Many wet vegetables cause health problems in large quantities but red leaf lettuce, prickly pear cactus pads, hibiscus leaves, hay from various grasses, and dandelions are generally safe.
Everything wasand remains todayin play, from the saguaro, ocotillo, prickly pear and myriad other varieties of cactus to the javelinas, coyotes, roadrunners and rattlesnakes that call the desert home.
The surrounding countryside is dominated by fields of prickly pear cactus (known locally as "tunera"), on which cochineal beetles are reared, and a few small extinct volcano cones.
