OPUNTIA. 



129 



\ 



i 



/ 



r 



\ 



Cact. ed. 2. f. 



Opuntia rafinesquei arkansana; Monatsschr. Kakteeiik. ; 



Miller, Fig. PI. Gard. Diet. 2: pi. 191, as Opuntia folio m 



Hort. Bois f. 638; Rev. Hort. 40: f. 10, 11; 66: f. 59, all as Opuntia rafi 



Wiener Illustr. Gartenz. 10: f. 112, as Opuntia rafi 



figu 



York 



■ 



from 



the plant growing on sand dunes at Crooke's Point, Staten Island, New York, taken by 



Howard H 



macrarthra 



1859. 



Stems prostrate or ascending; joints narrowly oblong to obovatc, 12 to 35 cm. long, thick, 

 pale green, somewhat shining; leaves subulate, 10 mm. long, green, sometimes with purplish tips; 

 areoles large, 2 to 3 cm, apart, filled with brown wool; spines wanting, or sometimes T,upto 2.5 cm. long; 

 glochids when present yellow; flowers not known; fruit narrowly obovoid, red, fleshy, 4 to 6 cm. long. 



Type locality: Near Charleston, South Carolina. 



Distribution: Coast of South CaroHna. 



This species, long overlooked, has recently been col- 

 lected by Dr. J. K. Small in the vicinity of the type locality. 



This is doubtless one of the species to which Elliott 

 called attention and which he said he expected to pubhsh, 

 but never did.* The oridnal descriotion loner remained 



ElHott Society of 



unnoticed in the Proceedings of the 

 Natural History; it is as follows: 



"The second, which we will call Opuntia macrarthra, falls 

 under the same section with the preceding, and seems to be 

 near Opuntia angustata, of Engelmann, from the west of the Rio 

 Grande; a prostrate species, joints from ten to fifteen inches 

 long and three inches wide, one-third of an inch thick; no 

 spines, fruit two and a half inches long, slender, clavate." 



Plate XV, figure 3, represents a fruiting joint collected 

 by Dr. Small on James Island, South Carolina, in 19 16; 

 plate XXII, figure 2, represents a flowering joint of the plant 

 collected by Dr. Small on the Isle of Palms, near Charles- 

 ton, South Carolina, in 19 16; figure 3 shows a fruit of the 

 same plant and figure 4 a seed, enlarged. 



120. Opuntia grandiflora Engelmann, Proc. Amer. Acad. 3: 295. 



■^ ■ Figs. 161, 162. — Opuntia grandiflora. 



Opuntia rafinesquei grandiflora 'Engelmann, Vac. R. Rep. 4- 55- 1856. 

 Opuntia mesacanlha grandiflora Coulter, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 3: 429. 1896. 



Low, with somewhat ascending branches; joints 12.5 to 15 cm. long; arcoles 2.5 cm. apart; 

 spines usually wanting; flowers very large, 11 to 12.5 cm. broad, yellow with a red center; petals 

 broad; fruit elongated, 6 cm. long. 



Type locality: On the Brazos, Texas. 



Distribut 



Eastern 



If 



Although Dr. Engelmann formally 



southern variety of 0. rafi 



CAhJ |p« vJ |-/ ^- ^fc- * ^^ ^-^ J - — '*-' 



A little later he actually used the 



name 



The position of the plant is still uncertain; if specimens collected by 



Mr. Wm. R. Maxon at Victoria, Texas, and by Mr 



here, as they appear to, we believe it to be a distinct species. 



Illustrations: 



ifinesquci grandifl 



from 



^Cactus opuntia. "It is probable that there are now three distinct species on the sea^^^ Southern States 



covered under this name." EUiott. A Sketch of the Botany of South Carolina and Georgia, i. 537- 



^ L- 



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