is this for real

[cactusbutt]

found it on google

[templegatejohn]

Hi,

I assume you mean the cactus?

It looks like a big old Ferocactus to me.

John

[cactusbutt]

Hi John
yes the cactus
i didnt know they got that big

[daiv]

They get a lot bigger than that -Take a look:

http://scottroussel.free.fr/ferocactus/Diguetiix.html

I've seen pictures in the CSSA journal of Fero's that were at least 50% larger than the one on the page above. I think the really big ones grow on an island off Baja California.

[cactusbutt]

WOW they must be quite old

[kari]

Bob, Arizona has some hefty Ferocactus, too. This is the barrel cactus (F. wislezenii? in the photo?) that people say to pulp the top for drinking water ifn you be dyin' o' thirst. DON'T! It does more harm than good because it is so alkaline. Yer best bet: prickly pear pads. Excellent source of good, clean water.
F. wislezenii (if I spelled it right) is also known as the southwestern barrel and it points SW, usually (Daiv?). There are a few others so I might have the species wrong.

At first I thought you meant the girl had no cactusbutt.

kari

[daiv]

That ain't nothin'! Take a look at this: http://www.cactiguide.com/graphics/001_ ... ii_600.jpg

This picture is from the CSSA Journal (US) Vol. 75 (2003), No. 3. It is listed with this caption:

"George Lindsay between two immense specimens of Ferocactus diguetii on Catalina Island, Baja California, on April 14, 1956. Photo courtesy of the California Academy of Sciences."

(I hope that's enough for credits and references.)

[cactusbutt]

Bob, Arizona has some hefty Ferocactus, too. This is the barrel cactus (F. wislezenii? in the photo?) that people say to pulp the top for drinking water ifn you be dyin' o' thirst. DON'T! It does more harm than good because it is so alkaline. Yer best bet: prickly pear pads. Excellent source of good, clean water.
F. wislezenii (if I spelled it right) is also known as the southwestern barrel and it points SW, usually (Daiv?). There are a few others so I might have the species wrong.

At first I thought you meant the girl had no cactusbutt.

kari

if she backs up she will have a cactusbutt

[daiv]

F. wislezenii (if I spelled it right) is also known as the southwestern barrel and it points SW, usually (Daiv?).

Yep, they all grow at an angle and point towards the Sun. http://www.cactiguide.com/cactus/?genus ... =wislizeni

From what I've read, nobody knows why. One of the many mysteries of the wild world. I've heard guess that they grow more dense on the sunny side to get more shade from the spines being closer together or something of that sort. I am skeptical, however. It is certainly a phototropism of some sort.