912 OPUNTIACEAE 
plants supports terete spreading branches, 
ong, clear-green or light Lau) t 
LM unaccompanied by bristles 
spines, deciduous; areolae small, minutely 
white- BUS. those of the stem, branehes, 
joi 
so: corolla lemon-yellow, mos em 
wi b E to oval 2.5-4 E 
lon ng, light-yellow, the areolae conspieuous on a of the tufted nod 
bristles, the ambiens slightly concave in the middle: seeds 7 
eter. puntia asiliensis Haw. |—Hammocks, woes pe donus Or oc- 
easionally in waste-places, pen. Fla. and the Keys. Nat. of E S. A. 
CONSOLEA Lemaire. Shrubs or small trees, the main stems runk 
ultimately a continuous terete or flattened shaft more or less uds armed 
with acicular, clustered, often greatly elongate reflexed spines, the branches 
flat, Mn p di a y spiny joints more or less irregularly spreading. 
heu. very small puc scales. owers relativ d all, commonly 
severa a on int. Hypanthium somewhat elongate, more or less flattened, 
usually s oni often numerous areolae. Sepals broad. Petals broad, often 
of an obovate type. Berry more or less elongate, enlarged upward, fleshy. 
Seeds flattened with cristate edges and hairy sides.—Eight species, West 
Indian and the following. 
C. E AS Small. Plants tree-like, 2 m. tall or less, or ultimately ed 
ight green: stem (trunk) erect, arising tn coarse fibrous roots, strict, copi- 
sly and br etl armed, elliptic or ova 
Ho -section: leds numerous, each vih a a 
cluster of 5—9 spines: spines salmon-colored 
when oe Tight. ay when mature and 
dry, darker n wet, acicular, one of each 
areola much od than t he others, often 
7—12 em. long: joints arising from the top 
or near Pu to; of the stem or trunk, elliptie 
or ; 
thin, the lar ones 2-3 cm. , all eopi- 
ously armed, the spines similar to those of 
the trunk, but s maller: oe wers rather numer- 
3 lo = thick, th mo 
less renifor hinner, abruptly pointed: 
a bright- ^ obovate to orbicular-obo- 
vate, 1 cm. lo ong oi or less: i. with an obovoid base: berry obovoid or clavate- 
obovoi d, 2.5—5 em. long, yellow, with spreading spines, the umbilicus deeply 
concave: seeds rd irregular, 7-9 mm. in diameter— Hammocks, Key Largo 
and Big Pine Key, Fla. All year. mud plant P5 several unusual character- 
istics. The flat branches are ine elin ed to grow e plan om the trunk, 
hence the name semaphore-cactus; the unfertilized me de to a vegeta- 
tive branch; the berries are frequently proliferous. 
