CURIOUS PLANTS WHICH LIVE IN THE DESERT
In the mystic mid-region grows vegetation as weird and wonderful as the
region which it inhabits. The Mojave yucca (_clistoyucca arborescens_)
is a strange freak of vegetation found nowhere else in the world. The
palo-verde stands grim and sentinel-like, along the banks of the
Colorado River which skirts the deserts, an evergreen but leafless tree
with curious branches which cross and recross each other, forming a
perfect network of green vegetation. Cacti in innumerable variety
abound in certain portions of the deserts, from the tiny prickly balls
covered with long gray hairs to the giant sahuaro which attains a
height of fifty feet. In some places the deer-bush thrives: this plant
is so named because of the resemblance borne by its branches to the
horns of a deer. There are also sage, mesquite, chaparral, and
greasewood, and numbers of other peculiar species of plants.
[Illustration: SAHUARO, OR GIANT CACTUS
From photograph by C. C. Pierce & Co.]
Cacti are the most numerous of the species of vegetable life. The
several varieties all have their uses to those versed in the lore of
the desert. In them the Indians, who make the desert their home, find
food, drink, raiment, and shelter. This is particularly true of the
_cereus giganteus_, which is abundant in the arid regions of Southern
Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico. This plant grows, in many
cases, to a height of fifty feet. In some sections it grows so thickly
that several hundred plants are found on a single acre. The plant
consists of a main trunk which rises to a height of from ten to twenty
feet, and then branches into two, three, or several columns, which grow
upright several feet. The main trunk and branches are ribbed, and these
ribs are thickly studded with clusters of heavy spines, which if
lighted will burn readily, the flame running up the ribbed columns,
seeking and burning all the spines thereon. This fact has given rise to
the name of "Arizona candle" which is often applied to the giant
cactus.
Alternating with the spiny ribs, and just beneath the epidermis, are
ligneous fascicles--one for each rib--which serve as a support for the
soft tissues which constitute the bulk of the plant. These fascicles
are from twenty to forty feet long, according to the height of the
plant, and are from one to three inches in diameter. They constitute
the framework or skeleton of the plant, and are left standing when the
plant itself dies from age or other cause. This frame is of great value
to the desert Indians or to desert travelers who know its properties.
The fascicles make excellent firewood, and when cut into required
lengths they are used as pickets with which to build corrals, and for
the roofs to the adobe huts. The spines of the plant are also used by
the Indians as combs. The plant lives to be more than one hundred and
fifty years old, as has been determined by counting the layers of
growth.
The first flowers appear when the plant has attained a height of eight
or ten feet, and they come into bloom early in May and continue in
blossom till near the middle of June. The blossoms are large, white,
and waxy. The flowers are borne in the axils of the bunches of spines,
often fifty or more blossoms in the summit of a single branch. It comes
to fruit in August, and then it is that the Indians ride from plant to
plant and with long poles detach the fruit, which is gathered and
preserved as food or is made into an intoxicating drink of which they
are very fond.
[Illustration: SPANISH BAYONET
From photograph by C. C. Pierce & Co.]
Another plant, a species of yucca, abundant in the southern deserts, is
the Spanish bayonet. These plants have a thick, palm-like stem or trunk
with long, thick, spine-pointed leaves. The flowering stem shoots up
many feet in height and bears myriads of white, showy, panicled
flowers, lily-like in appearance. As many as six thousand blossoms have
been observed upon a single plant.
An interesting peculiarity of this plant is that it cannot pollenize
itself, but is obliged to depend for its perpetuity upon a little moth
whose sole aim in life seems to be to perform the work of pollenizing
this plant. This moth does not eat the honey or pollen of the plant,
but lays her eggs upon the stigma of the flower and then gathers the
pollen of the blossom and deposits it over the eggs, thus protecting
the eggs and pollenizing the plant at the same time. The larvæ hatch at
the time that the flower goes into seed, and the grubs feast upon the
seeds, destroying a part of them, but leaving enough to keep up the
supply of plants.
The Indians eat the undeveloped flower-shoots of this plant raw, the
stalks are roasted over hot stones and make a very palatable dish; the
fruit, which is cylindrical and yellow, ripening in August and
September, is eaten raw, and is also dried for future use. It is pulpy,
sweet, and nourishing.
The Mojave yucca is a remarkable plant, which resembles in its nature
both the cactus and the palm. It is found nowhere save in the Mojave
Desert. It attains a height of thirty or forty feet, and the trunk,
often two or three feet in diameter, supports half a dozen irregular
branches, each tipped with a cluster of spine-like leaves. The flowers,
which are of a dingy white color, come out in March and last till May,
giving off a disagreeable odor. The fruit, however, which is two or
three inches long, is pulpy and agreeable, resembling a date in flavor.
From the base of the plant radiate countless roots. These lie near the
surface and extend a long distance, absorbing such moisture as they
find with avidity. One of the peculiarities of the yucca wood is its
ability to store moisture. The fiber of the wood is cellular, and it is
almost equal to a sponge in its capacity for storing and retaining
water. Fully sixty per cent. of its weight is sap.
[Illustration: A DESERT CACTUS IN BLOSSOM--ONE OF MANY VARIETIES
From photograph by C. C. Pierce & Co.]
The trunk and branches of the tree are covered, a portion of the time,
with bristling reflex leaves, which finally fall, showing that bark has
been added to the tree. A sectional view of this bark shows concentric
rings such as characterize exogenous stems. As the yucca is an endogen,
this peculiarity is a remarkable one.
Like its cousin, the sahuaro, the Mojave yucca is a friend to the
Indians, who eat of the fruit when fresh, and dry it to be used when it
is out of season. They also utilize the flower-buds and blossoms in
preparing a stew, which, if not tempting to the appetite, is at least
nourishing, and with them that is the main object of food. The seeds,
when dried, are ground in rude mortars and used for mush and in making
a sort of bread.
In the middle and northern desert, where the cacti are not so
plentiful, there grows the _Allenrolpea occidentalis_, or greasewood.
This shrub grows to the height of four or five feet, and is a leafless,
jointed-branched plant, which appears to be too succulent to burn
unless plucked and left for days to dry. The reverse is the case,
however, for, if lighted, the plant will make an excellent fire when
green, but if cut for a few hours it becomes so watery that nothing can
induce it to burn. Though the days on the desert are terrifically hot,
the nights are apt to be chilly, and the greasewood often proves a
most welcome friend to the traveler.
Another friend to the desert wanderer is the _chlorogalum
pomeridianum_, or soap plant. This grows from two to five feet high and
has a bulbous root two or more inches in thickness which is an
excellent substitute for soap--hence its name. The leaves are from one
to two and one half feet in length, and from an inch to an inch and a
half in thickness. The plant flowers in July and August, the blossoms
opening in the afternoon only. The bulb of the plant lies deep in the
earth and has the power of storing moisture, in time of rain, for the
long, dry months which follow.
As previously stated, the numbers of the cactus family to be found in
various portions of the desert are almost innumerable. In a three-days'
journey through the southern desert, taken early in May, the writer
noted forty-two different varieties of cacti in blossom. These ranged
from the delicate bloom of tiny plants to the gorgeous blossoms of the
giant species, thirty, forty, and even fifty feet in height.
[Illustration: "THE WELL OF THE DESERT"
From photograph by C. C. Pierce & Co.]
It was a most memorable trip. At no other season of the year does the
desert present so gay an appearance as in May and early June. Blossoms,
white, pink, yellow, purple, and scarlet, are to be seen on all sides,
till one loses the idea that he is in the desert and almost dreams that
he is in some wonderful garden. But there are no sparkling fountains
and grassy lawns to complete the illusion; only the thorny shrubs with
their vivid blossoms and the scorching sands, the dust, the thirst, and
the cloudless sky above.
A very common species of cactus is the nopal or prickly-pear, the fruit
of which is known as the tuna, and which is much prized both by Indians
and by Mexicans.
A welcome plant to the desert traveler is the bisnaga, or "well of the
desert." This is a cylindrical-shaped green plant thickly covered with
sharp spines. By cutting out the center of the plant, a bowl is formed
which quickly fills with water of an excellent quality, affording a
palatable drink to the thirsty traveler. Many a life has been saved by
these plants, and there have been a number of instances recorded where
travelers, ignorant of the properties of the plant, have died of thirst
in the midst of them.
Another cactus found in the southern desert is the grape cactus, which
bears in clusters fruit resembling the tuna. The fruit is green
without and purple within, is juicy, melting, and luscious.
A very common and ungainly plant is the ocotilla, growing clusters of
straight poles from ten to fifteen feet in height, which are covered
with spines. The poles terminate in long spikes of beautiful scarlet
blossoms.
The maguey or mescal, sometimes misnamed the century plant, is common
along the foothills bordering the desert. It is from this plant that
the Mexicans and Indians distil the fiercely intoxicating drink known
as mescal, which contains a large percentage of alcohol of a villainous
quality.
From the cluster of spiked leaves, which attain a height of four or
five feet, springs a pole ten to twelve feet tall, which bears large
clusters of small yellow flowers filled with a sickishly sweet syrup.
The maguey furnishes the native Indian with both food and clothing.
From the fibers of the leaves he weaves coarse cloth, and the inner
leaves, when stripped and cooked in the earth ovens by surrounding them
with stones heated on coals, are considered a delicacy.
Snake-weed is the name given a low-growing plant with a pulpy leaf,
because when the leaves are crushed and applied to the wound, in case
of snake-bite, they serve as an antidote to the poison.
[Illustration: ONE OF THE DESERT BLOOMERS
From photograph by C. C. Pierce & Co.]
Pectis, or creosote bush, is another desert plant, with odor not unlike
the essence of lemon. It is prized by the Indians for its medicinal
properties.
There are a number of other varieties of plants--mostly of the cactus
family--which contribute to the sustenance of the Indians of the
desert, but it is in the fibrous tissues of the giant cactus and the
yuccas that they find their material for the weaving of garments,
plaiting ropes, and making baskets and other articles of use and
ornament. Of late years the squaws of the several desert tribes have
found the making of baskets and other trinkets for sale to curio
hunters a very profitable undertaking. One squaw of the Mojave Indians
received more than three thousand dollars in a single year for work of
that sort.
And the desert, which flaunts the banner of death in the face of the
stranger, hands out its treasures to its children, and they live and
thrive and love it.
There is a little flower found growing in certain portions of
California's deserts, which fulfills the poet's statement embodied in
the couplet:
"Full many a flower is born to blush unseen
And waste its sweetness on the desert air."
The little yellow blossom has, so far as the writer knows, no name in
the text-books on botany. It is a tiny blossom, growing very close to
the ground, and it opens only at night. Then, whoso chances to pass
through a patch of these flowers is treated to incense such as never
exhaled from the most redolent orange orchard.
[Illustration: A YELLOW DIAMOND-BACK RATTLER
From photograph by C. C. Pierce & Co.]
The perfume is given off in vast quantities, and is sweet beyond the
power of language to describe, yet it is not the sickening,
overpowering perfume of some plants.
One does not need to lift the flower to the face to get the
fragrance,--the air is fairly saturated with the sweet odor. The
daylight, however, puts an end to both blossom and perfume. There is
not a sign of the blossom to be found when the morning sun lights up
the desert plain. It is only the night traveler who is favored with the
sweet experience arising from an acquaintance with this strange plant.