Sent in from Neal Johns, off the main road to San Borja...David K - 9-6-2004 at 11:20 PM
Andee and Sarah, near Santa Ana, southwest of San Borja.David K - 9-6-2004 at 11:28 PM
Although not arched, rumor has it this boojum fell over backwards following the kiss by David K!
Glad to hear
jrbaja - 9-9-2004 at 03:14 PM
your love life is picking up some dude:BajaCactus - 9-9-2004 at 03:24 PM
Great photos David....!!!
By the way, I have a very tall Cardon Cactus friend if you are interested....
[Edited on 9-9-2004 by BajaCactus]synch - 9-20-2004 at 08:44 AM
Is a Boojum a cactus?
Cirio Cactus (Boojum)
jrbaja - 9-20-2004 at 10:08 AM
Arched
Unarched
jrbaja - 9-20-2004 at 10:10 AM
Dr, Seussville
jrbaja - 9-20-2004 at 10:13 AM
David K - 9-20-2004 at 04:42 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by synch
Is a Boojum a cactus?
Hi Synch, we have a few plant experts on Nomad to give you the technical answer (pappy jon, steve in oro valley, jack swords incl.)... But, I would
say yes.. It is a succulent, with thorns. As you can see, they are one of the strangest 'trees' in the world!!! I have a boojum link in my miscl.
links section at VivaBaja.com with more photos.
Ciriosly speaking....
jeans - 9-20-2004 at 04:50 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by synch
Is a Boojum a cactus?
They are in the Ocotillo Family. Now the question is: Is an Ocotillo a cactus? Mexitron - 9-20-2004 at 06:12 PM
Technically speaking, cactii belong to the Cactaceae, and possibly the Euphorbiaceae families. Ocotillos and Boojums belong to their own family
called the Fouqueriaceae(and actually their own Order--Fouquieriales--making them a very disjunct and genetically isolated species), therefore not
being true cactus, but being classified as xeriphyitic ephemeral flora with the Boojum also classified as a caudiform(along with Elephant Trees)
owing to its succulent trunk. However botanists use the term "cactoid" in their descriptions of them as well....so they're cactoid but not
cactii
[Edited on 9-21-2004 by Mexitron]jrbaja - 9-20-2004 at 06:17 PM
Oh look at these beautiful Fouqueriaceae and Caudiform fields. Aren't they simply beautiful?
Don't think it's gonna fly !
Question/Question
Bob H - 9-21-2004 at 08:00 AM
How do boojum propagate? You never see baby ones, anywhere. I tried to root a small twig from one once, but it didn't make it.
Come to think of it, i've never seen a baby pigeon either, so where are all of those baby birds?#1 - 9-21-2004 at 12:48 PM
Freudian slip, or I need to clean my glasses. I read Bob H's question as How do bosooms propogate? Sometimes we only see what we want to see.DD - 9-21-2004 at 06:32 PM
Bob H.,
The source I found said propagation by seed only, but might try air rooting with one.
Thought this was interesting :
Boojum (Fouquieria columnaris)
"This member of the Fouquieriaceae family was described by Kellogg in 1885. Can only be reproduced by seeds. The name comes from: P.E. Fouquier,
Parisian medical professor.
The English vernacular name comes from Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark, a fictitious account of exploration of far-away places. The book
contains a mythical creature called the ?boojum? which inhabited distant shores. When explorer Godfrey Sykes encountered the plants growing on the
desolate Sonoran coast in 1922, he was reminded of Carroll's story and dubbed them boojums."Mexitron - 9-21-2004 at 06:34 PM
Boojums propagate by seed.....never tried cuttings but its always possible with the right treatment.
Robert Humphrey in his book"The Boojum and its Home" claims that while Boojums set seed almost every year, the conditions for seedling survival
(sufficient rain over a long period)only happens every 30 to 40 years in Baja. So we don't see the little Boojums except for a 3 to 5 year period
every 30 to 40 years. Also, the little buggers blend in so well with the landscape that we don't see them, and last but not least baby Boojums are
usually growing under another plant for protection from the elements(the protecting angel is thereby known as a "nurse plant"). Many other
plants/cactus use this technique for an added survival aid.
1997-8 were good Boojum growing years--I've seen a few that look like they got their start then. Keep hunting BobH!!
My contribution...
Ken Bondy - 9-21-2004 at 08:04 PM
I know a gal up here in my little town
Debra - 9-21-2004 at 08:13 PM
that insists that the "cirros" AKA "boojums" are the state flower of AZ. she knows this because she went to school there.
Boojum Cutting Report 1984-2003
David K - 9-21-2004 at 08:29 PM
My 'baby boojum' was a cutting that rooted! A local cactus expert said that was rare!
A) Found a boojum (in 1984) that at near 6 feet abover ground had the rest broken off (wind?), diameter was about 10" at the point of the break. Four
'new' limbs grew from that break-off wound and they were each about 12" tall.
B) Two of the four limbs were 'liberated' using a folding army shovel, like an axe.
C) Both were obviously soil free (6 ' anove the dirt), so no nemetodes, or other insects present. Very clean pieces of 'wood'.
D) Cuttings placed in 8" pots filled with potting pummice to insure good drainage. Rooting hormone was liberally applied to the cut wound, which had
lighly callused.
E) Irrigation was frequent, because the pummice retains almost no water (so as to not rot the unrooted cuttings).
F) After a year, one had rooted and survived... Every year, it became covered with leaves, then dropped them. Eventually it grew twigs with thorns and
leaves... just like a mature boojum does. They dropped off each season. Finally, it would produce flowers on soft twigs out of the top!
When I moved to Fresno for 2.5 years, it was with me and did fine outside (hot in summer and cold in winter, just like it's home in Baja). When we
moved out of Fresno, back to Vista... I forgot to pack it! A phone call to a neighbor was made to rescue it, and it aventually made it back to daddy!
I brought it to my first Viva Baja parties for show and tell... so some of you have seen it.
After 16 years, it had grown 4 inches!!!!
I had moved it into a larger pot and changed the soil as well as fertilizer. Then while it was happy on a shelf outside the kitchen window, it was
knocked down... and the 16 years of growth was snapped off!!! (No I didn't kill my kids).
Actually, I half hopped that (like it's mother) it would grow four baby sized limbs from the cut!
Last year, 19 years in my care, it shriveled up... I discoverd termites had entered the potting soil and ate the inside of my beloved boojum!
I have returned to visit the mother boojum, and the two sibblings still attached have grown about 18-24"... I think I recall, last year.
So, there is my baby boojum cutting story. Perhaps it is of horticultural interest?
[Edited on 9-22-2004 by David K]
Geez David
jrbaja - 9-21-2004 at 08:53 PM
I was just kidding in post #4 of this thread. Now, I am really starting to wonder. Seriously Dude, what's upwiddatDavid K - 9-21-2004 at 08:58 PM
Well JR, I guess it was about time I finall 'came out' and shared my little secret with my Baja family!
I love boojums... but I know I am not alone!!!
OK fellow boojum lovers, time to come out!
Yah JR......
Debra - 9-21-2004 at 09:07 PM
I wanted to comment on the same thing.....would someone please explaine that "quote" thing to me? Thanks from all of us computer "dummies" that are
afraid to speak up!
That's OK David
jrbaja - 9-21-2004 at 09:13 PM
better than a life of Solitaire and complaining about everyone you come in contact with!
[Edited on 9/22/2004 by jrbaja]jeans - 9-21-2004 at 10:01 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by Bob H
How do boojum propagate? You never see baby ones, anywhere.
I found one about the size of a pineapple. It was rooted (extremely securely, I might add) in a rocky outcropping at Montevido. I should have taken
a picture of it. Before that I had also commented that I had never seen a baby boojum.
Elephant trees...anyone see a baby elephant tree? I got to thinking about that a few years ago at Gonzaga.jeans - 9-21-2004 at 10:02 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by jrbaja
better than a life of Solitaire and complaining about everyone you come in contact with!
[Edited on 9/22/2004 by jrbaja]
You just described my step-dad Neal Johns - 9-21-2004 at 10:22 PM
Baby Boojums:
It's a little known fact that baby Boojums only exist near the road south from El Marmol toward Catavina. They, of course, are easy to find there.
After they become teenagers, they grow little feet and roam Baja until they find the perfect spot to homestead and then spend the rest of their long
life there.
Trust Me
Also, I'm pretty sure DK is some sort of a BP (Boojum Prevert (sic)
(sic Boojum Prevert?)
I, on the other hand, am completely normal.Mexitron - 9-22-2004 at 07:12 AM
Great story DK! Wonder then if the little deciduous side branches would root? Next chance I get......hmmm, maybe this next week in the sisters I'll
try the air layering method and come back to check on it next trip.....
Neal--your story of mobile boojums reminds me of a story we told my cousin's wife on her first trip to Baja(she had just moved out here from
Chicago--never been camping even). She was a little worried about wild animals coming into our camp by the beach. We told her the only thing she had
to worry about were the mussels, which crept up the sand at night and sometimes would crawl into your sleeping bag and clamp onto your skin......poor
thing, she believed us!
I've had to
jrbaja - 9-22-2004 at 07:16 AM
chase those pesky mussels out of camp on many occasions. That's why I now spend most of my time in the hills.
Up there, you only have to watch out for those Boojum stalkers like Neal and DK !
Definitely some of the best photos I have seen regarding Baja and elsewhere. I think yall will enjoy it.
Not only that, it happens to be put together by Herb. And he is good with that camera!Taco de Baja - 9-23-2004 at 12:36 PM
Baby boojums and baby elephant trees look almost identicle.
Many many years ago my dad tried to smuggle a boojum across the border to plant in Borrego Springs. Unfortunately, when it grew up it turned out to
be an elephant tree instead.
Arched boojum
Taco de Baja - 11-29-2004 at 03:33 PM
Not Baja, but still a Boojum.
Anyone want to guess where this picture was taken? Mexitron - 11-29-2004 at 04:03 PM
San Diego Wild Animal Park? UCI Botanic Garden?jeans - 11-29-2004 at 04:25 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by Taco de Baja
Not Baja, but still a Boojum.
Anyone want to guess where this picture was taken?
The Living Desert? bajalou - 11-29-2004 at 06:44 PM
Desert park outside Tucson?
Mexitron - 11-29-2004 at 07:34 PM
Here's a baby Boojum for those who wished to see what they look like when they're young(its the plant in the green square plastic pot).Mexitron - 11-29-2004 at 07:46 PM
And another arched Boojum......from the area near R. Los MartiresTaco de Baja - 12-6-2004 at 09:27 AM
Mexitron is the winner.
He guessed the San Diego Wild Animal Park as the place where the mini arched Boojum photo was taken.
If anyone is in the San Diego area and want a taste of Baja, without actually going, they have a nice baja botanical exibit.
David, Bedman?
Debra - 12-6-2004 at 02:29 PM
Did either of you take a photo of that weird one on the road to San Borja? It is a perfect rectangle, like a large door, right next to the
road....I'll have to take a pic. of it next time, they sure do take on weird shapes, I've always wondered why, anybody have a theory?
I think it has to do with DK's rep
jrbaja - 12-6-2004 at 03:05 PM
as a cactus kisser! Thay are all swooning!Mexitron - 12-6-2004 at 03:10 PM
Same theory that makes humans look like humans and ferns look like ferns.....David K - 12-6-2004 at 05:55 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by Debra
Did either of you take a photo of that weird one on the road to San Borja? It is a perfect rectangle, like a large door, right next to the
road....I'll have to take a pic. of it next time, they sure do take on weird shapes, I've always wondered why, anybody have a theory?
They are some weird plants!bajaandy - 12-22-2004 at 10:17 PM
Here's one I saw on my most recent tripbajaandy - 12-22-2004 at 10:20 PM
And here is a killer cardon!Taco de Baja - 12-23-2004 at 02:05 PM
Is that "killer cardon" in the area between Catavina and San Jose? It looks familliar.....bajaandy - 12-23-2004 at 03:00 PM
Taco de Baja,
You are correct.
And where did you get that photo of the burro in the air? That's classic!Taco de Baja - 12-24-2004 at 09:57 AM
I've got a pic of thet same cactus and me somewhere in my Baja picture collection.
Sometimes we only see what we want to see.
