Archive for the 'Spineless Cactus' Category
Friday, August 29th, 2008
The Spineless Promise
As noted in this post , Luther Burbank , "The Plant Wizard," developed the spineless cactus with the dream of providing unlimited cattle feed in arid lands. His dream excited many cattlemen, but was never realized. Here’s an article from the 1909 Mesilla/Las Cruces newspaper reflecting that hope.
The Thornless Cactus
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"Too much value can not be placed on Burbank’s thornless cactus as a fodder for cattle," was the declaration made by Charles J. Welch, who has a great cattle ranch at Los Binos, in southern California.
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Mr. Welch last year planted thousands of the Burbank cactus plants and says they are thriving and growing in every way, as Mr. Burbank said they would.
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He and other Los Angeles men are arranging for other large shipments of this plant. Southern Pacific land commissioners are also contemplating planting large areas of Burbank cactus on desert lands along their railroad system.
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— Rio Grande Republican, September 3, 1909
Tags: Spineless Cactus , Luther Burbank , History
Saturday, June 9th, 2007
Vandalized Cacti Healing
It seems there’s something about cacti that’s almost fetishistic.
Protected species are constantly being stolen* in the desert areas around Mesilla. They have a compelling attraction for many people.
Cacti vandalism** is also fairly common.
It may be something of a challenge to stomp a barrel cactus.
There is no challenge to stomping a spineless cactus.
As noted in this post, a stand of Burbank Spineless Cactus next to an old adobe in Doña Ana was recently vandalized. Here’s a photo of the damage:
The plant has begun to recover, as you can see here:
You can see the necrotic tissue here:
and here:
The new growth is producing blossoms:
*”Cactus rustling” — an euphemism for a criminal enterprise that yields millions of dollars according to some sources.
**Is there a psychoanalytic term for this? Cactiphobia? Cactiandry? Cactisogyny? Cactisadism?
Tags: Spineless Cactus, Luther Burbank
Wednesday, April 25th, 2007
Spineless Cactus
If you look around many of the older homes in the Mesilla Valley, you’ll see an odd-looking prickly pear. It’s thornless.
Alien mutation?
Nope — the non-prickly prickly pear is the creation of the eclectic Luther Burbank, “The Plant Wizard.”
Burbank was born in 1849 and had no schooling beyond 6th grade, but he did have an intense fascination with plant breeding. He is credited with creating over 800 strains and varieties of plants, including the “impossible” plumcot, which he called “a cross which man said could never be made.”
The 12 volumes of his 1914 magnum opus, “Luther Burbank: His Methods and Discoveries and Their Practical Application” is available online, includes wonderful color photos, and still makes interesting and enjoyable reading. His self-promotion, however, sometimes leads him to sound like a cross between a used car salesman and P. T. Barnum.
He says of this effort, “the work through which this result was achieved constituted in some respects the most arduous and soul-testing experience that I have ever undergone.”
Here’s a picture from the book showing Burbank examining cactus seedlings:
It may look like a loving relationship, but…
“For five years or more the cactus blooming season was a period of torment to me both day and night. Time and again I have declared from the bottom of my heart that I wished I had never touched the cactus to attempt to remove its spines. Looking back on the experience now, I feel that I would not have courage to renew the experiments were it necessary to go through the same ordeal again.
Not only would the little spicules find lodgement everywhere in my skin, but my clothing became filled with them, and the little barbs would gradually work their way through the cloth and into my flesh, causing intense irritation.”
The spines on the prickly pear (and other cacti) evolved from leaves on its ancestral parent. These leaves, over time, became sharp spines and acquired the capacity to detach easily when touched, a very effective defense against being eaten.
What Burbank succeeded in doing with his selection and cross-breeding was to produce a plant that grew only rudimentary spines and then dropped them voluntarily. In this photo from his book you can see the vestigial leaves with the spines gone.
Burbank’s hopes for millions of acres of desert growing spineless cactus as animal feed was never realized, but for a while the un-prickly pear was quite popular as a landscape plant around homes in arid areas like Southern New Mexico.
Here’s a planting around an old Adobe home in Mesilla:
A planting in Las Cruces:
A planting in Organ:
A planting next to an abandoned, decaying Adobe in Doña Ana:
A cactus without spines is defenseless. The photo below was taken about 2 months after the one above:
Someone, in an act of pure vandalism, has stomped the plant.
Tags: Spineless Cactus, Luther Burbank, History, Adobe
