|  | |||||||||||||||||||||||
On the cover. Ferocactus acanthodes var lecontei is the most widespread variety of F.acanthodes, a cactus species common throughout the Mojave and Sonoran deserts. Including its varieties acanthodes, tortulispinus and eastwoodiae, this species ranges from the southern tip of Utah and southern Nevada, south through California and Arizona, and into the Baja California peninsula and the Mexican state of Sonora - a distribution exceeding 525 miles from north to south. Here we see them growing deep inside the inner walls of the Grand Canyon, where a unique geological formation was created by ancient lava flows pushing up through lower strata rock. The weathering and cutting action of the Colorado River, along which variety lecontei is common, have produced an improbable rock-garden home for these gigantic cacti. No side trails lead into the canyon at this point, so rafting the Colorado is perhaps the only way to view this population, which is found at river mile 187.5, down from Lees Ferry, where the plants cling to the wall 75 feet above the river's edge. Member Douglas Basco captured this memorable sight with a Canon EF camera, a 50-135 mm zoom lens and Fuji Velvia color slide film.
| BOOK REVIEWS | |
|---|---|
| Yuccas: Giants Among the Lilies | D Russell Wagner |
| Yucca III (Agavaceae) Mexico | Michel Rohmer |
| Haseltonia 10 | Colin C Walker |
| Lithops Flowering Stones | Steven Hammer |
| Cacti of the Trans-Pecos and Adjacent Areas | James D Mauseth |
