To the thistles called tunas, or Indian figs, you may add the
_cardones_, or _cerei_, the trunk of which is large, and tall, with a
spungy, and brittle pulp. In the place of branches and leaves there grow
on them other stalks, both thick, and long, which are thorny on every
side, full of juice, and straight upright. They bear white flowers, and
oval-shaped fruit larger than a goose's egg, which produce a red colour,
and are eaten by the Indians with impunity. In the deserts of Paraguay,
I have often traversed immense woods of _cardones_. The honey which bees
deposit in them is very famous in Europe. Every part of the cardo is
converted into medicinal uses, both by the Europeans, and Americans.
There are many species of cardones, of strange, and monstrous forms.
Some creep on the ground, others stand upright. The most remarkable is
the large, thorny, Peruvian cereus, which is twenty feet high, and one
foot thick. Its trunk has various corners, and channels, as it were,
together with knobs, and thorns. The bark is green, and the pulp fleshy,
and under it lies a ligneous substance, the pith of which is white, and
juicy. It bears but few flowers. If you wish to know more of this
cereus, it is to be seen in the gardens of princes.