Cactuses of Big Bend National Park

Summary

When the cactuses bloom in Big Bend National Park, their vivid pinks and purples, reds and yellows bring an unforgettable beauty to the rugged Chihuahuan Desert landscape. In fact, many people visit the park just see the cactus blossoms and the wildflowers. If you're one of them, this book will increase your enjoyment by helping you identify the wonders at your feet. And if you've never been to Big Bend when the cactuses are blooming, you'll discover here what you've been missing. Douglas B. Evans describes twelve kinds of cactus--living rock, topflower, stout-spined, hedgehog, pineapple, button, barrel, fishhook, nipple, chollas and pricklypears, and Texas nipple--and their individual species known to occur in the park. Color photographs taken by Doris Evans and Ro Wauer accompany the species descriptions. As you hike or drive through the park, you can identify most of the cactuses you see simply by leafing through these splendid pictures and then checking the descriptions, which indicate the cactuses' characteristic features and habitat. To make the book even more useful, Evans also briefly defines the parts of a cactus, explains how scientific names work, and offers a quick introduction to the geography and ecology of Big Bend National Park and the Chihuahuan Desert. With this information, you'll enjoy not only seeing the cactuses of the Big Bend but also being able to tell one from another and knowing just what makes each one special.

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Big Bend and the Chihuahuan Desert
Meet the Cactus Family
Glossary
The Genus Ariocarpus: Living Rock Cactuses
Thick fleshy stems underground, flattened top even with ground surface; up to about 5 inches in diameter
Triangular tubercles are warty and fissured
No areoles; no spines
Flowers and fruits on new growth near tip of stem
The Genus Coryphantha: Topflower Cactuses
Stems solitary or branched, sometimes forming clumps, up to about 8 inches long
Spines usually straight, up to about 2 inches long
Flowers and fruits on new growth at tips of stems
Fruits fleshy at maturity
The Genus Echinocactus: Stout-Spined Cactuses
The Big Bend species have solitary globose to hemispherical stems with prominent ribs and stout, curved spines
Flowers are large and showy and occur near the growing tips of stems
The Genus Echinocereus: Hedgehog Cactuses
Cylindrical stems may be solitary or profusely branched, forming dense clusters or mounds
The tubercles are on the 5 to 12 ribs
The stem surface is obscured by the dense covering of spines
Flowers are usually large and showy
Flowers and fruits occur well below tips of stems
The Genus Echinomastus: Pineapple Cactuses
Egg-shaped stems to about 6 inches long
Dense spines obscure stem surfaces
Flowers usually white to light pink with traces of tan or green
The Genus Epithelantha: Button Cactuses
Tiny globular to cylindroid stems up to about 1 inch in diameter, rarely to 2 inches long
Minute whitish spines completely obscure stem surface
Tiny flowers occur on tip of stems
Mature fruits are bright red
The Genus Ferocactus: Barrel Cactuses
The usually solitary columnar stems have several prominent ribs
Flowers and fruits occur near tips of stems
The lone Big Bend species grows to about a foot tall and has prominent tubercles and very long, flexible hooked spines
The Genus Glandulicactus: Fishhook Cactuses
Stems solitary, globose to cylindroid, dark green, up to about 6 'inches tall
Conspicuous hooked spines to 4 inches long that tend to point upward and look like blades of dried grass
Flowers and fruits near tips of stems
The Genus Mammillaria: Nipple Cactuses
Stems with prominent and distinct tubercles (nipples)
Flowers and fruits occur on old growth, below and around growing stem tip
The Genus Neolloydia: Lloyd Stout-spined Cactuses
Stems cylindrical to conical, to about 5 inches long, commonly in branched clumps, sometimes solitary
The magenta flowers and the fruits are on new growth near tips of stems
The Genus Opuntia: Chollas and Pricklypears
Stems composed of chains of connected joints; those with round cylindrical joints are chollas; those with flattened "pads"are pricklypears
Areoles also contain tiny hairlike barbed spines called glochids
The Genus Thelocactus: Texas Nipple Cactuses
Ovoid stems up to 8 inches tall
Prominent tubercles (nipples) merge into about 8 indistinct ribs
Spines are long, flexible, and reddish
Spectacular large, satiny, fuchsia flowers have scarlet throats
Other Possibilities
Cactuses that were reported long ago but have not been seen in recent years, or those that may be found in Big Bend National Park but have not yet been observed
Index
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

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