Show Your CJ y GIANT CACTUS OF OUR VEST EST were dwellers In the eastern part ot of this co we might sigh for tor a sight of the west with its strange and ch characteristic flora Jive here In Utah we oft often n bec become me accustomed to seeing the native plants especially the c cacti U and so we dont don't care enough abo about t them b but t take them disinterestedly disinterestedly dis- dis interestedly for granted Th Those se ot my readers who have motored from here herc to California or to Mexico will of course be familiar with the sight ot of giant cacti growing thickly on the southwestern south south- western desert We look at them as rushing past and wonder iA a little about them maybe But of their names we of their uses we know nothing Yet they have many uses md the Indians Are the ones wh who appreciate them That giant cactus which thrustS up fingers even 40 feet in the air is the sahuaro or Carnegia gigante gigant a It bears beara white 1 blooms but since they are at the v very ry top of the tall upright branches one seldom notices them However in July fruIts ripen from these flowers and it is th these se fig fig- shaped fruits which are much prized by Indians of Arizona The native women make sticks from drIed giant cacti and with these knock off the rIpened fruits A ceremonial wine is brewed from them by the Pima and Papago Indians indians In- In Also the red pulp ot of the fruits very juicy is used for syrup or is stored for future ture use in jars sealed with clay nearer the J exi can border grow those thoe giants called I organ pip cactI in map map- appearance ap- ap to the sahuaro except that the branches come in bunches from the root root- instead of springing from froma a single stern as does the sahuaro This organ organ pipe cactus is prop properly called It grows ws about 15 f feet et high at most less you see aCe than it cousin tHe white flowers atop its branches ran hes fruit to follow The barrel cactus lives California and ArIzona and proba- proba southern Utah and several sorts which go under the common name This Is the cactus which is used for tor making candy It grows tour four feet in height while there Is 15 one in particular which may re reach ch a a height of ten feet and live to be a hundred years old The barrel cactus cadus has been credIted cred- cred with savIng the lives of 0 travelers travel travel- ers and who ho have as- as surged a burning thirst sometimes from the moisture contained in n the pulp The Indians also use this cactus because of its shape as a cooking pot One of the barrel cacti which grows near Mexico has spines so strong that they are frequently I used for toothpicks toothpick and even for needles Flowers vers may be greenish yellow red tipped with yellow or all yellow and they come comein comein in a group at the top of the barrel You should be able e to recognize these three cacti next time lime you take taken n a trip to the so southwest th est |