Color and Form; Edible and Not

Cactus Island finally has the famous “life saver” plant everyone is talking about in the world of succulents. It was an extra gift with Ma’s purchase of an outdoor rocker on Marketplace a few weeks back. Huernia zebrina is a Stapeliad succulent from South Africa – not a cactus. Similar to our starfish Stapelia, the flower is comparatively tiny at one inch and truly does look like a wet lifesaver hard candy. It also smells like carrion and is poisonous if ingested. I’d hate to have small children around these things as the temptation would be too great, and I can still remember the horror at age four of burning eyes after handling the bright and colorful hot peppers dangling like Christmas ornaments, then rubbing my hands in my eyes.

There is much else here that actually is edible, and while I’ve been consumed by Cactaceae to the point it’s scaring people, my mom has held up the garden end mostly without me this year. Figs recovered nicely from winter freezes and the yield has surprised us. You can tell she also likes science and dinosaurs – she’s invented the “stegasalad” and “stegasnack”. Our friend and neighbor down the road, famous ginger botanist Tom Wood, gave us some edible mushrooms from his homestead to try. Chanterelles and blue milk cap were tasty sauteed in butter. Also edible, and slightly sweeter than the red H. fragrans, the aboriginal prickly apple cacti finally have ripe yellow fruit.