#Sonoratober day 12! The night-blooming cereus seems to be an unassuming skinny stick of a cactus, but one night each year it blooms with magnificent, sweet-smelling blossoms that earn this plant its other name, the queen of the night! #Drawtober

#Sonoratober day 11! Unlike most barrel cacti which grow as singles, the many-headed barrel cactus naturally grows in clusters! #Drawtober

#Sonoratober day 10! The senita is also known as the old man cactus, because the spines on the top of its shoots are a fluffy mass of gray or white, making this cactus look like a gathering of venerable elders! #Drawtober

#Sonoratober day 9! The chuparosa, also known as the hummingbird bush! This shrub is covered in trumpet-shaped red flowers that hummingbirds love! #Drawtober

#Sonoratober day 8! The cane cholla, a rather large cactus with an interesting, knobbly kind of texture to its stems, and yellow fruits which stay on the plant a relatively long time before falling off. #Drawtober

#Sonoratober day 7! The blue palo verde, the state tree of Arizona! The plant's name refers to the distinctive bright green color of its bark. #Drawtober

#Sonoratober day 6! The fishhook barrel cactus! I showed all these drawings to my dad and he informed me that the fishhook barrel is his favorite cactus, which I think is a good pick. They're very stately. #Drawtober

#Sonoratober day 5! You'll know the zebra agave by the distinctive stripes patterning its leaves! #Drawtober

#Sonoratober day 4! Spinystar! This cactus has a particularly pretty arrangement of spines, and also grows beautiful pink blossoms. #Drawtober

#Sonoratober day 3! Violet prickly pear! This cactus derives its name from the beautiful purple color of its pads. #Drawtober

#Sonoratober day 2! Jumping cholla! This cactus gets its name from the easy way its stems come away from the body of the plant. The slightest touch from a passing animal and bits of cactus seem to jump on for a ride, hanging on by the spines until eventually becoming dislodged elsewhere. #Drawtober

October is here! Time for daily ink drawings! This year I'm paying tribute to the various plants that grow in the Sonoran desert! Naturally for #Sonoratober day 1, I've drawn the iconic symbol of this special region of the world, the saguaro cactus! These majestic plants live for hundreds of years!