BEGONIACEAE 817 
12. Opuntia polyacantha Haw. Stems prostrate, branching into large masses, the 
joints suborbicular, 5-10 cm. or rarely 15 em. long, light-green, tuberculate, bearing leaves 
3-4 mm. long: bristle-cushions rather numerous, all armed, the bristles reddish brown: 
spines 8-15 together, the 5-10 outer radiant, very slender, whitish, variegated with red, 
numerous, stouter, reddish brown with pie tips, 3-5 em. long, half of them deflexed : 
flowers yellow or orange, varying to purple: fruit obovoid, 3-5 cm. long, spiny: seeds 5-6 
mm. broad, irregular in shape. 
In dry soil and on plains and prairies, British Columbia to Nebraska, the Indian Territory, New 
Mexico and Utah. 
13. Opuntia leptocaülis P. DC. Stems with a hard close-grained wood, and a gray 
scaly bark, branching, often 12-15 dm. tall, the branches slender, terete, or angled in age; 
the outer joints loosely attached to one another, 2-3 cm. long, with terete, subulate leaves : 
spines mostly solitary, about 8 mm. long, in a close sheath : flowers sulphur-yellow, 14-20 
mm. broad: fruit scarlet, 10-18 mm. long, not juicy, more often proliferous: seeds 2-5, 
white, flattened. 
In river valleys, Texas and adjacent Mexico. 
Order 22. BEGONIALES. 
Sueculent herbs or shubby plants or vines, often with large rootstocks. 
Leaves alternate: blades commonly inequilateral, toothed or lobed. Flowers 
monoceious, usually somewhat irregular, in simple or compound cymes. Stami- 
nate flowers with 2 or more sepals, 5 minute petals and numerous stamens whose 
anthers open by pores or valves. Pistillate flowers with calyx and corolla, and 
a gynoecium of 2-5 united carpels. Ovary inferior, 2-several-celled or rarely 
l-celled, the placentae entire or variously lobed. Stigmas curved, twisted or 
coiled. Ovules numerous. Fruit capsular, equally or unequally winged. 
FAMILY 1. BEGONIACEAE R. Br. BEGONIA FAMILY. 
Characters of the order. 
1. BEGONIA L. 
Succulent plants, but sometimes shrubby. Leaves alternate : blades oblique, usually 
toothed, petioled. Flowers in simple or compound cymes, monoecious, the staminate with 
2 unequal pairs of petals and many stamens, the pistillate with 5 somewhat unequal petals 
and an inferior 3-celled ovary. Style very short: stigmas spirally twisted. Ovules numer- 
ous, on 2-lobed placentae. Capsule membranous, unequally 3-winged, one wing much larger 
than the rest. Seeds numerous, minute. ELEPHANT’ S EAR. 
l. Begonia semperflórens Link & Otto. Stems 3-10 dm. tall, more or less branched, 
usually red: leaf-blades obliquely ovate or reniform, 4-7 cm. broad, palmately nerved, 
crenate with minutely apiculate teeth ; petioles shorter than the blades: peduncles axillary, 
simply dichotomous : bracts ciliate-fimbriate : corolla white: larger petals of the staminate 
flowers 6-14 mm. long and broad, the smaller petals spatulate: capsules drooping ; two 
angles with narrow rounded wings, the broad wing of the other angle with a rounded outer 
margin and a straight upper margin. 
In and about swamps, peninsular Florida. Naturalized from South America, 
Order 23. PROTEALES. 
Perennial herbs, or shrubs or trees, natives of the Southern Hemisphere. 
Leaves alternate, or rarely opposite or whorled: blades simple or compound, 
Flowers perfect, or occasionally polygamous or dioecious. Perianth of 4 val- 
vate partially united sepals. Androecium of 4 stamens, one on each sepal. 
Gynoecium of a single carpel. Ovary free, 1-celled, often oblique. Style 
terminal. Stigma disk-like, nipple-shaped or capitate. Ovules 1 or two in a 
cavity. Fruit indehiscent, or often follicular or capsular. Seed with a straight 
embryo. 
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