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Desert Flower LbNA #25084 (ARCHIVED)

Owner:Lone Star Quilter
Plant date:Aug 31, 2006
Location:
City:Odessa
County:Ector
State:Texas
Boxes:1
Found by: Lady Spocelton
Last found:Jun 25, 2009
Status:FFFFFFaaF
Last edited:Aug 31, 2006
When you think about flowers, the cactus doesn’t normally come to mind, but the truth is that many of them have very lovely flowers. The Prickly Pear is no exception. It produces a red fruit (or “pear”) that blooms into a beautiful yellow blossom, not unlike a rose. The cactus itself is distinguished by the broad stem or pad, thickly covered with long sharp spines. The plant is very invasive and may cover acres of land, much to the chagrin of ranchers in the southwest. The pad is also called “nopales” and is used as a food in Mexico and the Southwestern part of the United States. It can even be found in grocery stores in some places with the spines removed. It is most often grilled or roasted. In times of drought, ranchers will sometimes burn the cactus to remove the spines and make the pads edible to cattle.

Directions:

This box is placed at Comanche Trail Park in Odessa. From Interstate 20 you will take exit 115 and turn north at the traffic light (S County Road West or FM 1882) north. One-half mile north of the Interstate you will see a sign for the park on the right. Turn and park in the parking lot.

To the box:

Look for a picnic area on the south side of the parking lot and a trail that starts next to it. The trail has two red metal marking posts. Take the one that says “Start”. After about a third of a mile, you will see the back of a red post on your left. Turn around and read it. It should say “3.0 miles”. Continue down the trail in your original direction for another half mile and look for another red post ON YOUR LEFT that says “.5 miles”. Continue walking another 40 steps and look to your left for a small prickly pear at the base of a mesquite. The camo letterbox is near the prickly pear under rocks. Be careful as prickly pears are prickly and mesquites are thorny.