Smooth Mountain Prickly Pear

Smooth Mountain Prickly Pear
Opuntia ficus-indica
(op-UN-shee-a)
Synonyms: Indian Fig, Opuntia tuna-blanca

While going over some old files I found this picture of a patch of Thornless Prickly Pear Cactus taken at Jack London State Park in Sonoma, California. There seems to be a lot of confusion about what this plant is actually called so I tried to use the name that had the most references. My research led me to the Wikipedia biography of Luther Burbank an interesting American plant breeder who dreamed of developing the Thornless Cactus for cattle feed. It is still used for that purpose but mainly grown for culinary purposes (fruits).

All Prickly Pear Cactuses are native to the Western hemisphere, although they have now spread around the globe. Mr. Burbank introduced several varieties of the thornless types, which lack the small hairlike thorns, called Glochids, which most of the other 200 species have. The thornless characteristics are controlled by genetics but stressed plants can sometimes grow thorns. There are several species that are cold hardy growing as far north as Canada. The thornless type is thought to be hardy to about 20 degrees F.

To liven up this post with a little color here is a picture of some Prickly Pear fruit that was spotted elsewhere in the park.

Jack London State Park Part 2

Jack London State Park Part 2
Glen Ellen, California

Here are a few more pictures of Jack London State Park. The first was a walkway in the farm area out to the Vineyard. Man, I really felt like I was out West when I snapped this one. That is Sonoma Mountain in the background.

The close ups of this flower didn’t really come out so I am posting this ‘whole’ shot. Almost everywhere we went there was some Mexican Bush Sage (Salvia leucantha) blooming. The flowers are actually white and the velvety purple parts are calyces. This plant is hardy to around 0 deg. F, although some people say 10 deg F is a better bet. The Ruby Throated Hummingbirds were visiting this plant as I sat on a bench next to it. That was a beautiful and mighty Oak Tree in the background.


This third shot is a species of Canna lily (I think). This was the view from the garden by the cottage.


“All the leaves are brown

And the sky is gray

I've been for a walk

On a winter's day

I'd be safe and warm

If I was in L.A.

California dreamin'

On such a winter's day”

John and Michelle Phillips

Back to my mountain of paperwork. Soon I will have to give up gardening and just do paperwork all day. It isn’t quite that bad yet, thankfully, because the day that happens I am going to look into doing something else.

Jack London State Park

Jack London State Park
Glen Ellen, California

These were taken during our visit to Jack London State Park in Glen Ellen. I found the trails, woods and buildings to be fascinating. We didn’t make it to the Lake because we had the little guy with us and it was a long walk. The Redwoods near the Wolf House ruins were amazing. These great trees always give me a sense of awe and excitement with a pinch of humbleness thrown in. The light shining down through the huge trees and illuminating this little patch of foliage was really nice. I thought that the small tree had grown perfectly to grab a few minutes of sun during the afternoon.


The park is well worth visiting. The town of Glen Ellen is nice to walk around and there are some nice Vineyards in the area.

"The grapes on a score of rolling hills are red with autumn flame. Across Sonoma Mountain wisps of sea fog are stealing. The afternoon sun smoulders in the drowsy sky. I have everything to make me glad I am alive. I am filled with dreams and mysteries. I am all sun and air and sparkle. I am vitalized, organic."

I found this quote here:

Sonoma Parks.net

It sums up my visit pretty well almost 100 years later. There is a lot of good information on the site about the park. I got a few more pictures at the park, which I will try and post tomorrow.