Among the first changes Madame Walska made after purchasing Lotusland in 1941 was to add cacti, succulent, and euphorbia plantings to beds in front of her new residence. These plantings reflect both her design style and her fascination with desert plants. Today, masses of golden barrel cactus (Echinocactus grusonii) and large weeping Euphorbia ingens flank the entrance to the house, and a collection of cacti and euphorbias continue along the length of the Main Drive. One side of the drive is planted with cacti, which are new world plants, and the other is planted in euphorbias from the old world. This provides a striking example of convergent evolution in which completely unrelated groups of organisms growing under similar climatic conditions have separately evolved very similar adaptations. Back to the Map