OPUNTIA. 

 7. Opuntia kleiniae De Candolle, Mem. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 17: 118. 



Opuntia wriglilii Kngelmann, Proc. Amer. Acad. 3: 308. 1856. 

 Opuntia cacnilescens Griffiths, Rep. Mo. Bot. Card. 20: 86. 1909. 



vStems pale, glaucous, sometimes 2.5 meters tall, woody at base; tubercles long; areoles large, 

 a little longer than wide, filled with white wool from the very first; spines usually i, but sometimes 

 more, from the base of the areole, covered with yellow sheaths, on old joints accompanied by several 

 bristle-like spines from the lower margin of the areole; glochids yellow to brown; leaves linear, 15 cm. 

 long, acute; flowers 3 cm. long, purplish; petals broad, rounded at apex; fruit red, 2 to 2.5 cm. long, 

 long persisting; seeds 4 to 5 mm. broad. 



FIG. 61. Opuntia arbuscula. 



I-'IG. 62. Opuntia arbuscula. Xo.7.5. 



Type locality: In Mexico. 



Distribution: Texas to central Mexico. 



Opuntia kleiniae was originally described as without tubercles on the stems, which has 

 raised the question whether the plant bearing this name is properly referred; in this 

 respect 0. arbuscula answers the description better, but it is very doubtful whether 0. 

 arbuscula could have been known at that time. 



Opuntia kleiniae has long been in cultivation and is to be seen in most collections. 



In 1910 Dr. Rose collected near Alamos, Mexico, an Opuntia very similar in habit 

 and joints to 0. kleiniae, but much more spiny. 



Opuntia kleiniae cristata (Cat. Darrah Succ. Manchester 55. 1908) is a garden form. 

 0. kleiniae laetevirens Salm-Dyck (Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 73. 1850) is only a name. 



Illustrations: Abh. Bayer. Akad. Wiss. Miinchen 2: pi. i, sec. 7, f. 9; Rep. Mo. Bot. 

 Gard. 19: pi. 21, in part; 20: pi. 6, in part, this last as Opuntia caerulescens. 



Plate VI, figure 6, represents a flowering branch of a specimen obtained from M. 

 Simon, of St. Ouen, Paris, France, in 1901; plate vn, figure i, represents a leafy branch 

 of a specimen collected by Dr. Rose at Ixmiquilpan, Mexico, in 1905. 



Two remarkable opuntias were collected in Lower California by Dr. Rose in 1911, 

 but as they were not in flower or fruit, and have not developed flowers since they were 

 brought into cultivation, we are unable to describe them fully; they are doubtless of 

 this relationship and their characters are given as follows: 



OPUNTIA sp. 



Stems 1.3 to 2 meters high, rather weak, often clambering over bushes, 10 mm. in diameter, 

 woody below, pale, when dry the white epidermis peeling off; lateral branches numerous, horizontal, 



