Table 3.
List of CAM species in the Sonoran Desert (SD) used for food, beverage and medicine. Species with wider distributions in the Mohave Desert (MD) and/or Chihuahuan Desert (CD) are indicated. The wild (w), cultivated (c), pre-contact cultivated (pc) and/or pre-contact domesticate (pd) nature of the plant is indicated (for references see Hodgson, 2001a; Gentry, 1982; Nabhan et al., 2020). An asterisk (*) indicates a pre-contact domesticate outside the boundaries of the Sonoran Desert. Indigenous Peoples used additional CAM species in areas adjacent to the Sonoran Desert (e.g. Agave mckelveyana).
| Taxon | SD | MD | CD | w | c | pc | pd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asparagaceae | |||||||
| Agave aktites | X | X | X | ||||
| Agave americana | X | X | X | X | X? | X? | |
| Agave angustifolia | X | X | X | X? | |||
| Agave cerulata | X | X | |||||
| Agave chrysantha | X | X | |||||
| Agave colorata | X | X | |||||
| Agave datylio | X | X | |||||
| Agave delamateri | X | X | |||||
| Agave deserti | X | X | X | ||||
| Agave fortiflora | X | X | X? | X? | X? | ||
| Agave gigantensis | X | X | |||||
| Agave jaiboli | X | X | |||||
| Agave margaritae | X | X? | |||||
| Agave moranii | X | X | |||||
| Agave murpheyi | X | X | |||||
| Agave palmeri | X | X | X | ||||
| Agave parryi | X | X | X | X | X | ||
| Agave parviflora | X | X | |||||
| Agave pelona | X | X | |||||
| Agave phillipsiana | X | X | |||||
| Agave sanpedroensis | X | X | |||||
| Agave sebastiana | X | X? | |||||
| Agave shawii | X | X | |||||
| Agave shrevei | X | X | |||||
| Agave simplex | X | X | |||||
| Agave sobria | X | X | |||||
| Agave subsimplex | X | X | |||||
| Agave turneri | X | X? | |||||
| Agave utahensis | X | X | X | ||||
| Agave verdensis* | X | ||||||
| Agave vizcainoensis | X | X? | |||||
| Agave yavapaiensis* | X | ||||||
| Agave zebra | X | X | |||||
| Hechtia montana | X | X | |||||
| Yucca baccata | X | X | X | X | X? | ||
| Yucca grandiflora | X | X | |||||
| Yucca schidigera | X | X | X | X | |||
| Yucca schottii | X | X | |||||
| Yucca valida | X | X | |||||
| Cactaceae | |||||||
| Carnegiea gigantea | X | X | |||||
| Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa | X | X | X | X? | |||
| Cylindropuntia alcahes | X | X | |||||
| Cylindropuntia arbuscula | X | X | |||||
| Cylindropuntia bigelovii | X | X | X | ||||
| Cylindropuntia echinocarpa | X | X | X | ||||
| Cylindropuntia fulgida | X | X | X? | ||||
| Cylindropuntia imbricata var. spinosior | X | X | X | ||||
| Cylindropuntia xkelvinensis | X | X | |||||
| Cylindropuntia leptocaulis | X | X | X | X | |||
| Cylindropuntia thurberi var. versicolor | X | X | X | X? | |||
| Echinocereus engelmannii | X | X | X | X | |||
| Echinocereus fasciculatus | X | X | X | ||||
| Echinocereus fendleri | X | X | X | ||||
| Echinocereus grandis | X | ||||||
| Echinocereus nicholii | X | ||||||
| Echinocereus scopulorum | X | ||||||
| Escobaria vivipara | X | X | X | X | |||
| Ferocactus cylindraceus | X | X | X | ||||
| Ferocactus emoryi | X | X | |||||
| Ferocactus herrarae | X | X | |||||
| Ferocactus tiburoensis | X | X | |||||
| Ferocactus viridescens | X | X | |||||
| Ferocactus wislizeni | X | X | X | ||||
| Mammillaria estebanensis | X | X | |||||
| Mammillaria grahamii | X | X | X | X | |||
| Mammillaria tetrancistra | X | X | X | ||||
| Mammillaria thornberi | X | X | X | ||||
| Opuntia chlorotica | X | X | X | ||||
| Opuntia engelmannii | X | X | X | X | X? | X? | |
| Opuntia ficus-indica | X | X | X | ||||
| Opuntia gosseliniana | X | X | |||||
| Opuntia macrocentra | X | X | X | ||||
| Opuntia phaeacantha | X | X | X | X | |||
| Pachycereus pecten-aboriginum | X | X | |||||
| Pachycereus pringlei | X | X | |||||
| Pachycereus schottii | X | X | |||||
| Peniocereus greggii | X | X | X | X | |||
| Peniocereus striatus | X | X | |||||
| Stenocereus gummosus | X | X | X? | ||||
| Stenocereus thurberi | X | X | |||||
| Portulacaceae | |||||||
| Portulaca oleracea | X | X | X | X | X? |