I photographed
this beautiful little ball cactus, Escobaria
vivipara, in Curt Gowdy State Park, in Wyoming.
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| Escobaria vivipara |
I am very
attracted to neat, compact, spherical-shaped cacti that occur singly, or in
mounds. This mound cactus from Dog
Canyon in Oliver Lee State Park, New Mexico is a great example that melds into
the rock.
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| Mound cactus |
Also from Dog
Canyon, this little cactus with the large flower is one I’ve been unable to put
a name to.
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| Unknown cactus |
The claret cup
cactus, Echinocereus triglochidiatus,
is a common and variable species, with beautiful red flowers. Cacti in this genus are often referred
to as hedgehog cacti. The plant in
the first photograph is in Chiricahua National Monument, southern Arizona, and
the second one is at Chaco Culture in New Mexico.
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| Claret cup cactus |
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| Claret cup cactus |
Echinocactus
horizonthalonius, or blue barrel
cactus, has a profusion of strong, sharp spines, and is relatively
inconspicuous. Because of the
hazard of inadvertently stepping on a specimen, it is sometimes known as horse
crippler.
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| Blue barrel cactus |
There are many kinds of the well-known prickly pear cactus, and while
some, like the beavertail cactus (Opuntia basilaris) are easily
identified, others are hard to distinguish. They have beautiful flowers, and with good rainfall a mature
plant may produce many flowers. This
prickly pear flower was photographed at Chaco Culture. The beavertail cactus plant is on Mt
Ryan, in Joshua Tree National Park, CA.
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| Flowering prickly pear cactus |
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| Beavertail cactus |
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