Description

On the Ball
Spinystar Cactus, Hardscrabble Mesa, AZ
22×28 oil on canvas
Bloomed 6/4/23 2:00pm

$4400

I was feeling restless on warm Arizona June day, so I got in the Jeep and drove to the mountains. I ended up on a four-wheel drive road outside of Payson, where I had once seen wild bluebells. I was hoping to find more of what delighted me in years past.

I saw no bluebells, so I parked and began to wander. There are interesting plants to find at this elevation (about 4600 feet), so remained hopeful. I kept my eyes to the ground and said a little prayer. On this day, I just needed something special.

Just then, a pop of pink appeared at my feet; I’m glad I did not step on it. Glowing under the pines was the wonderfully bright and endangered bloom of the Arizona spinystar. The U.S. Forest service says of this cactus: “Imagine a group of whitish tennis balls with spines.” Awarded endangered status in 1996 in Minnesota, this variety has suffered at the hands of those who harvest it for their own gardens and propagation, leaving the wild less wild.

The spinystar was probably one of the many plants surveyed by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on the Corps of Discovery Expedition from 1804-1806. Can you imagine seeing so many things for the first time? What a journey; what history.

On this day, I was so happy to see this little guy in the wild western landscape; thriving, colorful, unique. I’ll go looking for it again in the years to come. With any luck, there will be more, not less.

In Memory of Donald Walker 3/18/1929 – 6/4/2019