By C.F. HOLDER.
One of the most picturesque objects that meet the eye of the traveler
over the great plains of the southern portion of California and New
Mexico is the candelabra cactus. Systematically it belongs to the Cereus
family, in which the notable Night-blooming Cereus also is naturally
included. In tropical or semi-tropical countries these plants thrive,
and grow to enormous size. For example, the Cereus that bears those
great flowers, and blooms at night, exhaling powerful perfume, as we see
them in hothouses in our cold climate, are even in the semi-tropical
region of Key West, on the Florida Reef, seen to grow enormously in
length.
[Illustration: THE CANDELABRA CACTUS--CEREUS GIGANTEUS.]
We cultivated several species of the more interesting forms during a
residence on the reef. Our brick house, two stories in height, was
entirely covered on a broad gable end, the branches more than gaining
the top. There is a regular monthly growth, and this is indicated by a
joint between each two lengths. Should the stalk be allowed to grow
without support, it will continue growing without division, and exhibit
stalks five or six feet in length, when they droop, and fall upon the
ground.
Where there is a convenient resting place on which it can spread out and
attach itself, the stalk throws out feelers and rootlets, which fasten
securely to the wall or brickwork; then, this being a normal growth,
there is a separation at intervals of about a foot. That is, the stalk
grows in one month about twelve inches, and if it has support, the
middle woody stalk continues to grow about an inch further, but has no
green, succulent portion, in fact, looks like a stem; then the other
monthly growth takes place, and ends with a stem, and so on
indefinitely. Our house was entirely covered by the stems of such a
plant, and the flowers were gorgeous in the extreme. The perfume,
however, was so potent that it became a nuisance. Such is the
Night-blooming Cereus in the warm climates, and similarly the Candelabra
Cereus grows in stalks, but architecturally erect, fluted like columns.
The flowers are large, and resemble those of the night-blooming variety.
Some columns remain single, and are amazingly artificial appearing;
others throw off shoots, as seen in the picture. There are some smaller
varieties that have even more of a candelabra look, there being clusters
of side shoots, the latter putting out from the trunk regularly, and
standing up parallel to each other. The enormous size these attain is
well shown in the picture.
Whenever the great stalks of these cacti die, the succulent portion is
dried, and nothing is left but the woody fiber. They are hollow in
places, and easily penetrated. A species of woodpecker, _Melanerpes
formicivorus_, is found to have adopted the use of these dry stalks for
storing the winter's stock of provisions. There are several round
apertures seen on the stems in the pictures, which were pecked by this
bird. This species of woodpecker is about the size of our common robin
or migratory thrush, and has a bill stout and sharp. The holes are
pecked for the purpose of storing away acorns or other nuts; they are
just large enough to admit the fruit, while the cup or larger end
remains outside. The nuts are forced in, so that it requires
considerable wrenching to dislodge them. In many instances the nuts are
so numerous, the stalk has the appearance of being studded with bullets.
This appearance is more pronounced in cases where the dead trunk of an
oak is used. There are some specimens of the latter now owned by the
American Museum of Natural History, which were originally sent to the
Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia. They were placed in the
department contributed by the Pacific Railroad Company, and at that time
were regarded as some of the wonders of that newly explored region
through which the railroad was then penetrating. Some portions of the
surface of these logs are nearly entirely occupied by the holes with
acorns in them. The acorns are driven in very tightly in these examples;
much more so than in the cactus plants, as the oak is nearly round, and
the holes were pecked in solid though dead wood. One of the most
remarkable circumstances connected with this habit of the woodpecker is
the length of flight required and accomplished. At Mount Pizarro, where
such storehouses are found, the nearest oak trees are in the
Cordilleras, thirty miles distant; thus the birds are obliged to make a
journey of sixty miles to accomplish the storing of one acorn. At first
it seemed strange that a bird should spend so much labor to place those
bits of food, and so far away. De Saussure, a Swiss naturalist,
published in the _Bibliotheque Universelle_, of Geneva, entertaining
accounts of the Mexican Colaptes, a variety of the familiar "high hold,"
or golden winged woodpecker. They were seen to store acorns in the dead
stalks of the maguey (_Agave Americana_). Sumichrast, who accompanied
him to Central America, records the same facts. These travelers saw
great numbers of the woodpeckers in a region on the slope of a range of
volcanic mountains. There was little else of vegetation than the
_Agave_, whose barren, dead stems were studded with acorns placed there
by the woodpeckers.
The maguey throws up a stalk about fifteen feet in height yearly, which,
after flowering, grows stalky and brittle, and remains an unsightly
thing. The interior is pithy, but after the death of the stalk the pith
contracts, and leaves the greater portion of the interior hollow, as we
have seen in the case of the cactus branches. How the birds found that
these stalks were hollow is a problem not yet solved, but, nevertheless,
they take the trouble to peck away at the hard bark, and once
penetrated, they commence to fill the interior; when one space is full,
the bird pecks a little higher up, and so continues.
Dr. Heerman, of California, describes the California _Melanerpes_ as one
of the most abundant of the woodpeckers; and remarks that it catches
insects on the wing like a flycatcher. It is well determined that it
also eats the acorns that it takes so much pains to transport.
[Illustration: FLOWER OF CEREUS GIGANTEUS.]
It seems that these birds also store the pine trees, as well as the
oaks. It is not quite apparent why these birds exhibit such variation in
habits; they at times select the more solid trees, where the storing
cannot go on without each nut is separately set in a hole of its own.
There seems an instinct prompting them to do this work, though there may
not be any of the nuts touched again by the birds. Curiously enough,
there are many instances of the birds placing pebbles instead of nuts in
holes they have purposely pecked for them. Serious trouble has been
experienced by these pebbles suddenly coming in contact with the saw of
the mill through which the tree is running. The stone having been placed
in a living tree, as is often the case, its exterior had been lost to
sight during growth.
Some doubt has been entertained about the purpose of the bird in storing
the nuts in this manner. De Saussure tells us he has witnessed the birds
eating the acorns after they had been placed in holes in trees, and
expresses his conviction that the insignificant grub which is only seen
in a small proportion of nuts is not the food they are in search of.
C.W. Plass, Esq., of Napa City, California, had an interesting example
of the habits of the California _Melanerpes_ displayed in his own house.
The birds had deposited numbers of acorns in the gable end. A
considerable number of shells were found dropped underneath the eaves,
while some were found in place under the gable, and these were perfect,
having no grubs in them.
The picture shows a very common scene in New Mexico. The columns,
straight and angular, are often sixty feet in height. It is called torch
cactus in some places. There are many varieties, and as many different
shapes. Some lie on the ground; others, attached to trunks of trees as
parasites, hang from branches like great serpents; but none is so
majestic as the species called systematically _Cereus giganteus_, most
appropriately. The species growing pretty abundantly on the island of
Key West is called candle cactus. It reaches some ten or twelve feet,
and is about three inches in diameter. The angles are not so prominent,
which gives the cylinders a roundish appearance. They form a pretty,
rather picturesque feature in the otherwise barren undergrowth of
shrubbery and small trees. Accompanied by a few flowering cocoa palms,
the view is not unpleasing. The fiber of these plants is utilized in
some coarse manufactures. The maguey, or Agave, is used in the
manufacture of fine roping. Manila hemp is made from a species. The
species whose dried stalks are used by the woodpeckers for their winter
storage was cultivated at Key West, Florida, during several years before
1858. Extensive fields of the Agave stood unappropriated at that period.
Considerable funds were dissipated on this venture. Extensive works were
established, and much confidence was entertained that the scheme would
prove a paying one, but the "hemp" rope which this was intended to rival
could be made cheaper than this. The great Agave plants, with their long
stalks, stand now, increasing every year, until a portion of the island
is overrun with them.