It never ceases to amaze me- - how they live/grow in that soil. So many cacti seem to thrive in rock cracks. Not these guys. When I first went looking, I couldn't believe where I found them.

Al

Cool. Did you bring back a few bags of the soil for your four corners patch?

I should have nabbed a shoebox or empty cup of "soil" from up there but did not--- we had a vehicle full of clothes & stuff from all the functions associtated with my sons wedding. But a year or so ago I had my brother bring back a coffee cup of Utah soil & a Big Gulp cup of soil from the Farmington/ Shiprock area just for such occasions! I used some of that my Four Corners Patch.

Sadly I had ( made or took ) no chance to look for Sclero mesa-verdeae while in that area. We made it to the Cliff Dwellings before dark but spent that night in Durango & then on to Pagosa Springs & Chama to Sante Fe. This trip was geared for wife pleasing so we targeted the snow & mountains as much as possible. A person can only make so many side trips & pull off the road pit stops to look for a little cactus and still stay married. I have learned to limit the stops & be patient-- I will get back there again someday !!
Also saw no Toumeya papryacanthus but I did get a baggie of seeds from the Gramma Grass they grow in out in New Mexico.

Later

David

David,

When you saw this Sclero in Capitol Reef National Monument it should be Sclerocactus wrightiae, a species with slender white to yellow or light pink flowers . That species never gets really big like some other Scleros do. The Scl. terrae canyonae with its red spines (when young) and big, wide open yellow flowers is growing in White and Glen Canyon area and gets up to 8" tall easily.
I am not surprised that you didn't find the Toumeya. They are growing only south of a line from about Los Alamos, NM westsouthwest down to Holbrook/Snow Flake, AZ. In the last 35 years I saw them in several locations, but revisiting them later I sometimes could not find a single plant during half a day of searching.

Jordi

Jordi,

At first I thought it might be S wrightiae but the density of the spines lead me to the terrae-canyonae ID-- but I have only seen very few pics of any of them. This Sclero was probably 10-20 miles west of Hanksville. I did see some larger Sclero's in the rocks near the Colorado River but decided not to stop every time I saw a cluster of spines shining in the sunlight!! I really have to fight the urge to stop & look at every one I see. I must be sicker than I thought!!! LOL

One other thing--- when the Gramma Grass dies back & forms those fairy rings of dead clumps------ the older sections of dead grass looks JUST like a Toumeya !!!! I should have took a picute of that!! At first I thought I found hundreds of them !!

David

Neat plant, but imagine stepping on it by mistake!