Due to the early spring, the date for the annual Pediocactus nigrispinus have been changed. This year we will be leaving BJ’s truck plaza in Rock Island at 11:00 AM sharp APRIL10th 2010.
BJ’s offers a convenience store and restaurant for those who need to fuel up their vehicles or themselves before the tour. You can also purchase last minute items such as snacks, water, batteries, etc. for the tour. It is a twenty-minute drive from BJ’s and a short hike to the site. During the tour, the largest single Pediocactus and the lowest elevation of Pediocactus ever recorded can be seen. Basic geology of the area is explained and a bison herd, can be enjoyed from a safe distance. Cameras and binoculars are a must and pets are OK if they are well mannered.
Chuck and I are looking forward to seeing you !!
Below is a short article which was recently published in the Czech cactus journal KAKTUSY about the area we will be visiting.
The “Dangerous Cliffs” are solid basalt a thousand feet thick and at the foot of these cliffs, the Columbia River flows towards the Pacific Ocean. The basalt bench has only inches of soil, still the stiff sagebrush (Artemisia rigida) habitat teams with flora. Bitterroot ( Lewisia rediviva), wild onion (Allium), common larkspur (Delphinium nuttallianum), shooting star ( Dodecatheon), Indian paintbrush (Castiilleja), sagebrush violet (Viola trinervata), thyme buckwheat (Eriogonum thymoides), purple sage ( Salvia dorri), death cammas (Zygadenus venenosus), Hooker’s balsam (Balsamorhiza hookeri), steppe fescue (Poa secunda) and the rarest of the stiff sagebrush flora, Pediocactus nigrispinus.
The Pediocactus nigrispinus here are not on average as big and multi-headed as the ones growing across the Columbia River in the Colockum Game Range but they are still well worth the hike in. This location is one of the best to view the nigrispinus because it is accessible for those that are not use to hiking distances or rough terrain and the location offers great photographing opportunities plus the plants flower earlier here due to the lower elevation (1200’).
Pediocactus nigrispinus are not the only cactus in Washington State. Opuntia erinacea v. columbiana grow in the area and can be found along the banks of the Columbia, Yakima, and Snake Rivers. The columbiana have light green pads, white spines, and lemon yellow flowers that open in June. Although I have found columbiana and nigrispinus growing together at some locations I have never seen the variable and widely scattered Opuntia fragilis “hybrids” that grow from south of Wenatchee well into Canada growing with either Pedios or columbiana. Opuntia fragilis is found in the “pure” form only on the Friday Islands off the Washington coast. Terry Dominco did an extensive study on this cactus in the 1990’s. His conclusion was that Native Americans brought the fragilis to the islands from the Midwest through trade routes and cultivated them for food, dyes, etc.
According to Nancy J. Turner in “Thompson Ethnobotany,” the Thompson Indians of British Columbia prepared Opuntia fragilis and polyacantha pads by steam cooking in pits, baking in hot coals, or roasting on a stick. Mucilaginous material from the pads was used for glue and pads were cut, heated, and rubbed over painted skins to fix the paint. Small bunches of spines of equal length were tied together and use for tattooing.
None of the four cactus has “fruits” or “tunas” that can be eaten raw or cooked like many of the southwestern cactus do. Pedio seeds may have been ground into flour or paste much like the Lewisia rediviva seeds and maybe the Pedios themselves were sliced and cooked. There just has not been much if any research into the Native uses of Pediocactus nigrispinus (or simpsoni for that matter) that I have been able to find to know how they were utilized although I am sure they were.
Not only has there been little research into Native uses of all the Pedios, there has been little research on nigrispinus at all. Fritz Hochstaetter has been one of the few who has studied the nigrispinus in habitat and publish his findings, which clearly proved nigrispinus is a separate species. I have taken several firm believers in the simpsoni/robustor theory to see the nigrispinus in habitat and all have come away convinced of the difference. Still some cactus “experts” continue to insist that nigrispinus is simpsoni or robustor even though they have never taken the time to actually experience nigrispinus in the field.
Habitat and the plants themselves are markedly different from other types of Pediocactus. Flowers are magenta pink with an occasional peach flowering plant. Spines are stiffer and thicker than other Pedios and colors runs from typical black (hence nigrispinus) to red and tan. Black spined plants are nearly invisible by mid summer against the dark basalts. Plants can be single or multi-headed. The single headed plants tend to become elongated over time and will often snake along the ground.
Pediocactus nigrispinus are found only in habitat specific locations that consist of basalt litho soils, on south, or southwestern slopes, with stiff sagebrush and accompanying flora. These specific conditions are not a guarantee to finding Pedios; I have walked miles before seeing a colony in seemingly un-varied habitat. The one exception to the usual sloped habitat is the “Dangerous Cliffs” location I am referring to today where the Pedios are growing on a flat geological bench. Even so the cactus still “lean” towards the south.
Mid-April the Pediocactus nigrispinus flower for a few days (higher elevations such as the Colockum at 2200’ to 2400’ flower three weeks later) Much of the geological areas they grow in was scoured by the massive Bretz Floods of 16,000 to 12,000 years ago. As water rushed over the basalt, potholes, caves, arches, “buttes,” and scablands were created. Across the Columbia River, West Bar stands in mute testament of the massive floodwaters with water ripple marks 20 to 30 feet high and as far apart. Compare these to the tiny ripple marks you find at the beach and one can begin to imagine the force behind the floods.
Most likely humans were living in the area when the floods came through. Once can only imagine the devastation it cause to the many people living along the Columbia and surrounding areas. The Wanapum’s are the most recent tribe to live along this stretch of Columbia River but when the Wanapum dam was built in 1959, the tribe was resettled near the dam. For those interested in learning more the Wanapum dam offers a wonderful museum, the Wanapum Heritage Center, which exhibits many of the archaeological treasures of these People.
Dixie Dringman
Rock Island WA
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