wrinkled. The red-brown spicules are very abundant, short and easily dislodged. There are no spines on the plant. The purple flowers are very numerous, about three inches in width and length. They appear in April and May, and the fruit, which is covered with many fine hairs, comes in July.
Plants are uninjured by temperatures twenty-five degrees below freezing. Transplant at any season; mature cuttings planted early in spring will blossom the same season. Plants may be set in gravelly or sandy soils with good drainage andwatered lightly once a month during the growing season or droughty spells.
(Named in honor of Dr. Frederick V. Coville, curator of the National Herbarium, Washington, D. C.)
Covillei, or the Golden Prickly Pear, is a plant two to three feet tall and three to four feet in diameter growing with ascending or spreading branches in jointed form, which are seven to ten inches long and four to six inches across. The general color of the plant is pale blue-green. This plant often forms in thickets during growth and is covered with numerous brown spicules occurring in bundles or growing in a fringe. There are about four spines of light brown and yellow suffused with white, sharp and needlelike. The flowers are very showy and of a bright golden color, about three inches in length and width. The fruit is pear-shaped and purple.
Transplant at any season, or grow from mature cuttings planted five or six inches deep early in spring—they will then blossom the same season. Water about once a month to keep the soil slightly moist. Occasionally used in Southern California as a hedge plant. Plants will endure twenty degrees of frost without injury; for colder temperatures protection is needed. Grown indoors or outside.
(The namechloroticarefers to the light green coloring of the plant)
The Flapjack Prickly Pear grows from three to six feet high from short trunks but a few inches long. The branchesare erect, forming a rounded head which is quite attractive. The upper joints look very much like “flapjacks” from six to ten inches long and about as wide. The color of the plant is light yellow-green with sometimes a blue-green cast. The spicules are very conspicuous and are slender and very sharp, about one-quarter inch long, of a translucent yellow and arranged in a crescent form. The four or five spines are a little longer than the spicules, sharp, slender, and bristlelike, yellow and brown. The flowers are nearly three inches in length and width, are light lemon-yellow with orange-red centers, and blossom in May and June.
This Prickly Pear grows indoors or outside and is not injured by temperatures twenty or twenty-five degrees below freezing. It can be transplanted at any season. If mature plants are transplanted early in spring they blossom the same season. Cuttings do not root readily and sometimes remain in the ground a year without growing. They should be planted early in spring in sandy or gravelly clay loam; the plants should be watered about once a month to insure good growth.
(Named from its long reddish or brownish spines)
The Porcupine Prickly Pear is formed of stems a foot or so high covered with finely grooved spines, long and slender and needlelike, up to four inches long, white and brownish red. The spicules occur in a crescent-shaped mass of light brown or yellowish colorings. The flowers are two to three inches long and as broad. They are very showy and bright purple or yellowish; they appear in April andMay, while the fruit ripens in July and August. The Porcupine Prickly Pear grows at high altitudes and will endure temperatures below zero without injury.
A popular beauty in gardens, it grows readily from mature cuttings planted at almost any season. If planted in early spring, they should blossom the same season. The cuttings should be dried off first to give the cut time to heal over, planted in gravelly or loamy soil with about one-half of the cutting covered, and watered once a month during the growing season. The species may be grown also from seed in flats or pots in moist soil with partial shade but with dry air. The plants are not injured by temperatures of twenty-five degrees below zero, and hence with proper soil, drainage, and limited irrigation may be grown out of doors in almost any part of the United States or of the temperate zones.