On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Along with the wildflowers, many cactuses were also blooming as we made our way across the Southwest. Here’s some of the ones we saw.
Picacho Peak State Park, AZApril 12, 2020
Out of thousands of saguaros, this was the only bloom we saw anywhere, and we only found it because we walked out one evening for a better view of the sunset.
Picacho Peak State Park, AZApril 12, 2020
The saguaro is Arizona’s state flower.
Saguaro National ParkMarch 27, 2020
Barrel Cactus
Apache Trail Scenic Byway, AZApril 4, 2020
Englemann’s Hedgehog
Picacho Peak State Park, AZApril 12, 2020
Prickly Pear
Big Bend National ParkMarch 18, 2020
Ocotillo
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Yutsano
Prickly pears are both beautiful and delicious! Was there any jam or jelly around?
Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]
Random personal observation of the prickly pear and Englemann’s Hedgehog cacti. Their stamens are touch sensitive. You touch them and they will curl inward fast enough to see, probably to smear pollen better.
joel hanes
During the night, saguaro flowers are pollinated by the lesser long-nosed bat and the Mexican long-tongued bat. Insects and birds do some pollination during the day.
J R in WV
Ocotillo, such beautiful blooms, so hostile, the spikes!
We have some of these on our little ranch above Gleeson, we’re a little bit high in elevation for them, but they hang in there… You don’t want to run into one in the dark, that’s for sure!
frosty
@Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]: Oddly enough, for some reason I had no interest in touching any part of a cactus for any reason!
?BillinGlendaleCA
I think I’ve seen and photographed Englemann’s Hedgehog at The Huntington, obviously I didn’t get to see them there this year. It’s pretty amazing and somewhat unexpected the flowers you see on cacti.
frosty
@?BillinGlendaleCA: We saw quite a few prickly pears and barrel cacti but the others were a bit more rare. I got the pic of the Englemann’s as we were driving by and saw a flash of purple. My long-suffering wife (the driver) was fairly understanding about my hollering to pull over at random times.
Dmbeaster
Cactus flowers are beautiful wildflowers. And I love the spring bloom in the desert.
frosty
I just looked it up and the plural of cactus is cactuses because it’s not a Latin word. Oops, my mistake.
Per B-J convention, can a commenter be a pedant on his own comment?
WaterGirl
@frosty: fixed up top!
Yutsano
@frosty: My understanding is cacti is also acceptable. Language changes things. To wit: the three acceptable plurals of octopus.
SectionH
Nice photos!
Origuy
I’m usually in the desert either before or after the peak blooming season.
frosty, I was reading American Archaeology magazine; they had an article about Aztec Ruins National Monument in New Mexico. If you come out again, you might check it out.
frosty
@Origuy: We’ve got an itinerary for next year already. Between this and Albatrossy’s posts we’ll have to get back. But after we hit the Canadian Rockies and Pacific Northwest. Who knew there were so many places to see?????