UPON first encounter with general they appear to sible to visit Baja after five centuries of the giant cardon be the same California without European settlement. cactus Pachycereus aweinspiring plant. being continuously They are destroyed pringlei, many foreign However, they are exposed to scenic mainly where they visitors to the Baja wrong. The cardon views framed by this grow close to the California peninsula cactus, the undisputed huge tree-like cactus. several urban areas on mistake this "king of emblem of the Baja However, because the the peninsula, or in the desert" with the California peninsula, peninsula is sparsely areas that are thought to perhaps more familiar is a different species developed with many have a potential for saguaro Carnegiea from a different remote and inacces- agriculture. Despite the gigantea of the botanical genus and sible areas, unless you futility of crop Arizona desert. The only barely resembles have a helicopter cultivation in the harsh visitor may concede to its northern cousin. handy or you are a desert conditions, local some differences, On one point cowboy with a horse farmers keep trying and perhaps the cardon is everybody agrees, it and protection against are destroying many more massive, but in is a majestic plant. the spiny flora, most of cardon stands in the With a wide distri- the cardons will remain process. bution over the entire out of reach. This We are not the peninsula, often inaccessibility has first generation to be occurring in dense allowed most popula- deeply impressed by stands, it is impos- tions of cardon to this magnificent Left photo /Ronald Wauer remain intact, even cactus. The Jesuit priest Miguel Del Wildflower WINTER 2001 11 The highly nutritious and succulent tated deserts are cleared to produce marginal fruits of the cardon, available in abundance agricultural land that is later abandoned (a during the desert dry season when other process often called desertification) or to cardón food sources are scarce, were enjoyed by build urban neighborhoods lacking paved Pachycereus the native Seri Indians of the Sonora roads, nothing remains to hold the topsoil pringlei desert, and are a major source of nutrients against wind-caused erosion. The result is for many desert birds in the Baja California severe soil erosion and subsequent dust RANGE MAP peninsula. The lesser long-nosed bats pollution. The latter indirectly but Leptonycteris curasoae of the mainland significantly increases chronic respiratory Barco, the founder of the still-standing and Sonoran coast are major pollinators of the illnesses. Official reports of the Ministry of functioning Mission San Javier near the night-blooming flowers of the cardon and Health of Mexico characterize about 30% of small town of Loreto on the Gulf of depend on the fruit for survival. The birds the state's population, mainly children, as California, was inspired to pen the first are very efficient at feeding on cardon having chronic respiratory illnesses. This description of the cardon in 1768. In fruits. For years we have observed in our phenomenon has been increasing throughout poetic prose, Don Miguel wrote: garden located on the edge of a fence- the developing world and in North America This tree, although full of moisture, is protected natural reserve that almost none it is predominant in the semiarid areas of found only on dry lands, on level and sloped of the fruits fell to the ground before being northern Mexico. Prevention of soil erosion ground alike, provided that there is no completely eaten. and dust pollution in urban, low income, moisture nearby, for this it shuns .... Whence Many residents of La Paz, including the desert communities in Mexico are difficult then does it draw that moisture and the sap gardening department of the municipality, for a variety of reasons: (i) Local with which it is replete? Not from the rains, believe that a large green cardon in front of municipalities are poor and can only afford since these are very scant in California, and their porch or in traffic islands in the city to pave some roads. Thus, the unpaved therefore, where there is no permanent spring will decorate the place with a desert flavor. roads yield heavy dust pollution caused by and one must rely on rainwater alone, nothing But the cardon is uncooperative. Almost auto and truck traffic and strong desert can be sown or planted... The cardon, however, none of these transplanted cardons attain winds. In our city of La Paz, for example, of even though years may pass without rain, full size or are as beautiful as in the the total 450 km of streets, over 40% are shows no sign of distress: it perseveres wilderness. A mature cardon is almost unpaved, and we are in the best shape in the serenely, with the same fresh green color and impossible to transfer unless you devote a state. (ii) Deforestation of large tracts of the the same abundant sap, as ever .... fortune for the packaging of the giant plant tropical dry forest is considered to be The cardon is almost endemic to the and usually the transplant dies. A branch necessary for the survival of small peninsula of Baja California. Small stands do will not root, even with the aid of the communal agricultural communities having exist elsewhere on most of the islands in the growth hormone supplements commonly large land holdings. (iii) Overgrazing by Gulf of California and also on the Sonoran applied to many vegetatively-propagated free-roaming cattle and goats is widespread coast of mainland Mexico, but large stands cacti. From a gardening point of view, its and traditional since the Jesuit missionaries are unique to the Baja California peninsula. rate of growth is discouragingly slow, to say imported these animals in the 17th century. Together with the Brazilian tree-shaped the least, and is a lesson in patience. One or (iv) Fresh water is scarce and cannot be used cactus, Cereus jamacaru, it is perhaps the two cm per year is a typical reward for the to irrigate non-crop plants that might hold largest species of the cactus family. An patient gardener. In rainy years, or if the topsoil. Much of the available water is average mature cardon may reach a height of irrigation is used as I frequently do in my used for priority tourist projects such as the ten meters, but individuals as tall as eighteen garden, a record growth of 5-10 cm is huge tourist resort of Los Cabos and the meters are known; the trunk diameter often achievable but no more. With a life span green golf courses which provide a sharp exceeds 1 meter. Most adult cardon have measured in hundreds of years and its slow contrast to the otherwise several side branches that may be as massive growth, this plant will never make the as the trunk. The resulting tree may attain a gardener's or landscaper's "favorites list". weight of 25 tons, out-weighing the gray This "gardening handicap" does not reduce whale that visits the shores of Baja in the immense ecological importance of the wintertime. Such large cardon specimens can cardon or its impact on the well-being and be found in the fertile lands of San Juan de health of the local population. To the casual Los Planes, about 40 km east of La Paz, and visitor driving from the US and Canada, on the remote Isla Catalina, far ashore Baja California seems a pristine southeast of Loreto. The former population is environment hardly touched by civilization; severely threatened by clear-cutting for a gigantic, untouched and unspoiled park. agriculture, however, the latter is protected This is deceiving. Underlying this by the remoteness of its location and apparently idyllic setting, is a grim occasional heavy seas. ecological reality. When naturally vege- Destroyed cardon cactus. 12 Wildflower WINTER 2001 PROPOSED CARDON PRESERVES IN BAJA, MEXICO without seeing the numerous shops lining the street 15 meters to the side. This town, that years ago cleared all cardon cacti to make room for agriculture, is currently in economic ruin. If the cardon is such a great topsoil stabilizer, why not cultivate it on a large scale? The catch is that it has a very low establishment rate on transplant, even as relatively young plants, and subsequent slow development when transferred from natural habitats or from nurseries to eroded urban soil. Numerous dying, or barely surviving cardons can be seen on traffic islands and in city gardens, replaced periodically with other cactus species. These are a testimony to the "uncooperative" nature of the cardon. Perhaps something can be done to increase the survival of transplanted cardons?. Some years ago, we realized that the key to success may be to reestablish the microenvironment surrounding the cardon plants, especially the microorganisms living in their roots. We observed in our research center that the survival of small seedlings and the growth of cardon cacti can be significantly enhanced in its initial stages by treating the seeds with plant dry landscape. (v) State governments and It has a widespread, branched, shallow root growth-promoting bacteria such as municipalities lack financial resources to system capable of responding to rare rainfall Azospirillum sp. These bacteria are known enforce existing laws against woodcutting. by rapid growth. The roots, dispersed in a 30 to promote the growth of numerous (vi) Desert trees, which ordinarily prevent m diameter around the tree, trap the topsoil agricultural crops and are one of the erosion, such as mesquite and ironwood that that is essential for plant growth. Even microbial groups on which the future grow with the cardon in the dry forests of during hurricanes, areas populated by "fertilizer-free" agriculture is based.