Pachycereus pringlei

   

Pachycereus pringlei ( cardon ) ( cardón )

Cactaceae

• Cardon is the largest cactus in the Sonoran Desert, and one of the most striking features of the landscape in the Gulf of California region. It is common throughout most of Baja California, the Sonoran coast from Guaymas northward to Puerto Lobos and on most of the islands in the Gulf, including Tiburon and San Esteban. The geographic distribution of cardon in Sonora closely approximates the original area of occupation of the various Seri groups. The large white flowers usually appear in April and early May, and the fruit ripens in early summer. Fully ripe fruit often splits open to reveal the fleshy pulp and seeds. Spine length and color of the fruit pulp is variable, although an individual plant bears fruit of only one color and general spine length. Four types of fruit were classified according to color of the pulp: 
1. red or red-purple, red the most common color
2. white
3. light yellow-orange
4. pinkish-white

    Three kinds of cardon were recognized and distinguished by the characteristics of their frui:    

1. Small fruit without spines, rather biter, edible but seldom eaten, always red.
2. fruit very spiny, normal sized and good eating, all colors.
3. fruit not spiny, normal sized and good eating, all colors.

    Toward the end of the "cool" season, probably in April, cardon buds sometimes drop off. The falling of the buds was said to be caused by dark patches caused by winds, which came in over the land and cause the buds to fall. Among the columnar cacti this occurs only with cardon. It also happens to the fruit of Ficus petiolaris. Not all the buds and fruit fall, nor does it happen every year. The buds or fruit of any tree, including cactus. Food: the fruit was gathered with the same kind of pole used for harvesting sahuaro fruit. Each cardon stem may bear numerous ripe fruits, so a woman usually placed her basket on the ground while collecting. She then sat in front of the pile of fruit, opened each one with a worn bone awl or knife, squeezed the pulp into the basket and threw away the skin. Thus she returned to camp with a basketful of pulp; sometimes women brought back the entire fruit. Certain individual plants consistently produced large fruit year after year, and were specifically sought at harvest time. The fruit was eaten fresh or preserved. Pulp from ripe fruit was mixed with some pulp of unripe fruit. The mixture was then mashed and kneaded and the juice poured off into a pottery olla. The mashed fruit formed a sticky mixture that was patted into flat, round cakes and dried. When the Seri were camped by a dry lake, the sticky mixture was poured directly onto the hardpan surface and left overnight to dry. It was then lifted or scraped up, broken into chunks, and stored in an olla. It would not spoil as long as it remained completely dry. To prepare it for eating, water was added and the fruit was cooked and mashed. The fresh ripe fruit cooked and mashed, was made into fist-sized balls, which also could be dried and stored. Mothers mashed the seedless pulp, added salt, and fed it to their children. Toasted cardon seeds were ground on a metate. Since the seeds are oily, no additional fat or oil was needed to make a tasty dish, although it was often salted. 'Eelgrass-with-mix-' was a mixture of the seeds of cardon and Zolstera spp. The toasted seeds were grounded and water added to make a drink. The children were said to get fat on it. Only the seeds of cardon were utilized for second harvest. After eating quantities of the fruit, the people defecated on flat rocky places, permitting the matter to dry in the hot summer sun. When it was completely dessicated, they returned, gleaned the seeds, and thoroughly cleaned and cooked them. The seeds were then prepared for food or stored in pottery vessels. Second harvest was also practiced by Indians in part of Baja California. Hunting: during the intense heat of the summer a hunter often went from one cardon to another checking for mule deer lying in the shade. This strategy was most often employed on Tiburon Island. Of course, the hunter always hunted into the wind. Sometimes a specific cardon was identified with a particular hunter. After a successful hunt, a man sometimes drove sticks into the stem of a cardon and hung meat on them in order to keep it away from animals. Medicine: slabs of cardon with the spines removed were heated in ashes, then wrapped in cloth and placed on aching parts of the body. Oral Tradition: "the Sea Horse's Entrance into the Ocean" tells that the sea horse and several common cacti were once people and related how the cardon got its ribs. The Supernatural: on the occurrence of a miscarriage or the birth of a stillborn infant, the remains were wrapped in pieces of cloth, usually placed in a box, and then put on a platform of brush in the limbs of a cardon. If the body was buried in the ground, the mother would be burying all her future children with it. This type of burial has apparently not been practiced since about the 1960s. The placenta of a newborn was buried at the base of a cardon or sahuaro. Five small plants of any species were buried with it. Ashes were put on top of the place of burial to keep coyotes from locating it. The cactus served to mark the spot. In later years one might visit the site of his placenta burial to put green branches of any plant on it for good luck. Most of the people did not know when they were born, but each knew the general area where his placenta was buried. Luck could be sought from the spirit of the cardon. The supplicant marked four crosses on the bark an asked for the help desired. In addition, good luck was solicited by wedging seashells, usually clams or sometimes twigs or other objects into the stem. This custom was practiced so that the spirit of the cactus would influence other people to give the supplicant material gifts. The clams usually remained in the cactus for a number of years, perhaps decades. Similar practices were followed with other columnar cacti - also with ironwood and rock crevices. To bring clouds or rain, holes were cut in the root and filled with water. This practice was performed when the supplicant wanted cloudy or rainy weather to alleviate the great heat during summer. Each year brought a renewal of nature, and the first evidence of fruiting portended good fortune. For this reason, cardon buds were used as good luck charms Tanning: because of their high oil content the mashed seeds were often used to soften deer skin. Tattoo: juice of cardon fruit mixed with charcoal was used in tattooing. Other uses: the dry ribs were used for house walls as cactus fruit-gathering poles. The elderly and blind used the ribs for canes. A child often led a blind person around camp with a cactus rib, each holding one end of the cactus rib. The foot drum dancer steadied himself with a pole often made from a cardon rib. "People of the Desert and Sea, Ethnobotany of the Seri Indians".