IO THE CACTACEAE. 



Series l.TYPICAE. 



Consists of only the typical species, which is widely distributed, and much cultivated through- 

 out tropical America. Schumann regarded it as a subgenus under the name Eupereskia. 



1. Pereskia pereskia (Linnaeus) Karsten, Deutsch. Flora 888. 1882. 



Cactus pereskia Linnaeus, Sp. PI. 469. 1753. 



Pereskia aculeata Miller, Gard. Diet. ed. 8. 1768. 



Cactus lucidus Salisbury, Prodr. 349. 1796. 



Pereskia Icngispina Haworth, Syn. PI. Succ. 178. 1812. 



Pereskia. aculeata longispina DC Candolle, Prodr. 3: 475. 1828. 



Pereskia fragrans Lemaire, Hort. Univ. 2: 40. 1841. 



Pereskia undulata Lemaire, Illustr. Hort. 5: Misc. n. 1858. 



Pereskia foetens Spegazzini in Weingart, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 14: 134. 1904. 



Pereskia godseffiana Sander, Gard. Chron. III. 43: 257. 1908. 



Shrub, at first erect, but the branches often long, clambering, and forming vines 3 to 10 

 meters long; spines on lower part of stem solitary or 2 or 3 together, slender and straight; spines 

 in the axils of the leaves paired, rarely in threes, short, recurved; leaves short-petioled, lanceolate 

 to oblong, or ovate, short-acuminate at the apex, tapering or rounded at base, 7 cm. long or less; 

 flowers in panicles or corymbs, white, pale yellow, or pinkish, 2.5 to 4.5 cm. broad; ovary leafy and 

 often spiny; fruit light yellow, 1.5 to 2 cm. in diameter, when mature quite smooth; seeds black, 

 somewhat flattened, 4 to 5 mm. in diameter; hilum basal, circular, depressed, or crater-shaped. 



The plant and fruit have several common names, one of which, blade apple, was in use 

 as early as 1697. Lemon vine, Barbados gooseberry, and West Indian gooseberry are three 

 others, with various French and Dutch modifications. In Argentina it is called sacharosa, 

 according to Sir Joseph Hooker (Curtis's Bot. Mag. 116: pi. 7147), but this name is prop- 

 erly applied only to the P. sacharosa of Grisebach, native of Argentina, a distinct species, 

 which Hooker thought identical with this. 



The berries are eaten throughout the West Indies and the leaves are used as a pot herb 

 in Brazil. The species was in cultivation in the Royal Gardens of Hampton Court in 1696 

 and has been at Kew ever since its establishment in 1760, but did not flower until 1889. 

 In Washington we have one plant among a dozen which flowers abundantly each year ; 

 three plants at New York bloom annually. 



In tropical America the plant climbs over walls, rocks, and trees, and at flowering time 

 is covered with showy, fragrant blossoms, followed by beautiful clusters of yellow berries. 

 In La Plata it is grown sometimes for hedges (see fig. i), but its strong, almost offensive 

 odor makes it objectionable for growing near habitations. 



Type locality: Tropical America. 



Distribution: West Indies and along the east and north coasts of South America; found 

 also in Florida and Mexico, but perhaps only as an escape; widely grown for its fruit. 



This species consists of several races, differing in shape and size of the leaves and in 

 color of the flowers. One of these races, with ovate-orbicular leaves rounded at the base, 

 had heretofore been known to us only in cultivation, but in October 1916, while collecting 

 in Venezuela, Dr. Rose found this broad-leafed form common in the coastal thickets near 

 Puerto Cabello. 



Pereskia lanccolata (Forster, Handb. Cact. 513. 1846), P. acardia Parmentier (Pfeiffer, 

 Enum. Cact. 176. 1837), and P. brasilicnsis Pfeiffer (Enum. Cact. 176. 1837), usually 

 referred as synonyms of P. aculeata, were not formally published in the places above cited. 



The following varieties, based on the shape of the leaves, are recorded under P. aculeata: 

 lanccolata Pfeiffer (Enum. Cact. 176. 1837); lati/olia Salm-Dyck (Hort. Dyck. 202. 1834, 

 name only); rotundifolia Pfeiffer (Enum. Cact. 176. 1837); rotunda (Suppl. Diet. Gard. 

 Nicholson 589. 1901) is perhaps the same as rotundifolia. 



Pereskia aculcala ntbcsccns Pfeiffer (Enum. Cact. 176. 1837) is described with glaucous- 

 green leaves above, tinged with red beneath. 



Near the last belongs Pereskia godseffiana, described as a sport in the Gardeners' 

 Chronicle in 1908. It is a very attractive greenhouse plant, often forming a round, 



