CACTEZ. VI. Opuntia. 
Perhaps Cactus himilis, Lag. nov. spec. is different from this. 
The plant often occurs in the gardens under the name of O. Tiina. 
Horrid \ndian-fig. Fl. July. Clt.1795. Shrub 1 to 3 feet. 
22 O. Diren (Haw. suppl. p.79.) plant erect; joints 
roundish-obovate, undulated, glaucous; prickles strong, divari- 
cated, yellow, but the brush-like bristles by which they are sur- 
rounded are much shorter. h. D. S. Native of South America. 
—Dill. elth. f. 382. Cactus Dillénii, Ker, bot. reg. 255. Flowers 
large, pale yellow. Ovarium shorter than the corolla, furnished 
at the summit by fascicles of bristles. 
Dillenius’s Indian-fig. Fl. Oct. Clt. 1810. Sh. 3 to 5 feet. 
23 O. Tu'na (Mill. dict. no. 3. Haw. 1. c.) plant erect ; joints 
broadly ovate-oblong ; prickles subulate, long, yellow ; wool at 
the base of the spines short. h.D.S. Native of South Ame- 
rica, at Cuenca in Quito. Cactus Bonplandii, H. B. et Kunth, 
nov. gen. amer. 6. p. 69.—Dill. elth. 386. t. 295. f. 386. 
Flowers of an orange-colour, or iron grey-colour, or dirty red. 
Stigmas 8-10-cleft. This kind of Indian-fig makes strong 
fences. When the Island of St. Christopher was to be divided 
between the English and the French, three rows of the Tuna 
were planted by common consent between the boundaries. 
Sloane. Sir James Smith, in his paper upon the irritability of 
vegetables, informs us that the long and slender stamens of the 
flower are very irritable; and that if a quill or feather is thrust 
through them, in the space of 2 or 3 seconds they begin to lie 
down gently on one side, and ina short time become recumbent 
at the bottom of the flower. According to Humboldt and Bon- 
pland the fine kind of cochineal is nourished by this plant. 
Tuna Indian-fig. Fl. July, Aug. Clt. 1731. Sh. 8 to 6 ft. 
24 O. porya’ntHa (Haw. syn. p. 190.) plant erect; joints 
oblong and ovate; prickles very different in form, yellow, larger 
ones setaceous, erectly spreading ; flowers numerous at the tops 
of the branches. h.D.S. Native of South America. Các- 
tus Opintia polyantha, D. C. pl. grass. no. 138. with a figure. 
Cactus polyanthos, Sims, bot. mag t. 2691. Flowers yellow. 
Style full, not fistular as in the other species. Stigmas 6. 
Many-flonered Indian-fig. Fl. July, Aug. Clt. 1811. Shrub 
2 to 3 feet. 
25 O. monaca’nrua (Willd. enum. suppl. under Céctus, Salm- 
Dyck in litt. ex D.C. prod. 3. p. 723.) joints obovate-oblong ; 
prickles solitary, subulate, strong. h.D.S. Native of South 
America. Cactus Opantia Tina, D.C. pl. grass. no. 187. t. 2. 
Joints a foot long. Flowers yellow, verging to purple beneath. 
One-spined Indian-fig. Clt. 1816. Shrub 6 to 8 feet. 
26 O. Exa‘tior (Mill. dict. no. 4. Haw. syn. 187.) plant 
erect ; joints broadly ovate-oblong ; prickles subulate, very long, 
blackish, witli the wool from which they rise nearly obsolete. 
h. D. S. Native of South America. Cactus Tina 6, Willd, 
spec. 2. p. 944.—Dill. elth. t. 294. f. 379. Flowers yellow, 
ys to purple. Stigma 5-cleft. Adult stem nearly terete 
ex Jacq. i 
Taller Indian-fig. Fl. July, Aug. Clt. 1751. Shrub 6 feet. 
27 O. nycricans (Haw. syn. 189.) plant erect; joints ob- 
long and lanceolate; prickles very different in form, ofa black- 
ish brown-colour, larger ones divaricate. h. D. S. Native of 
South America. Cactus nigricans, Haw. 137. Cactus Tina y, 
nigricans, Sims, bot. mag. 1557. Cactus psetdo-coccinillifer, 
Bert. exe. p. 11. virid. 1824. p- 4. exclusive of the synonymes. 
Flowers reddish on the outside, and yellow inside. Stigmas 5, 
ick, greenish. 
Blackish Indian-fig. Fl. Aug. Clt.1795. Sh. 2 to 3 feet. 
28 O. ma’xima (Mill. dict. ed. 8. no. 5.) plant erect ; Joints 
ovate-oblong, very thick; spines unequal. h. D. S. Native 
of South America. Perhaps the same as O. Amyclea. 
Greatest Indian-fig. Shrub 6 to 8 feet. Re: 
29 O. TRIACA'NTHA (Willd. enum. suppl. under Cáctus,) joints 
173 
ovate-oblong; prickles whitish, usually 3 together, strong, 
longer than the wool from which they issue. h.D.S. Native 
of South America. Very nearly allied to O. polyantha ex Salm- 
Dyck in litt. but the joints are a little larger, and the prickles 
are white. . Flowers unknown. 
Three-spined Indian-fig. Shrub 2 to 3 feet. 
Secr. IV. Parvisrinésx (from parvus, small, and spinosus, 
full of spines ; in reference to the spines being small, equal, and 
numerous). D. C. prod. 3. p. 473. Prickles uniform, hair- 
shaped, short or nearly wanting. 
30 O. pecuma‘na (Haw. rev. 71.) joints ovate-oblong ; 
prickles deciduous, length of the wool from which they issue. 
h. D. S. Native of South America. Cáctus decumànus, Willd. 
enum. suppl. 34. O. maxima, Mill. dict. ed. 2. no. 5. Cactus 
elongátus, Willd. enum. suppl. 34. There are varieties of this 
plant with either ovate or lanceolate-oblong joints, almost un- 
armed or furnished with some short white prickles. Flowers 
yellow. The cochineal bug thrives almost as well on this species 
as on the next. 
Huge \ndian-fig. Clt. 1768. Shrub 5 to 10 feet. 
31 O. cocurinitu’FerRA (Mill. dict. ed. 8. no. 6. Haw. syn. 
192.) plant erect; joints obovate, nearly unarmed; petals 
connivent ; stamens and style exserted. h.D.S. Native of 
South America. Cactus cochinillifera, Lin. spec. 670. Hook. in 
bot. mag. 2741. and 2742.—Dill. elth. t. 297. f. 383. Joints 
while young oblong, areolate, at length obovate-oblong. Flowers 
blood-coloured ex Dill. elth., small, spreading a little. Spines 
slender, blackish. The ripe fruit is said to check fluxes by its 
mild restringency. Flowers red. Perhaps Nopal de Castille 
Thierr-Menonville, voy. Guax. 2. p. 278. is the same as this 
plant. 
Of the particular species of Opúntia which nourishes the co- 
chineal insect much doubt has existed. There is some reason to 
believe that the Opúntia cochinillifera, Haw. Cactus, Lin. is not 
the plant which produces the best Mexican cochineal. Tilloa, 
on the authority of well informed travellers, states that the cochi- 
neal Cactus has no spines, and a fruit imbued with deep red 
pulp. Clavigero, however, says, “In Misteca, where I was for 
five years, I always saw the insect upon prickly Nopals. M. de 
Raynal imagines that the colour of the cochineal is to be ascribed 
to the red fig on which it lives; but that author has been mis- 
informed, for neither does the cochineal feed upon the fruit, but 
only upon the green part of the plant; nor does that species of 
Nopal bear red, but white figs. Clavigero adds, “ it may be 
reared upon the species with red fruit, but that is not the proper 
plant of the cochineal.” M. Thierry de Menonville, who pro- 
cured the cochineal insect, and the Opuntia on which it feeds 
from Guaxaca in Mexico, and transported them to St. Domingo, 
and who unquestionably had the best means of determining the 
kinds of Cacti cultivated for the insect, describes particularly 3 
sorts on which it may be reared, and cultivated to advantage. 
The first is the Cactier Nopal, upon which alone the cochineal 
is reared in Mexico, both the fine and the common sorts, 
although there are throughout the country many other kinds of 
Opintia. The two following, therefore, itis presumed are em- 
ployed in St. Domingo. 2. The Cactier splendide, which may 
be used to equal advantage with the former; and 3. The Cactier 
de Campeche. Of these the first, as far as can be determined by 
description, is the Cactus Tina of Lin. which is the Opúntia 
Tina of Mill. The second appears to be very similar to 
the former, but larger in its joints, and very glaucous. The 
third is without doubt the Cáctus cochinillifera, Lin. and which 
he says of it from his own experience, that it may be usefully 
employed for rearing the Cochinille sylvestre, and may even sup- 
port a small quantity of the fine kind. Humboldt also, although 
