Growing up in the desert that is Southern California, I suppose it is only natural that I have been fascinated with succulents most of my life. I even remember doing an experiment in my basic biology class in which I measured the rate of transpiration of a cactus. The trick there was not to allow the thorns to punch a hole in the plastic covering. To be quite honest, I prefer photographing succulents to measuring their mass over time. The specimen shown here seems to be doing quite well as evidenced by the new growth. This morning, I confess that I was simply too lazy to dig out a tripod. Over the years, I have assembled quite a collection of them, but they are buried in a storage area under my collection of camera bags.
