Purple and Lemony Yellow

This is a flower from a Santa Rita Prickly Pear cactus. These cacti are lavender to purple in color and are very pretty and bountiful in this part of Arizona.

Most people think of prickly pears as only being green but these purple ones are often used in landscaping to lend color to otherwise drab surroundings. They also add color to the desert. Their flowers are a bright lemony yellow that stand out brightly in the sunshine.

As I've been blipping about my little cacti and discovering more I've been learning a little more about them.

For instance, the "flat" cactus, that has given me the beautiful pink flower in the blip here, is called a beaver tail cactus, because the pads resemble just that...a beaver tail. It is supposed to be lying flat along the ground like it does, whereas, I thought there was something wrong with it!

I'm determined to learn more about my surroundings...the desert is a fascinating place.