The city of Las Cruces, New Mexico, is located in the south central area of New Mexico, about 40 miles from the more popular town of El Paso, Texas. Being in such a dry climate, (they only receive seven inches of rain a year) most plants can’t survive. However, cacti are very different. A cactus is a usually leafless, spiny plant found in dry regions of the world, such as deserts and other dry wastelands. You can find many different variety of cacti in Las Cruses, and these are four of the most common.
Prickly Pear, named after the sometimes-pear-shaped leaves, is probably the most common cactus in the area. Like most cacti, there are many different varieties. Some are round, and some are tall and pointy. The leaves are often described to look like big green lobes, which are about 3/8 – ½ an inch thick. However, different soils can alter the color of the plant. The “lobes” are covered in thorns. They have a red fruit which is also abundant in thorns. Their flowers bloom in Spring, and most are yellow, but they can be anywhere from yellow to red. Javelinas (ha-va-lee-nas), which are wild pigs in New Mexico, eat prickly pear, and are not bothered by the thorns. Cattle, on the other hand, cannot, but farmers often use a torch to burn the thorns off the cactus when the weather is too dry for grass, using prickly pear as a substitute. To make candy, fruit is collected with tongs, and a brush is used to scrape off the thorns. After it is properly prepared, it makes a wonderful- and quite edible- candy.
Cholla (choy-uh) is another common cactus in the area. It is said to resemble deer horns. The limbs are long and wooden, and full of holes. They bloom in Spring also, and they have flowers in a purple-red color. However, they have no fruit. When a cholla plant dies, the limbs are often used to make walking sticks and canes.
The third most common cactus in Las Cruces is Ocotillo (oh-ko-tee-yo). Ocotillo has long sprigs that stick up high. During the Winter, the plants look dead and bare, but during Springtime, the ends of the sprigs are covered in red flowers. Native Americans used ocotillo to create a “living fence.” They would cut off the branches and stick them in the ground wherever they wanted. The plant would then take root wherever it was planted and grow, forming a fence.
Agave (a-gah-vay) is the fourth most common cactus in Las Cruses, though it is actually a plant. There are many different species of agave. All the different varieties have seed sprouts which shoot up, which grow to be 25-30 feet tall. The bases of the plant can have many different forms. Some leaves look like upside-down hearts, while others are spiky. After the seed sprouts shoot up, the base of the plant begins to die. The leaves are very thick and take many different shapes, in different species. The blue agave is grown in huge fields in Mexico to make tequila. Blue agave leaves are said to look like a fountain, the way the leaves grow up a bit and then fold downward.
There are many, many different varieties of cacti that can be found in the southwest desert area of the United States, and these are just a few of the most common in Las Cruces.
