96 



mn CACTAC^AE. 



70. Opuntia sphaerica Forster, Hamb. Gartenz. 17: 167. 1861. 



1 861. 



1881. 



Plants often erect, always low, usually few-branched, often forming large patches; joints usually 

 globular, 12 to 40 cm. in diameter; areoles large, numerous, sometimes nearly hiding the surfaces of 

 the joints with their short brown wool; spines variable as to number, sometimes few, sometimes 

 numerous, brown at first, in age sometimes gray, i to 4 cm. long, usually stiff; flowers 4 cm. long. 



mm 



surrounded by a thin, broad band. 



Type locality: Near Arequi 



Distribut 



Central Peru to central Chile. 



made from the same cultivated plant. They 



very much like a poor specimen of Opuntia 



if such it should prove 



name 



ferred to the synonymy of that 



species. 



We 



Op 



morpha here with some hesitancy. 



This plant often passes for 

 Opuntia ovata and, from herbarium 

 specimens we have seen, it has been 

 so identified by Rudolph PhiUppi. 



This species is very common in 

 sandy places on hills, dry flats, and 



vallevs. often cover- 







..^^- ft*; ^" 







'♦■^-"'^.il 











mountain 





1^^-f ■ /^;V 





- ' *-' i^'^ --v 



>'"V;;;- ■ .-„■ ■-■■ -•■^V-ri- 



-■ ■.- ■;- V "■.»g .V'-. 





*■ ■; J-..--'-^ 



Fig. 113. — Opuntia sphaerica. 



ing the ground to the exclusion of 



all other plants. The joints readily 



break loose and, falling to the 



ground, start new colonies. We 



found the species very common 



both above and below Arequipa, 



Peru, where it is called corotilla; 



in central Chile it grows at lower 



altitudes but in similar situations. 



In Chile it is called leon or leoncito, which is probably the origin of the name Opuntta 



leonina. 



Opuntia phyllacantha Haage and Schmidt (Regel and Schmidt, Gartenflora 30: 414- 

 1881), if it actually came from Chile, as stated, may belong here. The joints are more 

 elongated, although the habit is somewhat similar. The illustration is poor and has doubt- 

 less been made from a greenhouse specimen. This name was given, with Salm-Dyck as 

 authority, by Forster (Handb. Cact. 508. 1846), but without any description. 



Illustrations: Cact. Journ. i: 100; Forster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. f. 133; Gartenflora 30* 

 413, all as Opuntia leonina. 



Figure 113 is from a photograph of joints of the plant collected by Dr. Rose above 

 Arequipa, Peru, in 19 14. 



71. Opuntia skottsbergii sp. nov. 



Roots thick and fleshy, sometimes 10 cm. long, the plant doubtless more or less cespitose; joints, 

 at least some of them, globular, 3 cm. in diameter, almost hidden by the numerous closely set spines; 

 areoles close together, small, at times producing long tufts of white wool; spines about 10, black 



excent the vellowish tins, i to 2 cm. Ion?: plochids numerous;, elono^fltpd: flower?;, inrludine the very 



T_ 



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