Cacti of the Southwest: Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas (repost)

Portrayed among the ancient stone carvings of Mexico, woven through the legends of that land, and central in the seal of the nation itself is the strange thick stem or the spiny jointed bush of the cactus. These plants must have been ever present for the people of that land, interesting to them and of some significance to their lives as far back as we can know.

How strange to realize then that this fantastic group of plants had never been seen by anyone in the so-called civilized world until after Columbus discovered America. Yet this must be true; for, except for two or three small, inconspicuous, and very uncactus-like species found in places even more unknown to early travelers in the jungles of Madagascar and Ceylon, the cacti grow naturally only in the Western Hemisphere. They are as American as corn, tomatoes, tobacco, or potatoes…