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OPUNTIA. 



191 



Series 22. ROBUST AE. 



Tall or large plants with blue or bluish green joints, the spines, when present, white or yellowish. 

 Two of the species are widely distributed in warm regions through cultivation for their edible fruits; 



Mexico 



Mexican 



/ 



* - 



Key to Species. 



■ H 



m 



Joints orbicular to broadly qbovate or 



elliptic. 

 Fruit deep red, 7 to 9 cm. in diameter. 213. 0. rohusta 



Fruit greenish white, 4 to 5 cm. in 



diameter 214. 0. guerrana 



Joints oblong, narrowed at both ends . . 215. 0. fusicaulis 



213. Opuntia robusta Wendland in PfeifTer, 



Enum. Cact- 165. 1837. 



opuntia flavicans Lemairc, Cact. Gen. Nov- 



Sp. 61. 1839. 

 Opuntia larreyi Weber in Coulter, Contr. U. S. 



Nat. Herb. 3: 423. 1896. 

 Opuntia gorda Griffiths, Monatsschr. Kaktecnk. 



23: 134. 1913. 



Often erect, sometimes 5 meters high, usually 

 much branched; joints orbicular to oblong, 20 to 

 25 cm. long by 10 to 12.5 cm. broad, very thick, 

 bluish green, glaucous; leaves 4 mm. long, reddish, 

 acute; spines 8 to 12, stout, very diverse, brown 

 or yellowish at base, white above, up to 5 cm. long, 

 but often wanting on greenhouse specimens; 

 flowers 5 cm, broad, yellow; stigma-lobes green; 

 fruit globular to ellipsoid, at first more or less 

 tuberculate, deep red, 7 to 9 cm. long. 



Type locality: In Mexico. 

 Disirihution: Central Mexico; cultivated 



in Argentina. 



This is one of the few species of Opuntia 

 of which we have not been able to verify the 

 original publication. It was redescribed by 

 Pfeiffer in 1837. 



Opuntia camuessa Weber (Diet. Hort. T 



Fig. 237. — Opuntia quimilo. 



m 



same is true of 0. piccolo 



(Schumann, Gesamtb, Kakteen 



I. 



1898). 



The 



Opuntia robusta viridior Salm-Dyck (F 



1846) 



was never described. 



Opuntia albicans Salm 



I. 



1834) we do not know, but A. Bergcr, 



grown a plant under that name at La Mortola 



New York Botanical Garden are specimens 



are difficult to 



from 



fi^ 



Here belong the following: 0. prate 



Enum 



Salm-Dvck (Cact. Hort 



1849. 67. 



Hort 



Op 



1849. 67. 



synonym 



( , name 01 

 synonym 



manuscript name of Weber 



Mexicans as camuessa 



Weber 



1 896, IS based on the plant known to me mexican:, a. .« ..^^^-.^. •• - ° , , 



of O. camuessa, as shown above, but did not publish it ; it is usually considered o be only 



. _ '. . _ ^ .«^., :j :<- o ^icfinnf Qnppies. even reiernng it to a 



Grifhths 



Mex. Agr. E 



1907). 





