By Scott Shephard
Barrel Cactus - Boyce Thompson Arboretum (Arizona)
In case you didn’t know, these cactus* are one of many varieties of barrel cactus. They generally appear in nature in color. But for this blog post, you see them in shades of gray. Why? Well, I think the needles are much more visible in the absence of color and I really wanted you to see the needles. I should mention that these cactus are about 12” in height - the perfect height for a a little stool. But the Boyce Thompson Arboretum near Superior, Arizona, discourages sitting on its plants.
*I could have shown off my Latin education by using the formal Latin cacti, which is the plural form of cactus. But here’s what grammarist.com has to say: “Cacti is the Latin plural of cactus, and some writers use it in English. Cactuses is the English plural. Dictionaries list both, and neither is right or wrong. Also, like many names of plants, the uninflected cactus is sometimes treated as plural.”
Canon R5 1/160 sec f/5.3 ISO 500
