Travels and Adventures

a small Barrel Cactus

I believe this is a young Sonora Barrel Cactus (Ferocactus covillei). Barrel Cactus usually grow along desert washes, gravely slopes, and beneath desert canyon walls in all of the hot deserts of North America. Native Americans used the cactus for various purposes: cactus spines for needles, cactus flowers for food, and the cactus stem as a cooking pot.