The cardуn cactus
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The younger cardуn cacti have more spines to protect them from foragers, but the spines eventually fall off with age leaving a gray, fluted woody bark that somewhat resembles the legs of an elephant, hence one of its common names “elephant cactus”. The cactus is supported by tough, light and woody vertical ribs that expand and contract in accordion fashion, depending on its water supply. This rib system allows the cardуn to store large amounts of water (up to a ton of water for especially large individuals) and to adjust to changing desert water conditions. These woody ribs often remain as an impressive standing monument many years after the plant itself dies. In the spring, the cardуn cactus displays white trumpet flowers on its upper arms, especially on the warmer southerly side. The flowers last from the afternoon until the middle of the following morning so that nectar-loving bats can pollinate them. The cacti rely upon such bats for reproduction in order to produce their fruits and seeds in the late summer. Birds and bats enjoy the ripe, fuzzy fruit, which is around two inches in diameter and contains hundreds of black seeds. The seeds start to grow in warm, wet conditions such as those following the late summer desert rains, but they need the shade of another plant and to be scarred for successful germination. Even when conditions are just right for their growth, thousands of germinating seeds might only produce one cactus in the harsh desert conditions where foragers consider the cardуn seedlings a tasty morsel. When they do survive, the cardуn seedlings grow at the very slow pace of only one inch per year, often taking ten years or more to emerge from the shade of their nurse plant. When mature, the larger cacti are threatened mainly by cattle grazing, human predation, and “flat top decay”, which primarily affects and withers the top of the cactus. About the Author
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