Cacti / Desert Succulents

Agaves and yuccas generally produce tall stalks. Stalks may grow several feet per night, allowing them to reach towering heights before hungry predators can nibble off the delicious flowering tips.

NPS Photo - Cookie Ballou

Cacti and Succulents of the Guadalupes
Cacti and succulents, such as agaves and yuccas are xerophytes – plants that are highly adapted to arid conditions. Forced to survive by conserving water, these plants have evolved into uniquely shaped plants, with many unusual characteristics. Though cacti and agaves (and yuccas) are often confused, agaves and yuccas have long fibrous leaves that may be barbed, while cacti have thick fleshy stems, pads, or branches. These form as ribs or knobs that swell and contract, accordion style, as water is stored or lost. A cacti’s “skin” is coated with a waxy layer that effectively protects the plant against moisture loss and provides protection from the sun’s radiant heat. Essentially, leaves have been replaced by spine clusters, which form within defined areas called areoles. Some species, such as prickly pears and chollas also possess numerous glochids, or barbed hairs that are located at the center of the spine clusters. Tiny glochids may go unnoticed or appear fuzzy and soft, but are dangerously sharp. Cacti also have broad, shallow root systems that allow them to rapidly absorb large quantities of water during brief rains where precipitation only superficially moistens the upper soil layers. Cacti use a photosynthesis process (unique to succulents) called Crassulacean Acid Metabolism or CAM. Pores in the skin surface, called stomata, open only at night. Carbon dioxide is taken in through these minute openings and chemically stored as an organic acid. Much less of the plant’s preciously stored moisture is lost in this process during the night, than would be in the heat of the day. During the day, carbon dioxide is internally released from the acid and made available to the plant. The trade-off with this unusual, and delayed method of photosynthesis is that cacti and succulent species generally grow very slowly.

Flowers of both the cacti and the agaves and yuccas are very beautiful and quite striking. Agaves and yuccas generally produce tall stalks. Stalks may grow several feet per night, allowing them to reach towering heights before hungry predators can nibble off the delicious flowering tips. Fragrant blossoms form as tight clusters along the upper portion of the stalk or may branch out in radiant beauty, such as those of the century plant. Many cacti species have huge, showy blossoms ranging in color from shimmering magenta, to flashy red-orange, to sunshine yellow. Agaves, yuccas, and many of the cacti species bloom from April through June. Pollinators including bees, and moths depend on these plants for nectar, as do early migrating hummingbirds and Scott’s orioles.

Succulents found here in Guadalupe Mountains National Park include several species of yuccas, beargrass, sotol, agaves, and ocotillo. There are close to 50 species of cacti including prickly pears, chollas, hedgehogs, and pincushions, and many like the Claret Cup are “show-stoppers” whose brilliant blossoms attract visitors from around the world.

Prickly Pear
Opuntia sp. is a widespread cactus of the Southwest. It has greenish flattened pads or stem joints that vary in size and habit of growth. Spines and glochids (tiny barbed hairs) are numerous and typically white or gray with dark tips. Flowers are large and spectacular, typically yellow, with many petals. The oval fruits are red to purple and juicy. The fruits, called tunas, are edible and used in cactus jelly. The young pads, or nopals, are also edible. There are ten varieties of opuntia in the park.

Cane Cholla, or Walkingstick Cholla
Opuntia imbricata, is a branching, cylindrical-jointed cactus of desert scrub and hillsides, typically 5 60 6 feet in height. The joints are usually green, up to 12 inches long and covered with cream or brown spines. The showy magenta flowers are 2 inches in width. At a distance the dry yellow spiny fruit is often mistaken for flowers. When the cholla dies, hollow, woody cores with diamond-shaped holes remain. This skeleton is often made into walking sticks or used for ornamental curios.

Claret Cup Cactus, or Strawberry Hedgehog
Echinocereus triglochidiatus, is found among the pinyons and junipers on rocky slopes and in grasslands between 4,000 and 7,000 feet. The fleshy green stems are cylindrical and up to 12 inches tall with 5 to 15 parallel ribs. These spiny stems for clumps or mounds and produce red, 2-inch-wide, funnel-shaped flowers in the spring. The fleshy red fruit is spiny but edible.

Ocotillo
Fouqueria splendens, is found on rocky hillsides below 5,000 feet, is well adapted to desert life. Clumps of long, branched stems that arise from a central crown appear dead during the dry season. However, after a good rain, leaves cover the thorny, green-stems and last until it is once again dry. Bright, red, tubular blossoms appear at the tips of the stems in dense clusters. Their nectar is an important food for hummingbirds. Early settlers used the thorny stems to create living fences and animal pens.

Faxon Yucca, Spandish Dagger, or Spanish Bayonet
Yucca faxoniana, is a large (to 40 feet tall) yucca of the high desert plateau of west Texas. Leaves up to 4 feet long are borne in dense heads 5 to 7 feet in diameter. Leaf tips bear a short dark spine; margins are entire with gray or brown fibrous threads. The bark is reddish brown and often covered with dead, curled leaves. White flowers are in dense clusters, usually partially hidden by the leaves. Fruit is a bitter tasting fleshy capsule about 4 inches long and 1.5 inches wide that darkens as it matures. The largest faxon yucca in the United States is located in Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

Soaptree Yucca
Yucca data, is the New Mexico state flower, and is the most common yucca in this area. The definite, often branching trunk terminates in a clump of numerous, narrow, spine-tipped leaves. The cluster of white, bell-shaped flowers rises on a tall stalk above the leaves. If the yucca moth fertilizes the flower, a dry capsule eventually develops with paper-thin seeds. The roots, or amole, were used by Indians and early settlers for soap.

Lechuguilla
Agave lechuguilla, is the indicator plant of the Chihuahuan Desert, often grows in extensive colonies below 4,500 feet. Leaves are many times longer than they are wide. They form a rosette of yellow to gray-green, spine-tipped daggers, which are hazardous to walk through. Leaf margins bear sharp, downward-curved spines. Like all agaves, the plant requires many years to store sufficient food for production of its 10-foot flower stalk which grows at an amazing rate. The leafless stalk supports pale yellow flowers in narrow spinelike clusters. Three-celled fruits ripen and produce many tiny, flat, black, shiny sees. Soon after, the plant dies, its life cycle complete.

Torrey Yucca
Yucca torreyi, is an unbranched yucca of the dry hills and plains that grows to 15 feet in height. The thick, heavy, yellow-green leaves grow in a dense cluster. Typically, long white threads appear along the margins of each leaf. White or cream-colored flowers are tinged with purple and grow in a cluster on a short, leafless stalk above the leaves. Fruit capsules are 3 to 5 inches long and nearly dry at maturity.

Mistletoe
Phoradendron sp. are plants with modified roots which enter the tissues of host plants and absorb nutrients and water. These parasites form dense, shapeless masses and attach to the branches of junipers and oaks in the park. Mistletoe does not kill its host, but may weaken it and make it more susceptible to disease and insect attacks. The greenish-yellow leaves are alternate, simple and entire. Blooms are greenish-white and tiny. The small pearl-like berries are eaten and spread by birds. The two varieties in the park are not as decorative as those with the larger leaves and berries that are sold at Christmas.

Sotol, or Desert Spoon
Dasylirion wheeleri, are found in grassy areas above 3,500 feet grows close to the ground with a thicky woody stem below. The numerous ribbonlike leaves are flat with yellow-brown spines on the margins. Flowers are numerous and unisexual, borne in a large narrow spike on a leafless stalk, 10 to 12 feet talk. A powerful alcoholic drink also called “sotol” is made from this plant.

Century Plant, Mescal, or New Mexico Agave
Agave neomexicana, was the main food source for the Mescalero Apaches who once roamed this area. It grows on rocky slopes and hillsides in the desert foothills. The compact rosette of blue-green leathery leaves is tipped with dark spines. The upper half of the leaf margins is covered with grayish hooked teeth. After 15 or more years (not 100 as the name implies), a flower stalk 8 to 15 lateral branches arises from the middle of the rosette. The umbrellalike clusters of red buds and yellow flowers attract many nectar-loving species. Once the seeds ripen, the plant dies. Agaves are the source of the alcoholic beverages pulque, mescal, and tequila.