7 6 



THE CACTACEAE. 



We have been able more definitely to refer here Opuntia scgcthii, for we saw not only 

 Philippi's type specimens in his herbarium, but also living specimens grown fromPhilippi's 

 original stock. The type specimen was from plants cultivated at Santiago, but in a later 

 publication he states that his species grows spontaneously near Arequipa. A part of this 

 latter material is preserved in his herbarium at vSantiago, which Dr. Rose was able to study ; 

 he also examined the Arequipa plant alive, and is convinced that it is quite different, being 

 the plant common in Peru and Bolivia described below as Opuntia exaltata. 



Illustrations: Engler and Prantl, Pflanzenfam. 3 6a : f. 56, L; Card. Chron. III. 34: f. 

 33, 38; Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 8: 7; 9: 183; Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen f. 103; Neub. 

 Gart. Mag. 1893: 291, this as Pereskia subulata; Bot. Zeit. 26: pi. 13, C. f. i ; Gartenflora 32: 

 pi. 1129, f. 5, the last two as Opuntia segetliii. 



Figure 90 is from a photograph of a plant 

 at the New York Botanical Garden grown 

 from a cutting brought by Mrs.H. L. Britton 

 from the Riviera, Italy, in 1907. 



42. Opuntia exaltata Berger, Hort. Mortol. 410. 

 1912. 



Stem 2 to 5 meters high, with a definite trunk 

 5 to 30 cm. in diameter when well grown, much 

 branched; ultimate joints fleshy, easily detached, 

 somewhat curved upward, clavate, strongly tuber- 

 culate; tubercles large, 1.5 to 3 cm. long, more 

 or less diamond-shaped, elevated, and rounded; 

 areoles rounded, filled with short white wool; glo- 

 chids often wanting, when present brown; leaves 

 fleshy, terete, i to 7 cm. long; spines on young joints 

 i to 5, mostly i to 3, dark yellow or brownish, 

 unequal, the longest ones 5 cm. long; spines on old 

 wood numerous, sometimes 12 or more, often 13 

 cm. long, brown, with roughened tips; flowers, in- 

 cluding ovaries, 7 cm. long; sepals and petals brick- 

 red; outer sepals ovate, small, the inner ones pass- 

 ing into petals; petals 2 cm. long, broadly obovate 

 to broadly spatulate, sometimes nearly truncate 

 at apex; stamens numerous, short, pinkish above, 

 nearly white below; style swollen below, pinkish; 

 stigma-lobes greenish; ovary 4 cm. long, deeply 

 umbilicate, with large flat tubercles; areoles on 

 ovary circular, filled with short brown and white 

 wool, long, loosely attached brown spines, and a few 

 shorter glochids, and subtended by small, tardily de- 

 ciduous leaves; fruit green, pear-shaped, 9 cm. long, 

 usually sterile; seeds large, irregular, 10 mm. broad. 



FIG. 90. Opuntia subulata. 



Type locality: Not cited; described from cultivated plants. 



Distribution: Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and probably northern Chile. 



This Opuntia is called pataquisca by the Cuzco and Arequipa Indians, and is also 

 known as espina. 



This species was the most widely distributed Opuntia seen by Dr. Rose on the west 

 coast of South America ; but it is difficult to decide whether it is really native there, for it 

 is widely cultivated as a hedge plant in many places. It seems to be native along the 

 upper Rimac of central Peru; at least it is well established on the hills. Although very 

 common in southern Peru and about La Paz, Bolivia, it is probably introduced for it grows 

 only about towns and cultivated fields and seems never to produce fertile fruit. About 

 Cuzco it is likewise cultivated, but maybe a native there also, for the fruit is generally fertile. 



