POLLEN AND POLLUTANTS

Ochillo Cactus in Bloom.

                                                 

The stalks, or supporting ribs, of the Ochillo Cactus are about the size of a half dollar.

                                        

The bright orange flowers are about three quarters mature.

                                       

The flower fully opened and ready for the desert insects to pollinate.

                                       

This picture was snapped with a 400 mm lens, four miles due south of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.  Greasy smoke rises from the 24/7 open pit burning of garbage over the town of Sonoyta, Mexico.  Happy to report that the wind was out of the west and not the south.  The little town of Lukeville, AZ., just over the border from the burning waste heap  gets a good dose of toxic chemicals from the burn.  So it goes.