University of California at Santa Cruz Arboretum, Old Man Cactus
Image details
Contributor:
B. David Cathell / Alamy Stock PhotoImage ID:
2A43NMRFile size:
88.4 MB (4.3 MB Compressed download)Releases:
Model - no | Property - noDo I need a release?Dimensions:
4539 x 6808 px | 38.4 x 57.6 cm | 15.1 x 22.7 inches | 300dpiDate taken:
4 June 2019Location:
Santa Cruz, CA, USAMore information:
The University of California at Santa Cruz Arboretum is a gem containing a huge collection of plants from representatives of more than 300 plant families of Mediterranean climates — specifically Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and California — a climate characterized by dry summers and mild, wet winters. I encountered a bit of a surprise on the last little part of my walkabout at the University of California Santa Cruz Arboretum — plants that I would not associate with a Mediterranean climate. They look to me to be more at home in a desert. They will indeed grow in California (otherwise they would not have survived here at the western base of the Santa Cruz Mountains) but I think of them as more Arizonan. But what do I know after a long career in computers and a retirement career in photography. Ah, this plant I know, having seen them at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. It is an Old Man Cactus (Cephalocereus senilis). It gets its name from the "white hair" which are, in fact, modified spines which hide the formidable sharp yellow central spines that contrast with the inoffensive appearance of the hairy covering.