Cactus PhotoGraphics

Managing Memories

2013-10-16T19:53:00.000-07:00

For all my friends who wondered about the varied colors of globemallows, this
is the color/type seen commonly around the Northern part of Arizona.

This butte is large. For scale note the power-line tower in the lower right. And I wondered later why I hadn't made an attempt to climb this thing. . . y'know, just for the view.

It was hot down at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument even as leaves
on the Ocotillo indicate that it had rained within the last two weeks. The flowers
were a bonus.

A skeletal bush filters the sunlight at Saguaro National Park.

Tombstone Territory presents a more sylvan side than its gunfighter
reputation.

Pretty to look at, hellish to hike. The first 300 yds., at least, were downhill . . . all the rest was just hot rock.

Worse Than a Bee Sting

2012-02-18T19:16:00.000-07:00

Jerome has a skunk problem. The critters are as common as rats and if you have one there's a neighbor with a live-trap to help correct the problem. But stories are unique in details of people who have trapped one then walked up to the trap and gotten sprayed...y'gotta have some perspective dealing with them.

I "possessed" a de-scented skunk years ago in an old college dorm. One night I let it out of it's cage for a 2 AM saunter through some of the halls and a drunk coming in after the bars closed stood in front of it as it cobbled an awkward walk along the baseboards. The skunk (not the late-night drunk) sunk its canines through the top and bottom of the drunk's big toe (sandals y'know) and kept cobbling without a pause. When the drunk had first spotted the thing he exclaimed, "What a cute Kitty." It obviously took offense at being so grossly misidentified.

It's a long, long way in miles and years from that college dorm but you always have to be precise in identifying a threat. If you go wrong ID'ing such a distinct black/white critter the result may be worse than a bite.

While certain insects and reptiles are recognized by remarkable colors...not your common raccoons and opossums...part of the perspective depends on you...beware of Jerome...or beware of something that lives there.

A Town too Tough to Die

2012-02-12T15:05:00.000-07:00

We ended up in Tombstone, Arizona, by default. We had set out to follow the route described in Richard Shelton's delightful picaresque novel, Going Back to Bisbee. South of Tuscon we somehow lost the narrative and stopped in Tombstone at the Larian Motel where we had stayed before. Nothin' special, just a nice, clean, eat-cheap place.

Winter is the wrong time to visit Arizona. The color is wrong. Certain tree species are green but smaller species are a uniform buff without leaves. The grass is uniform yellow...endless hills of buff without the juniper green.

The fauna is there, nonetheless. A female Harrier cruises by looking for lunch.

Tombstone spreads out unimpressivly. Buildings refaced for the tourists.

One...

Another...

A Third...

A fourth and friend.

And a big fella who brings you back to where you're coming from. Farms, ranches, and range lands.

Maybe She Will...Maybe She Won't

2011-09-29T20:27:00.000-07:00

A big female crab spider about the size of a small quarter dollar.

Crab spiders or, more precisely, misusenoides formosipes, are found on flowers where they wait to ambush typical pollinators.
Popular thought says the spiders change color to match the flower they're on. Fun! This one was found in a neighbors yard and the color match was so precise the camera had to define where the flower started and the spider ended.
White crab spiders will sit in white Datura blossoms...yellow ones hide in...well...yellow blossoms.
Two theories exist. One is that when these spiders travel to a new location, a different flower of a different color, the spider's color will change in about a week. The other theory postulates that they simply assume the color of the flower they were hatched on.

The result is probably academic...a female that changes color is fairly common.

Crab spiders make use of camouflage more than other spiders. The color of the spider is adapted to the hunting terrain.

Because they sit in easily spotted places they become vulnerable prey. When they spot a possible enemy they move quickly to the other side of their location or leave.

Crab spiders are recognizable if you tease them. They spread their legs and move side ways...like a crab.

Although crab spiders are fairly common, finding one might take some patience because they are often well camouflaged. If you want to find a crab/flower spider, try to think like a spider: Where would you sit if you wanted your prey to come to you?

Beauty to Tatters

2011-09-12T21:52:00.000-07:00

Datura is a genus of nine species of vespertine (evening) flowering plants belonging to the Solanaceae family. Its natural distribution is uncertain.

Pristine at first (above), the blossom's appearance belies its poisonous content.

Our Datura is a "witches' weed," along with deadly nightshade, henbane, and mandrake. Most parts of the plant contains toxic hallucinogens and datura has a long history of causing delirious states and death.

It is known as an essential ingredient of love potions and witches' brews in literature. Recall Shakespeares witches scene...but into this exotic mix comes a common katydid (below). Ubiquitous throughout Arizona, the critter wants a meal, not a lot of words or to have its picture taken.

All Datura contain tropane alkaloids such as scopolamine, hyoscyamine, and atropine in their seeds and flowers and has been used in some cultures as a poison and hallucinogen. Delirium and hallucination are different but for particulars you'll have to ask the katydid.

There can be a 5:1 toxin variation across plants and a given plant's toxicity depends on its age, where it is growing, and the local weather conditions. This variation makes Datura especially hazardous as a drug. In traditional cultures, a great deal of knowledge of Datura was critical to minimize harm.

But what of the katydid?

It cares little for toxicological descriptions but instead feeds on the blossom until the late morning sun begins to close the bloom and it's time to move on. Stoned, sick or happy its had breakfast but the datura is reduced to tatters.

The Red Dragon

2011-07-22T11:13:00.000-07:00

One hot day we drove several secondary roads in Arizona off Rt. 260 to Beasley Flat which offered convenient access to the banks of the Verde River. That day the access road was bumper to bumper cars of young people wanting to beat the heat.

Real heat seems to bring out insects of all kinds. Dragonflies are a good example.

Genetically, dragonflies pre-date recorded history and modern classification is difficult because it is thought they are a combination of several very early species. The difficulty is apparent in the Wikipedia description: "an insect belonging to the order Odonata, the suborder Epiprocta or, in the strict sense, the infraorder Anisoptera."

They are usually found around lakes, streams and wetlands. This day its winged morphology hung close to the Verde.

Dragonfly nymph under water displays vestigial wing cases.

As a nymph, the dragonfly is a fierce predator. Its ultimate evolutionary form is indicated by the embryonic wing cases on the back of its thorax. When it morphs into the form familiar to most of us, it feeds on mosquitoes and other insects like flies, bees, ants and sometimes the occasional butterfly.

Even though dragonflies have six legs they cannot walk well.

Dragonflies are some of the fastest insects in flight. If one looks back far enough, however, it has passed through a much slower life.

It's a Prickly Life

2011-06-10T17:12:00.000-07:00

When we drove a local gravel road the other day the visuals quickly changed from small town shops and restaurants to scrub desert, hills, ravines, endless views if you're up high . . . typical in rural Arizona.

Wildlife was plentiful. Hawks and golden eagles looked for mice and squirrels, and lotsa snakes that didn't like human companionship went about their business, pushing these same mice and squirrels back into their burrows.

Flowers provided a carnival of color...prickly poppies, penstemons already tall, prickly pear in bloom.

Prickly Poppies grow anywhere there's disturbed soil . . . roadsides, old garages, abandoned houses. The attractive blossom belies the rest of the plant. . . stems, leaves, and seed pods are covered with spines.

True to the poppy family the seeds provide a slight narcotic effect, if you're willing to endure working with the spine covered seed pod ( above,left....below, right/left).

Despite the wind that curled the petals a small butterfly negotiated its way to the flower, looking for nectar in all the meager places.

It doesn't take much to sustain a butterfly, but it was a lucky photo opportunity.

Nectar attracts these pollinators but the attraction is momentary until they travel to the next flower . . .maybe another prickly poppy.

But...maybe not.

Next for the butterfly was another plant with spines. Unlike the prickly poppy, the prickly pear has a stem that has morphed into a spongy, water storing pad and "leaves" that have evolved to water conserving spines. The pads carry a waxy coating that prevents water loss. Shallow roots absorb the minimal desert rainfall, exaggerated reproductive characteristics (flowers) attract pollinators.

The drive for life takes many forms.

Nectar Is Sweet Stuff

2011-06-06T09:30:00.000-07:00

We took a mini-trip over a local, seldom traveled gravel road in rural Az just for the helluvit. The road takes you into whatever still exists of undeveloped acres in rural Arizona. . . hills, scrub grassland, grease wood, brittle bush, and solitude. Just a dusty road and endless views.

It's the type of environment that suggests you should change your auto air filter at the next opportunity.

These bees ain't Odysseus responding to the Sirens call and facing destruction. In fact, there doesn't seem to be a risk to their activity. They want nectar.

Bees of all kinds were having a play-day among the anthers and filaments of the flowers.

Going head-down for nectar, a bee actively stirs the anthers. It's premature...the flower hasn't matured sufficiently for pollen to have been produced. Usually you can see the grains spread around the petals. But, the nectar is there and the bee wants it.

Mellifera ligustica has a long proboscis (tongue) which extends to draw up nectar and water.

Belly down in stuff , a bee takes the hard way to its goal.

We often don't see the "little ones" that make life possible. Our life is crowded with irrelevances.

After a long day of activity the cycle will begin again. Probably tomorrow...flowers fertilized...bees happy...life continued...our auto air filter not replaced. Life is perpetuated by small things.

However, the irony may escape our view. Some bastard will use a fly swatter and an innocent perpetuator of life will bite the same dust that clogs my auto air filter.

Flowers of Boyce Thompson Arboretum

2011-05-13T15:22:00.000-07:00

Honey Bee arrives for. . . dinner? It doesn't realize but will certainly enter as a 2nd or 3rd party into an orgy of cactus fertilization. Usually there are several that take part.

Open petals are sexy for bees and insects. Bees have an easy time...among humans sex is selective, between flowers and bees, sex is indiscriminate. .

Showered by fallen Paloverde blossoms this Hedgehog Cactus stands out. It says, "Hey, look at me!!" The Paloverde blossoms have had their chance.

Either a beaver tail cactus or what Boyce Thompson Arboretum calls a "red prickly pear cactus flower" it stands out like a stop light in the desert traffic.

One of the common yellow blossoms of the prickly pear.

The yellow/red is a common variation within the prickly pear family. The prickly pear is notoriously "promiscuous", allowing pollen from a variety of related and unrelated species.

One of the Boyce Thompson "variants" from its "Cactus Garden."

Invisibly Green

2011-05-10T08:01:00.000-07:00

We must have hit it at just the right time.
The Jeep bounced along a dirt road into the Superstition Wilderness which, these days, is merely a playground for Phoenix area residents. . . with wilderness rules.
We were looking for cactus flowers but never guessed we'd come across green ones. I've wandered this part of the desert for years but have never had the opportunity to see the Teddy Bear Cholla in bloom.

Maybe I just wasn't looking . . .or had unconsciously restricted my visual thinking to the more common yellows, orange, magenta, or other colors that decorate these plants. But...green? I knew they were out there, but just never "saw" them.

Cylindropuntia bigelovii is a cactus native to California, Arizona, New Mexico and northwestern Mexico. Enlarged stems carry out photosynthesis and store water. Unlike other succulents, the stem is the only part where this process takes place.

Flowers of some cacti form long tubes (up to 30 cm) so only certain species of moths can pollinate the blossoms. There are also specializations of this cholla for specific species of bats, hummingbirds and bees. To confuse us, the duration of flowering is highly variable...and probably the reason I've missed the event in past years.

Summer was a month away but the intensity of the southern Arizona sun got to us after several days. Your instinct is to cover up with a broad-brimmed hat, long sleeves and long pants. We did exactly that but beat a quick retreat to a local motel when it became uncomfortable.

Seed formation of these cacti is prolific and the fruits are conspicuous. A menagerie of goats, moths, birds, ants, mice and bats eat the fruit contributing to seed dispersal and cactus reproduction.

Some cacti have a waxy coating on their stems to prevent water loss. Because of the plants' water-retention ability, detached sections of the plant can survive for long periods and grow new roots when rain comes.

These Teddy Bears are resourceful, leaving no aspect of their reproduction to chance.

Bees, spiders and other bugs take care of pollination. Moths, birds, mice and bats eat the fruit and disperse seeds. Their last method of "reproduction" is more insidious...stem sections detach when brushed by passing humans, dogs, foxes, javelina or other desert inhabitants.

Perhaps the next time you pass too closely and say, "OUCH!" and use a comb or tweezer to remove a stem section, smile and remember you're part of a group effort to help cylindropuntia bigelovii give birth.

Wondering and Wandering in the Superstitions

2011-05-05T19:59:00.000-07:00

If you're going to the Superstition Wilderness Area and not planning to camp, the only place to bed down at night is the nearby town of Apache Junction. Thirty years ago this town was simply a crossroad of Arizona Rt. 88 and a road whose name I've forgotten. Today, the town has a population of 37,000 and is a bedroom community of Phoenix.

Weaver's Needle is a landmark in the Superstition Wilderness. Named
for Pauline Weaver, a cavalry officer, it gained notoriety as being integral
to the supposed location of the Lost Dutchman's Gold.

The Apache Junction Motel was delightful because of its low rates and the nearby Mickey D's Cafe was delightful because of its oatmeal. Low rates at the motel were balanced by outrageous prices at the gas pump.

The unique Teddy Bear Cholla blossoms belie the unique message the
spines convey: stay away unless you want a nightmare involving boots,
pants, socks, and even minutes later, car seats.

Mickey D's Cafe had a sign proclaiming, "Because of the Current Drought, Water Will be Served Only on Request." The nearby cacti would think that a good idea.

A bright Buckhorn Cholla can range in color from red to orange to a
brownish yellow...the spines have a serious purpose, also, but not quite
as insidious.

Our friend, the Western Diamondback, was never seen again. I was happy it didn't want to be friends and I'm sure it was happy not to be in the company of Jeeps.

As most cacti and critters in the desert, a Western Diamondback rattlesnake
has "spines" of it's own. It disagreed with our presence and struck at
the tire of our Jeep. Except for a missing fang or two all was OK. The
fangs are replaced quickly.

Despite the fangs and spines that are ubiquitous in the desert...it does have great sunsets.

All's well that ends well!

The Bride of Visions and Death

2011-04-28T11:51:00.000-07:00

Ahh, the Datura. Found everywhere in the Southwest. . . scrub grassland, gravel roadsides and, suddenly in your backyard or, if you intentionally want it around, a planter.

Nine species belonging to the family Solanaceae, the potato family, a usually poisonous family whose natural distribution is largely restricted to the United States and Mexico where the highest diversity of its types occur.

A good friend, Bob Peterson, referred to photos of the blossoms as, "wedding dresses".

The irony. . . these wedding dresses can kill you.

For the uninitiated:

All Datura plants contain tropane alkaloids such as scopolamine, hyoscyamine, and atropine, primarily in their seeds and flowers. Because of the presence of these substances, Datura has been used for centuries in some cultures as a poison and hallucinogen. There can be a 5:1 toxin variation across plants, and a given plant's toxicity depends on its age, where it is growing, and the local weather conditions. This variation make Datura exceptionally hazardous as a drug. In traditional cultures, a great deal of experience with, and detailed knowledge of, Datura was critical in order to minimize harm. Many tragic incidents result from modern recreational users ingesting Datura. For example, in the 1990s and 2000s, the United States media contained stories of adolescents and young adults dying or becoming seriously ill from intentionally ingesting Datura.

The moral? Look but don't eat. Marriage can kill you :)

Colors of the Desert

2011-03-24T20:38:00.000-07:00

We took a road-trip to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in the southwest part of Arizona, south of Ajo, close to the border. After several days we drove north and east to Saguaro West National Park, up toward Eloy. Following are some pics.

Hello!

Desert at Sunset

Spines and Flowers

Foothill Paloverde at Sunset

Skinny

Flower and Spines

Saguaro Sunset

Lavender, White, and Red

2010-06-30T10:43:00.000-07:00

Globemallows are common along the roadsides of Arizona...ranging in color from white to lavender, orange through red. In the Spring and probably throughout most of the year these plants have sex.

To get the full story you'll have to look to the bees and other crawlers whose primary purpose is to gather pollen. It's only a secondary purpose to fertilize these flowers.

While the flowers leave reproduction to an industrious bee or thirsty hummingbird, it's none-the-less disconcerting that something as important as reproduction is abandoned to a secondary instinct.

We can contemplate this thought but get few productive results...

...or just look at the pics and realize that maybe flowers know something we don't.

This blog is dedicated to Olivia Judson whose column for the New York Times has, since I can remember, provided me with thoughts and insights, new ideas and perspectives. She'll be taking a year-long sabbatical and will be missed. Her bio should be common knowledge to anyone interested in the natural world.

Here's a snip:

Olivia Judson, an evolutionary biologist, writes every Wednesday about the influence of science and biology on modern life. She is the author of “Dr. Tatiana’s Sex Advice to All Creation: The Definitive Guide to the Evolutionary Biology of Sex.” Ms. Judson has been a reporter for The Economist and has written for a number of other publications, including Nature, The Financial Times, The Atlantic and Natural History. She is a research fellow in biology at Imperial College London.

Cactus Flowers - A Cascade of Purple

2010-06-15T11:47:00.000-07:00

Hedgehog Cactus blossoms from Boyce Thompson Arboretum outside Superior, Arizona

Cactus Flowers - A Carnival of Yellow

2010-06-14T19:15:00.000-07:00

Nothing thoughtful or profound, just Prickly Pear blossoms taken at Boyce Thompson Arboretum a few miles from Superior, Arizona.

Beauty and Destruction

2010-05-22T12:17:00.000-07:00

We took a trip to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum (BTA) 3 miles outside Superior, Arizona. Superior is one of those sad, deserted towns in Arizona that evolved from the boom/bust, truck economy of copper mining.

The BTA, however, is a colorful jewel in the Spring when cacti bloom...the prickly pear,

the buckhorn cholla,

the staghorn cholla

and all the color varieties that make these cacti a beautiful Spring surprise.

Maybe the beauty of the BTA was focused a bit because of the waste of the strip mining in the surrounding region or, maybe, just because we had an innate desire for a spectacular afternoon...and wanted to escape a little of the destruction.

Death in the Desert

2010-05-16T11:44:00.000-07:00

Death, as the expression goes, is a part of living. As we wander the desert, death often goes unnoticed because of the activity that surrounds us. The irony is, however, that death in the desert is always accompanied by a component of life.

That bee in the image below is dead, impaled on the spines of the prickly pear bud. It was in the vicinity, most likely, to collect pollen from the adjoining prickly pear flower, driven onto the spines by the strong, gusty winds we've had recently. Its pollen sacs are empty so maybe it was driven by necessity, maybe it didn't sense the danger, maybe it was careless.

A small life, a small loss.

But...amid this loss, the prickly pear is still trying...its petals are out saying, "Hey, look at me..." One bee down, hundreds to come.

Plants, from a human perspective, have a hard time without arms, legs, eyes, speech/hearing. Lacking all the "fun" things, however, they seem to do OK.

The giants of the desert play this game of life and death right along with the diminutive players. That giant agave, below, is signaling with the presence of its seed stalk that it will die in 6 - 12 months. It, like the prickly pear, is trying to reproduce.

Where's the drama? Note the "skeleton" saguaro to the left. It may have served as a "nurse plant" to the agave but, more likely, the agave's root system was more aggressive, dominating the available moisture.

But, years later, the agave is dieing, as well. That saguaro, hell, it's saying, "My skeleton is still here to watch you die."

We all die...by accident, by competition, by old age. It's always there and we, the living, might as well get used to it...the plants and bees have a head start.

Spring Magic

2010-05-04T19:32:00.000-07:00

It's kind of reassuring...they're always there...flowering on an annual basis. Usually one of the first cacti to bloom, on a schedule of its own, Echinocereus engelmannii and some of its close cousins brighten the drab desert surroundings in the Spring.

The bloom schedule has been variously attributed to temperature, the winter rains, sometimes to magic.

The contrast between this otherwise unremarkable cactus and the grasses that often surround it is brought to life when it flowers...kinda like waving a magenta flag while shouting, "Hey, look at me."

As they invariably do, bees and other insects will look and struggle through the stamens and anthers spreading pollen throughout the blossom and carry it to the next blossom, as well.

We all have a stake in this process...sometimes only to let us know that Summer is near...that there is something regular and timely in our lives. A constant.

Cactus Flower Road Trip

2010-04-28T22:33:00.000-07:00

Recently we traveled south in Arizona looking for early bloomers. We knew the Lupine and Penstemon, Mexican Gold Poppies and acres of Brittlebush would line the roads. We hoped to see Hedgehog Cacti, as well. They never disappoint especially after a wet winter.

Perhaps I was just ready to see some old, familiar geography around Apache Junction and the nearby Superstiton Wilderness Area. "Know where I can find a cheap motel," I asked the ancient guy at the Blue Bird Mine and Gift Shop. Maybe I just wanted to get back to using my camera in the backcountry. We were looking for cactus flowers but we'd take whatever we found.

What we found were numerous hedgehog cactus flowers (some of the first to emerge) but also a menagerie of wildflowers along the back roads.

Often you find globe mallow growing along roadsides....but the flowers are usually orange. This Spring, however, they came in a variety of colors ranging from white to violet to orange and a brick red.

We knew the globe mallows came in a variety of colors...but red? The bees didn't seem to mind, however, and pursued their pollinating with enthusiasm.

All of which means little. Even though Apache Junction has quadrupled in population and developed into a bedroom community of Phoenix, the flowers and bees are the same and keep company with the same Blue Bird Mine and Gift Shop.

Sky Fire

2010-02-04T20:16:00.000-07:00

Luminance, water drops, and rocks. . .each a vision.

A Lonely Party

2009-11-05T08:30:00.000-07:00

It was one of those photo trips that was all wrong. A suggestion was made...it was easy to acquiesce...it was expedient...the landscape would be spectacular.

I had been there before...this high desert area...with the person suggesting the trip. It was beautiful in a desolate way. You could see forever...and see nothing at all.

Despite the companionship, it was lonely. A few lackluster shots were taken...

Later, an "attitude" would settle in and the amorphous forms took shape...became edgy and alive, had a personality independent of surrounding unease.

Good efforts with a camera aren't passive. You must bring something to the party...a perspective...a point of view. It directs your eye, lets you know you when your view through the lens is what you want to capture...when to press the button.

This attitude later determines your selection of camera images...which will be retained, which deleted from memory. After editing is over, after all the technical and mental disasters have magically disappeared, the remaining images hopefully reflect your perspective of the trip.

Notoriously Promiscuous

2009-09-17T21:23:00.000-07:00

A guidebook calls the Prickly Pear Cactus "notoriously promiscuous" because it often accepts pollen from species other than its own. Flowers resulting from this promiscuity around Jerome, AZ, are colorfull and account for the yellow/red blossoms seen across Arizona in the Spring.

Note the insect at the lower left of the cactus flower...it's there feeding, watching, waiting for an encounter...just part of the diverse menagerie that keeps company with these soiled cactus doves of the desert.

This environment doesn't take many chances, however...perhaps if the flower isn't fertilized notice the bud ready to open and start the process all over again.

Birds, Bees, and Cactus Sex

2009-09-12T21:37:00.000-07:00

It always fascinates me how plants maintain their niche in the desert environment by evolving to accept only certain pollinators and then only at particular times of the year. Bees, birds, bats and nearly everything small and mobile in the desert play a part in this ongoing drama.

The first hints come when you approach a flower and see that nearly always there is some form of life scrambling through the anthers and stamens.

Flower petals and sepals are shaped to encourage and accept certain pollinators and reject others. Shape doesn't affect the spiders, for example, but it has a marked affect on whether bees, hummingbirds, bats and moths get in on the action. The Thurber gilia is a good example. Its pale lavender flowers are the wrong color to be noticed by hummingbirds and its tubes are too long for the hummingbirds to feed effectively. But this flower is an ideal food source for night fliers such as hawkmoths.

The evolutionary tricks are endless. The wild bean, for example, sports two-sided petals which serve as a convenient landing pad for bees that need to perch when they gather pollen. In contrast, the scarlet penstemon provides no such foothold and is a color that bees can't see...but alternately provides a perfect food source for hummingbirds that quickly distinguish reds and hover while feeding.

Cactus flowers, in particular, bloom when specific pollinators are seasonally abundant and active either nocturnally or during the daytime. Bats and hawkmoths aren't active during daylight hours but there are, nonetheless, cactus flowers open at night just for them. By opening for only a few hours early in the day, certain other flowers encourage bees...which have a well developed sense of time...to arrive faithfully for nectar and pollen.

Probably the "largest" of these adapters is the saguaro cactus which has flowers that stay open for only about 36 hrs. (including the night following daytime bloom) and is pollinated by birds, bees and nectar-feeding bats. Timing for these desert giants is critical. Pollination and later seed dispersal is timed for the summer rains which follow shortly thereafter.

Pollination takes place either actively or passively. While some common pollinators are actively looking for pollen, others are seeking only nectar, pollinating passively as they search for the nectar. Flowers are selective, however, about which they allow.

Bees, for example, don't have a chance in hell of reaching the nectar in some flowers because they have short or non-existent tongues. Hawkmoths and certain butterflies, in contrast, have probosces which extend a full 1 1/2 to 2 in. to reach the nectar in other flowers such as columbine, gilia, and others.

What does all this go to show?...probably nothing of significance except that when you set out to take pictures of the sex organs of plants, you meet the strangest creatures. Sex and cameras have always gone together so I'm never surprised at what I see. Often it's only in photographic "post production", as the journals call it, when cactus flowers are enlarged to two or three times life-size that I see the bees, bugs and spiders that have crept into the camera's frame.

The Wisdom of Spines and Flowers

2009-09-09T22:56:00.000-07:00

You wonder where they come from...the disparate elements of flowers and spines.

Alarmed queries often precede a visit to the desert. "Aren't you afraid of the snakes?" "What if you're pricked by a cactus?" "Are there scorpions?" All have spines...

The answer is usually a shrug because dangers are often unanticipated. In the initial stages of a journey just the flowers get our attention...and cactus flowers are among the most spectacular of their kind.

The desert is usually quiet except for the hum of bees, which have spines of their own. Flowers thrive, living in tranquility with the spines in a marked harmony of adaptation.

Cactus leaves have evolved into protective, water conserving spines...stems have adapted as water reservoirs, and the flowers...the flowers attract their particular pollinators to ensure "appropriate" fertilization.

Except for the occasional javelina or desert tortoise that grabs a bite of prickly pear, spines ensure that cactus flowers survive as the "least molested" of blossoms.

The desert, however, isn't generous to those who won't adapt to its regimen of lean necessity. Cacti discovered long ago that only occasional water is necessary, that dry terrain and drought are a normal part of the environment, that predators are common, that excesses are rewarded with failure...and in this environment the desert hums along with its bees and flowers and spines in oft hidden tranquility.

It seems to know...if we won't adapt, if we lack an instinct for economy, we'll vanish...and the spines and flowers will look on with indifference.

The flowers will surely be here, but we may not see them.