Flowers appear in late spring, and are yellow with red centers and are followed by elliptical fruit to 1.5 inches in length. The pads are covered with large, tan spines. The large leaf pads develop a purple tinge in the cool, dry winter months. The purple prickly pear grows in clumps, usually to about 4 feet tall by 5 feet wide. Thorny stems are sometimes placed in the ground to provide living fences. Gum resin from the bark was used for waxing leather and as an adhesive/waterproofing agent or varnish. Ocotillo is also used to alleviate coughing, achy limbs, varicose veins, and urinary tract infections. Many Indian tribes used the flowers and roots of ocotillo to slow bleeding of fresh wounds. Other uses include the relief of fatigue by bathing in water which contains crushed flowers or roots. The tincture was useful for symptoms that arise due to fluid congestion. ![]() ![]() It is a very long-lived plant that can live up to 200 years.Ī fresh bark tincture is the only practical way to prepare ocotillo. After spring or summer rains, the branches burst with leaves the rest of the year, photosynthesis occurs beneath the grey bark of the stems. In the spring (April/May) hundreds of brilliant red tubular flowers crowd the ends of the branches, making it an important food source for hummingbirds. Although this plant looks very much like a cactus due to its long spines and desert habitat, it is not a member of the cactus family. Ocotillo is found in all the deserts of the Southwest. Early Europeans distilled the juice to make mescal or tequila. The fresh root was used as soap and shampoo. The fibers were used for bowstrings, brushes, cradles, nets, slings, shoes, skirts, mats, rope, thread, baskets, and snares. Pins and needles were made from the thorns at the extremity of its leaves. Its leaves supplied an impenetrable thatch for dwellings. Its juice was consumed as a fresh drink or fermented into an intoxicating beverage, pulque. Its bruised leaves afforded a paste from which paper was manufactured. They are not related to cacti, nor are they closely related to aloe whose leaves are similar in appearance.Īll major parts of the agave are edible: the flowers, the leaves, the stalks or basal rosettes, and the sap. It is a common misconception that agaves are cacti. New Mexico agave only flowers once in its lifetime (hence the name century plant), after which the original plant dies but since it suckers freely, new plants will replace it. A 7-10 foot flowering stalk appears after 8-20 years and bears yellowish, tubular flowers in clusters on many lateral branches. New Mexico agave’s stiff, succulent, sword-like leaves with spined tips form a basal rosette 6-18 inches high. The plant is still harvested in Mexico for its fiber that is made into rope. The leaves of Lechuguilla are so sharp they can cause injury to animals and humans and can even puncture the tires of off-road vehicles. Roots pounded and soaked in water were used for soap and shampoo. Leaf fibers were used for cordage for bow strings, nets, baskets, mats, sandals, blankets, and cloth. Toxic juice from the leaves has been used as arrow poison, a fish stupefier, medicine and soap. After producing flowers and seeds, the stalk dies. ![]() The upper part of the stalk is covered with a solid mass of purplish or yellowish flowers. The stalk is unbranched and flexible, so that it often bends when it is heavy with buds or flowers, retaining a permanent, graceful arc. The lechuguilla, like its relative, the century plant, requires 12–15 years to store up enough food for the production of the large flower stalk, which then grows amazingly fast up to 15 feet tall. Thick, leathery leaves are tipped with a strong spine and have hooked teeth along the margins. Its succulent, yellow-green rosettes are 1-2 feet tall and widely suckering. Lechuguilla is one of the most widespread of the agaves and is the signature plant of the Chihuahuan Desert. Local native peoples ate the fruit raw, stewed or dried and ground into flour. The thorns can be used for sewing needles or to make improvised fish hooks. The name "cane cholla" derives from the fact that canes, furniture and other souvenirs are often made from the attractive woody skeleton of dead plants of this species. The fruits are yellowish and shaped something like a cone, with a hollow at the wide end where the flower fell off they are often mistaken for flowers. This species blooms in late spring or early summer. It is often conspicuous because of its shrubby or even tree-like size, its silhouette, and its long-lasting yellowish fruits. The spines are very finely barbed and difficult to remove from flesh. It is a tree-like cactus growing to 8 feet tall with spiny, cylindrical, fleshy stems, which when dead show a latticed woody skeleton. The cane cholla, often called tree cholla, is the most common species of cholla in New Mexico.
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