Carlsbad canyons
No, the title isn’t a typo or thinko: I meant Carlsbad canyons. While almost everyone goes to Carlsbad Caverns National Park to see the caverns, the road in from the highway passes through some scenic canyons whose grand scale makes them worth stopping for in their own right, as we found out on June 14th. It’s a harsh land of little rain, where many plants have a hard time making a go of it.
One plant that thrives there is Dasylirion wheeleri, known even in English by the name that the Spaniards took from the Aztecs: sotol. Below you see a sotol flower stalk (which people joke is so tall).
© 2017 Steven Schwartzman
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A very useful plant to have in arid conditions. Have you tried sotol?
Gallivanta
August 22, 2017 at 5:54 AM
No, I haven’t. At
http://pfaf.org/User/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Dasylirion+wheeleri
I found this information about edibility: “The central part of the plant can be cooked and eaten. The crown of the plant was baked by the native North American Indians then dried, pounded into a powder and made into cakes. They would also peel the baked crown, crush it, mix it with water then ferment it and use it as a beverage. The flowering stems can be roasted, boiled or eaten raw. The trunk is rich in sugar, the pith can be used to make the alcoholic beverage ‘sotol’.”
Steve Schwartzman
August 22, 2017 at 7:35 AM
It’s as versatile as our cabbage tree. http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food-wine/5754686/cabbage-tree-could-hold-key-to-unique-kiwi-tipple
Gallivanta
August 22, 2017 at 7:47 PM
Indeed it is. Both plants are in the same botanical family, Asparagaceae. I see from your link that it was missionaries who created alcoholic products from the cabbage tree. Perhaps they were in search of an intoxication for the divine.
Steve Schwartzman
August 22, 2017 at 10:02 PM
I must say I was surprised by the missionaries’ interest in brewing.
Gallivanta
August 22, 2017 at 10:09 PM
It seems the missionaries were engaged in more than one mission.
Steve Schwartzman
August 22, 2017 at 10:19 PM
I’d rather look at canyons than caverns any day, and admire a tough survivor like sotol.
melissabluefineart
August 22, 2017 at 8:39 AM
I didn’t remember the canyons from our visit in the 1990s. This time they impressed me. As for the caverns, let’s wait and see if the next two posts give you some things to like underground.
Steve Schwartzman
August 22, 2017 at 8:52 AM
It’s fun seeing a closeup of the sotol. From some of your other photos, like this one, I wouldn’t have imagined such complexity.
I made a detour once to visit Carlsbad to see the bats, but I don’t remember the canyons at all. That first photo’s interesting. I can see the entire image as one vertical cliff, or as a plain stretching out, with the cliff in the distance. But my favorite detail is the thread-like tree. Its delicacy is a nice contrast with the stolid cliff.
shoreacres
August 24, 2017 at 6:49 AM
I’m glad you mentioned seeing a plain stretching out with a cliff in the distance. Knowing the reality, I wouldn’t have have interpreted this photograph that way, but now I see the potential for that optical illusion.
It’s not unusual to find sotol planted in Austin, well outside its natural range. Local specimens have provided an opportunity over the years for even closer views of the flowers than what you see here. Maybe someday I’ll show one of those closeups.
Steve Schwartzman
August 24, 2017 at 7:04 AM