Wiry bloom stalks from two sotol plants lean toward sunlight that streams through a break in the clouds in the Maderas del Carmen Protected Area. The mountainous park in Mexico's Coahuila State joins with Big Bend National Park on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande.

Sotol is a favorite snack of black bears, and its blooms attract swarms of flying insects including flies, bees, and butterflies. Juice from the stem is somewhat sweet and can be pressed and fermented to make the fiery liquor mescal de sotol.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "TexMex," February 1996, National Geographic magazine)