I have been intrigued with cacti ever since I sat on one in Tucson, AZ. I must have been around ten years old at the time; it was my first trip ever out west. Since then I have returned to the scene of the crime several times, and what a marvelous scene it is. The above photos, taken at Saguaro National Park, show a saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea) standing with a pair of teddy bear chollas (Cylindropuntia bigelovii) and another cholla in detail. The photo below, taken elsewhere in the Tucson area, shows the famous prickly pears (Opuntia) in their wild state. In Mexico they are called nopales and are used for food.
Below is the cultivated form of nopales (Opuntia ficus-indica) growing in California. I will add that they are very nutritious and in the right hands, delicious. Both pears and pads are edible.
Finally, there is the lovable organ pipe cactus (Stenocereus thurberi) seen at Arizona's Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, the only native habitat for this cactus in the U.S.
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