| Nature - Cactus! |
PRICKLY-PEAR (opuntia phaeacantha) Most common. Pads grow on top of each other up to 4' high and 10' long!
Yellow flowers in spring. Fruits ('tunas') turn purple when mature; good jelly. Javelina eat the pads (yummy!). Folk use in Mexico of prickly for adult on-set diabetes.
HEDGEHOG CACTUS (echinocereus fendleri) Look like little 'barrels' up to 12" high with many prickly spines!.
First to bloom in spring ... a deep red to magenta. It's other name is 'strawberry cactus' for its small fruits that are sugary and can be eaten like strawberries. Indians view them as a delicacy.
OCOTILLO (fouquieria splendens) These plants have long thorny unbranching stems up to 15' high. 
Little green leaves when there's moisture available. Bright red blossoms beginning in March. Not really a cactus (quiet!) ... closely related to the primrose and olive families. The other cactus don't know about this!
BARREL CACTUS (ferocactus wislizenii) Indeed looks like a small barrel, 2-8' tall.
Requires shade to begin growth and then grows faster on its shady side; thus its other name 'Compass cactus'. Pale yellow flowers with yellow egg-shaped fruits. Flesh of this cactus, cooked in sugar, is base for cactus candy.
BANANA YUCCA (yucca baccata) There's several similar type plants.
Banana yucca has grey-green rigid leaves that are spine-tipped with fibrous hairs on the edges. Spring-time white flowers on stalks the same height as the leaves. 'Bananas' are large fleshy pods about 10" long near base.
SOAPTREE YUCCA (yucca elata) This yucca is quite interesting. 
Narrow flexible green leaves that radiate from a common center. As grows, it becomes elevated with dead leaves along the base. Single stalk up to 10' with bell-shaped white flowers. Name from native-american use of stems/roots as a soap.
PERRY'S AGAVE (agave perryi) Also known as the 'century plant'. Thick compact leaves about 18" long.
Single tall stalk up to 18' which can take 15 years to form. Dies after a single flowering. MORE INFO - native american use. Member of the amaryllis family.
WHIPPLE CHOLLA (opuntia whipplei) Grows similar to a shrub in low 'mats' all the way up to 7000'. 
Spiny bumpy branches grow from straight stems similar to a puzzle. Flowers are yellow in the spring, with later fruits that remain during the winter. Great yard plant ... tells people all about you!
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WHY ARE CACTI SO TOUCHY AND WANT TO NEEDLE EVERYONE? Cactus are best adapted to 'heat'. Leaves, which normally serve to collect sunlight, are also the main way to loose moisture. So, in general, the fewer the leaves, the less moisture loss (some plants achieve this instead with waxy leaves.) In theory, cacti needles are its leaf leftovers! Needles on cactus mainly serve to 'attempt' to protect the plant, since each cactus is the equivalent of a barrel of sugar water! Of course, our javalina munch on cactus, so go figure. WHY DO CACTI HOLD THEIR BREATH DURING THE DAY? Bet you didn't know that! The reason has to do with 'photosynthesis', where plants breath in carbon dioxide, add light and produce sugars and starches, with oxygen left over to breath out. The problem is in a hot desert, you'd prefer not to open your pores to hot air. So, cacti have the well known process called 'crassulacean acid metabolism'. You probably know it as CAM, right? Effectively they breath in CO2 at night, while releasing stored oxygen. This explains why the desert is so quiet during the day! It also explains why cacti taste different, depending on when you cut them. WHY CAN'T CACTI SURVIVE REALLY HOT DAYS? Surprised again? It's true. Due to cacti not wanting to breath during the day, they also can not perspire (remember those pores) to achieve more cooling capacity. Interestingly, cactus also prefer colder evenings to offset those hot days. WHERE DO CACTUS GET THEIR WATER? Well, that's a silly question. At the store, of course. That's why you see all those empties out in the desert! Actually cactus have roots that are extensive and near the surface. With those infrequent desert rains they slurp up the water very quickly, before it drains into the sand. Up to 200 gallons, for the big boys! WHY ARE BABY CACTI SO SCARED? You'd think so, anyway. 70-80% of cactus begin life in the shade or hidden by another plant. Next time you go hiking around Sedona, look underneath some of the bushes! Animals love cactus fruits (eg seeds) and well as young cactus. Even though the protective plants steal light and moisture, the extra nutrients and protection are well worth it. Now, you're wondering how they GET UNDER the protective plants, right? Let's not talk about THAT. WHY ARE SAGUARO CACTUS BANNED NORTH OF PHOENIX? That goes back to an early Arizona territorial law in 1887, banning the plant outside of Maricopa County. That's why as you drive north on I-17, the saguaro plants disappear just as you pass the Aqua Fria River and the Maricopa County line. Nah, just joking. The reason is that saguaro grow from 150 to 200 years old, thus requiring them to be near retirement communities. Nah, just joking again. The real reason has to do with the change in temperature and moisture as you climb out of the Salt river valley. Cacti surprisingly demand a very specific environment to thrive. AGAVE - HOW WAS IT USED BY YAVAPAI / APACHE? 'Wandering' type indian groups made considerable use of natural vegetation, and knew when the best times for harvesting (contrasting with the early pueblo indians who both farmed, and gathered). Agave (here) and mesquite beans were critical to their diet, because both could be stored for winter consumption, when there was not much else. Look at the agave or 'mescal' plant, and imagine how they figured out how to eat it! Get out that cookbook! First, there's two major agave groups here in AZ: agave palmeri, and agave parryi. 'Palmeri' is the larger type and generally grows in open grassy foothills and oak woodlands up to 6,500ft. If you've been southeast of Tucson, that would be pretty typical. Ours, or 'Parryi' is smaller with wide, foot-long leaves; it grows in clusters among oak and juniper up to 8,000ft. Collecting can be anytime, but the juiciest is in May right before blooming. As an 'ancient', to harvest, first you cut the plant at ground level with your sharpened stick (you'll need that when you go agave hunting). Next, you chop off the leaves with your broad-bladed stone knife (you do have one, right?). Then, dig a pit about 3ft deep and 7-8ft across and line it with stones. Fill the pit with firewood burned to charcoal, and cover the stones with green grass and the mescal on top of that. Cover this with excess leaves and then the dirt from the pit. Let cook for two nights. Mmmm, smell that agave! Early in the morning, open the pit and retrieve the mescal (agave) ... trim off the blackened part. Then sample the hearts, now brown with natural sugar. Heaven! Lastly, 'slice' off sections and pound them into 'cakes'. Spread them out for drying and storage. Now, if you're wondering, this required BOTH genders, illustrating how important it was. Interestingly, if you're familiar with the Hopi cooking corn, the process is quite similar. See our 'ANCIENT FOODS' page from our Native-American Ruins section, for more. Mmmmm! |
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