137 
+ + Spines mostly solitary : joints more slender and obscurely tuberculate. 
18. O. Kleiniz DC. Shrubby, erect, 6 to 12 dm. high, with dense wood: joints 
cylindrical, slender (8 mm. in diameter), with depressed tubercles 14 to 18 mm. long: 
spines mostly solitary, perpendicular to the plant or somewhat deflexed, 16 to 20 mm. 
long: flowers cinnabar-red, 2.5 to 3 cm. in diameter, (O. Wrightii Eng.)—On steep 
mountain sides, from the Limpia to the Pecos. 
19. O. leptocaulis DC. Shrubby, erect, 9 to 15 dm. high, with dense wood and 
rather erect branches: joints terete, very slender (only 4 to 6 mm. in diameter), with 
indistinct tubercles 6 to 10 mm. long: spines mostly solitary, loosely sheathed, 2.5 to 
5 em, long: flowers small, 14 to 18 mm. in diameter, greenish-yellow: fruit obovate, 
scarlet, fleshy, 10 to 18 mm, long. (O. frutescens Eng.)—From the Colorado westward. 
Var. BREVISPINA Watson has more slender, shorter, and closely sheathed spines, 
8to 12mm. long. “The slenderest of all Opuntia, with long branches scarcely larger 
than a goose-quill, small yellow flowers, and a small pulpy scarlet fruit” ( Engel- 
mann), 
FICOIDEZ. 
A miscellaneous group, chiefly of fleshy or succulent plants, with 
mostly opposite leaves and no stipules.—Our genera are apetalous and 
with the calyx free from the ovary. 
1, Sesuvium. Succulent: calyx-lobes 5, colored within: stamens 5 to 60: pod 
circumscissile, 3 to 5-celled, many-seeded. 
2. Trianthema. Not succulent: calyx-lobes 
pod circumscissile, 1-celled, with few seeds. 
3. Mollugo. Not succulent: sepals 5: stamens 3 or 5: pod loculicidal, 3-celled, 
many-seeded, 
5, colored within: stamens 6 to 10: 
1. SESUVIUM L. (Sra PURSLANE. ) 
Usually prostrate saline herbs, with succulent stems, opposite leaves, 
axillary or terminal purplish flowers, persistent and free 5-parted calyx, 
the lobes apiculate below the top, 5 to 60 stamens inserted on the calyx, 
3 to 5 separate styles, and a 3 to 5-celled man y-seeded pod whose upper 
part falls off as a lid. 
Lo. s. Portulacastrum L. Stems prostrate or ascending, often 3 dm, long or more: 
leaves linear to oblong-lanceolate, 1 to 3.5 em. long, acute or obtuse: flowers soli- 
tary or clustered, sessile or pedicellate: calyx 6 to 10 mm, long, the lobes apiculate on 
the back and more or less purple: stamens numerous.—In saline or alkaline locali- 
ties from the Gulf coast to El Paso. 
2. TRIANTHEMA L. 
Like the last, but with a single style, and a 1-celled few-seeded pod. 
1. T. monogynum L. Leaves roundish-obovate, the pair of unequal size, the petiole 
enlarged into a sheath : flowers usually solitary, sessile, half-concealed within the 
broad sheath: pod 1-celled, with 6 to 8-seeded parietal placenta, the lid prominent 
and concave at top and nearly closed at base.—Fields and piains west of the Pecos, 
3. MOLLUGO L. (INDIAN CHICK-WEED. ) 
Low and much-branched annuals, with 5 sepals whitish inside, 5 
hypogynous stamens, 3 stigmas, and a 3-celled 3-valved loculicidal 
pod, the partitions breaking away from the many-seeded axis. 
