Exhibit Item 80
Ferocactus wislizeni
Compass barrel, Biznaga de agua
Artist: © Wendy C. Hodgson
Pen and Ink
Food Plants of the Sonoran Desert, 2001
The name “Compass barrel" comes from the plant's tendency to lean toward the Southern Hemisphere. In some movies,the plant was depicted as an easy source of a watery substance in the desert. But the juice is not easy to extract, and the presence of bitter oxalic acid may cause some people to become nauseated.
