Uses for Cactus Spines

Created by popular request. Share what you know about man's past and present use of cacti.
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saboten
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Uses for Cactus Spines

Post by saboten »

After losing a few plants that had memorable and attractive spines, I started wondering what one could do with them. Indeed, on my Ferocactus latispinus, I pulled of all the areoles from the moribund plant, and I've saved them in a container, like little stars.
Before, I lost a Mammillaria spinossissima (or however it's spelled) -- 'Un Pico'. I pulled off all the long spines and have kept them. They would make good toothpicks but otherwise I'm not sure what to do with them.
During my last absence, my dad neglected my Neoporteria species (one that seems similar to senilis, with the many curly white spines). I would like to keep those quirky spines, but I don't really know what I could do with them besides keep them in a jar to look at.

So, I searched about uses for cactus spines, and gathered all this:

As combs, fish hooks, needles, toothpicks
https://www.jstor.org/stable/43477188?s ... b_contents

The very fine spines and hairs (trichomes) of some cacti were used as a source of fiber for filling pillows and in weaving.[78] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cactus#Uses


All of the below I found at a cool database of Indigenous American ethnobiology: http://naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?strin ... eae&page=1
Medicine
Opuntia fragilis (Nutt.) Haw.
Brittle Pricklypear
USDA OPFRF Shuswap Drug, Throat Aid
Poultice of heated quills applied to swollen throats.
Palmer, Gary, 1975, Shuswap Indian Ethnobotany, Syesis 8:29-51, page 60
http://naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?strin ... eae&page=7
Opuntia imbricata var. imbricata
Tree Cholla
USDA OPIMI Keres, Western Drug, Dermatological Aid
Ground needle coverings made into a paste and used for boils.
Swank, George R., 1932, The Ethnobotany of the Acoma and Laguna Indians, University of New Mexico, M.A. Thesis, page 55
Opuntia aurea E.M. Baxter
Golden Pricklypear
USDA OPAU2 Shoshoni Drug, Dermatological Aid
Fuzz-like spines rubbed into warts or moles to remove them.
Train, Percy, James R. Henrichs and W. Andrew Archer, 1941, Medicinal Uses of Plants by Indian Tribes of Nevada, Washington DC. U.S. Department of Agriculture, page 107108
Opuntia sp.
Prickly Pear
Apache, Mescalero Drug, Eye Medicine
Needles used for scraping infected eyelids and tattoos.
Basehart, Harry W., 1974, Apache Indians XII. Mescalero Apache Subsistence Patterns and Socio-Political Organization, New York. Garland Publishing Inc., page 38
Opuntia macrorhiza var. macrorhiza
Twistspine Pricklypear
USDA OPMAM3 Navajo, Ramah Drug, Dermatological Aid
Cactus spines formerly used to pierce ears and lance small skin abscesses.
Vestal, Paul A., 1952, The Ethnobotany of the Ramah Navaho, Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology 40(4):1-94, page 37
Tattoos
Carnegia gigantea (Engelm.) Britt. & Rose
Saguaro
USDA CAGI7 Papago Other, Tools
Four needles tied in a row and used as piercing instruments for tattooing.
Castetter, Edward F. and Ruth M. Underhill, 1935, Ethnobiological Studies in the American Southwest II. The Ethnobiology of the Papago Indians, University of New Mexico Bulletin 4(3):1-84, page 51


Art/Decoration
Echinocactus polycephalus Engelm. & Bigelow
Cottontop Cactus
USDA ECPOP Kawaiisu Other, Tools
Spines used as awls in the making of coiled basketry.
Zigmond, Maurice L., 1981, Kawaiisu Ethnobotany, Salt Lake City. University of Utah Press, page 27
Echinocactus sp.
Barrel Cactus
Havasupai Other, Jewelry
Red spines fire warmed and bent into finger rings.
Weber, Steven A. and P. David Seaman, 1985, Havasupai Habitat: A. F. Whiting's Ethnography of a Traditional Indian Culture, Tucson. The University of Arizona Press, page 232
Fish hooks
Echinocactus sp.
Barrel Cactus
Mahuna Other, Hunting & Fishing Item
Thorns used as fishhooks for deep water fishing.
Romero, John Bruno, 1954, The Botanical Lore of the California Indians, New York. Vantage Press, Inc., page 47
Ferocactus wislizeni (Engelm.) Britt. & Rose
Candy Barrelcactus
USDA FEWI Pima Other, Hunting & Fishing Item
Thorns used to make fish hooks.
Curtin, L. S. M., 1949, By the Prophet of the Earth, Sante Fe. San Vicente Foundation, page 56
Hunting
Opuntia sp.
Prickly Pear
Kiowa Other, Hunting & Fishing Item
Sharp thorns used as points for small arrows to kill birds.
Vestal, Paul A. and Richard Evans Schultes, 1939, The Economic Botany of the Kiowa Indians, Cambridge MA. Botanical Museum of Harvard University, page 45
Other? (some interesting ones, these :) )
Opuntia imbricata var. imbricata
Tree Cholla
USDA OPIMI Keres, Western Drug, Strengthener
Thorn coverings eaten by men in times of war to make them tough.
Swank, George R., 1932, The Ethnobotany of the Acoma and Laguna Indians, University of New Mexico, M.A. Thesis, page 55
Coryphantha sp.
Cactus
Comanche Other, Weapon
Spines used to punish unfaithful wives.
Carlson, Gustav G. and Volney H. Jones, 1940, Some Notes on Uses of Plants by the Comanche Indians, Papers of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters 25:517-542, page 521
Then I stumbled upon this fellow's sound recordings upon cactus. There are a few samples on this page. So, I suppose we can list 'MUSIC' as another use for spines.
https://thomasrexbeverly.com/blogs/fiel ... -creatures

Well, I guess I didn't really find out any uses for my spines (although I might try heating up one of the ferocactus ones to make a ring, as it said above). Still, I gathered a bunch of new information.

What other uses are there for cactus spines or hairs? Please add to my list!
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DesertSun
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Re: Uses for Cactus Spines

Post by DesertSun »

There are some very interesting pieces of info in your links Saboten, thank you for sharing!
I can share my uses of spines that have fallen from some of my older columnars, by accident, I keep them and use to remove
what insects of other things I want to pick out from my thick densed cacti, as sometimes even toothpicks cannot get in those nooks and crannies!
So the long, thin, but strong cacti spines are perfect for removing these. I have removed mealies, feathers, spiderwebs that way in occasions.
As I am an artisan jeweler by trade, I will use some spines into my art jewelry pieces also. I often use found objects in assemblage
pieces, so I even thought of making some art with those. :)
"The best fertilizer is the gardener's own shadow"
Chinese proverb
DaveW
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Re: Uses for Cactus Spines

Post by DaveW »

One you missed. They were even used as gramophone needles in the past instead of steel ones for vinyl records:-

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... =2&t=33004

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-vXapMHJJg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxuPDTlIofY
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saboten
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Re: Uses for Cactus Spines

Post by saboten »

Fascinating! Nice find, DaveW.

Desertsun, I would LOVE to see your jewelry or art pieces! That's exactly the kind of inspiration I'm looking for.
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hegar
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Re: Uses for Cactus Spines

Post by hegar »

Well, I am not using cactus spines to include in works of art, although I do admit, that some cacti do have interesting spine patterns. I do, however, have a cactus spine, which at times I use as a toothpick. Because it is rather pointy and gradually increased in its diameter, it does work a lot better than those wooden kinds. It also does not break as easily.
I do use cactus spines mainly to protect my small and valuable cacti from feral cats and a bird named "curve-billed thrasher", which do show up in my front yard and uproot my tiny plants (bird) or dig them up when preparing to defecate. For that purpose I do use segments of cholla cactus. Those do have dense and barbed spines, which any halfway intelligent animal knows to avoid. Placed around the cacti I want to protect they do serve their purpose.

Harald
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mikethecactusguy
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Re: Uses for Cactus Spines

Post by mikethecactusguy »

The Soundsmith Hyperion MKII MI Cartridge uses a cactus spine as the cantilever.
Mike The Cactus Guy
Enjoying the Spines
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