Cactus Flowers and Bug Dye

Cane cholla blossom.

This year abundant Fall, Winter, and Spring rains brought a dazzling array of wildflowers to the Sonoran Desert.  Those rains also encouraged our native cactus to produce a bounty of blooms.  The hedgehogs were the first to impress us, and now in late April, prickley pear and cane cholla have burst into color with the most abundant flower crop I've seen since we've been living here. 

The cane cholla are just beginning to open their dark pink blossoms.  These are my favorite of all the cholla flowers. 



We have at least two types of prickley pear where I live:  Englemann and sprawling.  Both sport delicate apricot and lemon-yellow blooms, often on the same plant. 

Prickley pear loaded with blooms.

Prickley pear fruit and pads are edible; diners often find them on Southwestern restaurant menus.  The pads, called nopales, are similar in texture to okra, have a slightly tangy taste, and are rich in vitamins A and C.  The ripened pear fruit, called tunas, is eaten fresh and used in syrups, jellies, and beverages.  This fruit has a cooling effect when added to drinks like tea or lemonade.  Drinking too much of the fruit juice can actually bring on chills! 

Back in the 1500's, Spanish explorers considered prickley pear as valuable as gold and silver.  The reason:  tiny critters called cochineal.  Cochineal are scale-like insects that feed on prickley pear.  Their body fluids contain a bright red substance that helps protect them from being eaten by predators (apparently, the stuff is quite foul-tasting, but don't take my word for it!).  Native people ground the insects and used them to dye textiles in rich reds and purples.  These colors were rare in Europe where only royalty could normally afford purple or red clothing.  The Spanish quickly found that harvesting cochineal was lucrative, at least until cheaper dyes became available.

Cochineal dye continues to be used today in foods, drugs, cosmetics, and textiles.  Just think--that red lipstick of yours or your girlfriend's could be made from bug blood!