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M A G A
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JANUARY, 194625 CENTS
 
MANUAL WILL HELP
YOU
KNOW SOUTHWEST PLANTS
One
of the
most useful
and
best illus-trated works
on
Southwestern plantlife
was
published
for
distribution
in
August,1945,
by
University
of
Arizona, Tucson.A MANUAL
OF
SOUTHWESTERNDESERT TREES
AND
SHRUBS,
by Ly-
man Benson
and
Robert
A.
Darrow
and
collaborators, continues
the
university'sseries
of
flora
of
Arizona
and the
South-west.
The
first publication
of the
group
is
THE CACTI
OF
ARIZONA.This
is a
classification
and
descriptionof trees
and
shrubs roughly from PalmSprings, California,
to El
Paso, Texas—from what
the
authors call
the
creosote-desert
to
desert-grasslands, embracing
a
wide variety
of
growth. More specificallythe area includes
the
Mojave
and
Coloradodeserts
of
California; southern Nevada
in-
cluding portions
of Nye and
Lincoln coun-ties
and all but the
higher mountains
of
Clark county;
in
Arizona
the
lowest levelof Grand Canyon
and all the
area westand south
of the
Mogollon
Rim and
Whitemountains;
in New
Mexico
the
territoryfrom Albuquerque south,
and
west
of the
White
and
Sacramento mountains,
and
in Texas
the El
Paso
and Big
Bend country.Lest anyone think
the
portion
of
plant-life included here
is not
much
on the
"flowering" side,
one
glance through
the
colored plates
or at the
table
of
contentswould convince
him
otherwise.
For in the
desert many
of the
most brilliant flowersare found
on the
more shrubby plants,
as
well
as on the
trees.
And
unlike
the
ephem-eral annuals which
are
seen
for a com-
paratively short period, these
are
foundblooming over much
of the
year. Here
at
random
are a few of the
"shrubs
and
trees"treated—so just
see if
they
do not
includesome
of
your favorite desert "flowers."Yuccas (about
10 of
them), Nolina,Agaves, Cliffroses, Apache Plume,
Red-
bud, Palo Verde, Smoke tree, Ocotillo,Pentstemon, Desert Willow (Chilopsis),many
of the
Sunflowers
and
Asters.
And
for
the
true desert
rat
there
are the
SaltBush, Desert Holly, Wild Apricot, Cats-claw, Mesquites
and
Palo Verdes, Iron-wood, Creosote, Crucifixion Thorn,
Ele-
phant Tree, Washingtonia palm, Tama-risk, Burrowweed
and
Rabbit Brush.Introduction contains
a
fine discussionof
the
characteristics
of
desert vegetation,the distinctive appearance
of the
variousSouthwestern desert regions, flower struc-ture
and a
guide
for
using
the
botanticalkey
to
identify plants.There
are 22
photos
in
full color, over80 black
and
white photos,
43
plates
of
line drawings.
One of the
best features
is
the series
of 110
geographical distributionmaps,
one
color showing location
of the
main species through
the
Southwest states.Appendix, index, paper bound,
411
pages.$3.00."I might
have become
a
millionaire,
I
chose
to
become
a
tramp."—JOHN MUIR
Son
of
the Wilderness
By LINNIE MARSH WOLFE
A biography that is a living portrait of a man who combined inone lifetime the work of a great naturalist, mechanical genius, moun-taineer, glaciologist and apostle of conversation.This is a book for the lover of the outdoors because it is the storyof one of America's greatest outdoor men. John Muir did not aspireto fame, but it came to him nevertheless because he lived close toNature—and Nature develops the best in men.
$3.50 Postpaid
to You
DESERT CRAFTS SHOP
El Centro, California"PINCUSHION" GENUSCOMES INTO
ITS OWN
To
the one
whose knowledge
of the
Mammillarias
is
confined
to a
little
"pin-
cushion" cactus carefully nourished
in a
window
box, Dr.
Robert
T.
Craig's book,THE MAMMILLARIA HANDBOOKwill
be a
revelation,
and to the
collectorit will
be a
welcome addition
to
cactus
lit-
erature.
For to
describe
or
name
all the
known Mammillarias requires almost
400
pages
of a
7x10V
2
book!
It is
illustratedwith
300
excellent photographs.The author,
who
lives
in
Baldwin Park,California, first became acquainted withthis genus
of the
cactus
as a
child
in the
prairie country
of
western Kansas, whenhe
was
warned
"not to
touch"
the pin-
cushion cactus
but
just
to
"look,
at the
pretty flowers." Later when
he
became
fa-
miliar with their beauty
on the
rocky hillsof southern
New
Mexico
and the
ruggedmountain sides
of
Guatemala,
his
interestbecame deeper, finally culminating
in the
present impressive monograph.Although
Dr.
Craig
has
been able
to
claim cactus collecting only
as an
avoca-tion, being
a
dentist
by
profession,
he has
spent much time
the
past
16
years
in re-
search
of the
literature, field collectionsand correlation
of all
available data
on
thisgenus.
His
explorations through
the
Southwest states
and
into Sonora
and
otherstates
of
Mexico have brought adventuresas well
as a
rich collection
and
much
val-
uable original data.
Of the
result, Paul
C.
Standley, Chicago Natural History
Mus-
eum, says, "Here
in a
single volume
and
in
a
single series
is
presented
the
mostcomprehensive account that ever
has
beenattempted
on a
single group
of
cacti.
Dr.
Craig's splendid account
of the
Mammil-larias
is an
admirable example
of
what
can
and should
be
done
for all
groups
of
cacti."Published
by
Abbey Garden Press,
Pas-
adena,
1945.
Bibliography, index. Clothbound, coated pre-war paper. $7.50.•
• •
BOOK BRIEFS
. . .
One
of the
recent biographies
of
MarkTwain
is
that written
by
DeLancey
Fer-
guson
and
published
by
Bobbs-Merrillcompany, Indianapolis.
Mark Twain:
Man
and
Legend,
while
a
serious
and
scholarlybiography,
is
full
of
flavorful anecdotesand colorful incidents.•
• •
In
19
pages Edwin
F.
Walker
has
writ-ten
an
introduction
to the
Indians
of the
United States,
America's Indian Back-
ground,
Southwest Museum bulletin
No.
18.
It is
accompanied
by a
20x26 inchfolding
map
showing distribution
of na-
tive tribes
of
North America. Price
30
cents.
THE DESERT MAGAZINE
 
DESERT
• "A detailed account of the meansplants have developed for seed dispersalwould read like the records of some sup-ernal Patent Office," says Jerry Lauder-milk. His next story for DESERT, al-though sounding nothing like the recordsof a patent office, reveals some of theingenious and devious ways which havebeen developed in the world of natureto perpetuate the species. The snares andbarbs and stratagems which Jerry de-scribes make such plants as the Devil'sClaw and Krameria seem possessed of aconscious striving for immortality.• Next month you will learn about theman whose work shaped the destiny ofCoachella Valley, when Roy W. Nixon,of the government experimental date gar-den at Indio, introduces Bernard G. John-son, who first envisioned this valley asa date growing center. His enthusiasm fordates was so great and his dealings withnatives of Algeria and other Old WorHdate regions so successful that he wasknown as the American Arab. And hispersonality was no less interesting thanhis importance to the American date in-dustry was significant.• Evonne Henderson, who has been di-recting the circulation department ofDesert Magazine since her brother Rand,enlisted in the marines early in 1942,on November 4 was married to CharlesA. Riddel
1
of the U.S. Marines, at Yuma,Arizona. Corporal Riddell and the bride'sbrother were buddies in the service be-fore Rand's death in action at SaipanJuly 7, 1944. After a brief honeymoonRiddell left for North Carolina wherehe will be on duty pending his discharge.Evonne will remain at her post in theDesert Magazine office until after theholidays.
DESERT CALENDAR
Jan. 18-19—Annual convention NewMexico Press association, Albuquer-
que.
Jan. 19-20—First Gem show, San JoseLapidary society, San Jose,
Calif.
Jan. 24-26—Minerals and Productionmeeting of Western mining indus-try, Shirley-Savoy hotel, Denver,Colorado.Jan. 28-Feb. 28—International NaturePhotography exhibit, Chicago Na-tural History museum, includingplant life, animal life, geology.
Feb.
23-24—Two ski events at Genoa,Nevada: "Snowshoe" ThomsonMemorial cross country ski races;Nevada-California state jumpingchampionship.
Feb.
28-Mar. 2—International DesertCavalcade, pageant and fiesta, Cal-exico, California.
Circulation
of
this issue
of
Desert Magazine
is ...
25,800 COPIES
Volume 9JANUARY, 1946Number 3COVERBOOKSCLOSE-UPSPALM OASISFIELD TRIPTRUE OR FALSEEXPLORATIONANCIENT ARTCONTESTPERSONALITYNATUREHUMORART OF LIVINGLETTERSNEWSMININGHOBBYCRAFTCOMMENTPOETRY
DESERT ROAD. In Sabino canyon, Santa Catalinamountains, north of Tucson, Arizona. Photo byChuck Abbott, Tucson.The Southwest in literature 2Notes on Desert features and their writers ... 3Guadalupe Canyon in Lower CaliforniaBy RANDALL HENDERSON 4Jasper Enough for EverybodyBy JOHN HILTON 9A test of your desert knowledge 12Lost City of the SkyBy CLEE WOODS 13We Found the Glyphs in the GuijusBy RICHARD VAN VALKENBURGH . . . .17Prize Photo Contest announcement 20Craftsman of the Cactus DesertBy NANCY LUNSFORD 21Mark of the CentipedeBy WELDON WOODSON 25Hard Rock Shorty of Death Valley 28Desert Refuge, by MARSHAL SOUTH .... 79Comment from Desert readers 31Here and There on the Desert 33Current news briefs 38Gems and Minerals—Edited by ARTHUR L. EATON 39Amateur Gem Cutter, by LELANDE QUICK ... 45Just Between You and MeBy The Editor 46The Desert Rat, and other poems 47
RANDALL HENDERSON, Editor. LUCILE HARRIS, Associate Editor.BESS STACY, Business Manager. — EVONNE RIDDELL, Circulation Manager.Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs submitted cannot be returned or acknowledgedunless full return postage is enclosed. Desert Magazine assumes no responsibility for damageor loss of manuscripts or photographs although due care will be exercised. Subscribers shouldsend notice of change of address by the first of the month preceding issue. If address is un-certain by that date, notify circulation department to hold copies.
SUBSCRIPTION RATESOne year .... $2.50Canadian subscriptions 25c extra, foreign 50c extra.
Subscriptions to Army personnel outside U.S.A. must be mailed in conformity withP.O.D. Order Nos. 19687
&
27851
Address correspondence to Desert Magazine, 636 State St., £1 Centro, California.
JANUARY, 1946
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