OPUNTIA. 



107 



KEY TO SPECIES. 



Joints not conspicuously purple-blotched under the areoles. 

 Joints linear, elongated. 



Stem terete or subterete; branches mostly flat. 



Joints dark green, not tubercled 90. O. aurantiaca 



Joints tubercled, bluish green when young 91. O. schickendantzii 



All the joints flat. 



Joints elongated, linear 92. O. kiska-loro 



Joints linear-oblong 93. O. canina 



Joints short, elliptic 94-0. montevidensis 



Joints with a long purplish blotch under each areole. 

 Joints more or less spiny. 

 Joints flattened. 



Joints 2 to 3.5 cm. wide 95-0. retrorsa 



Joints 3.5 to 6 cm. wide 96. O. utkilio 



Joints subterete, turgid 960. 0. discolor 



Joints spineless 97. O. anacanlha 



Perhaps of this series 98. 0. grosseianu 



90. Opuntia aurantiaca Lindley, Edwards's Bot. Reg. 19 : 

 pi. 1606. 1833. 



Opuntia aurantiaca extensa Salm-Dyck in Forster, Handb. 

 Cact. 476. 1846. 



Low, much branched, and spread- 

 ing; stem terete or subterete, i to 2 

 cm. thick; joints very fragile, linear, 

 6 to 8 cm. long, 1.5 to 2.5 cm. broad, 

 almost terete at base, dark green, shin- 

 ing; areoles somewhat elevated, filled 

 with white wool ; spines 2 or 3, brown- 

 ish, i to 3 cm. long; flowers yellow, 2.5 

 cm. broad; fruit 2 to 2.5 cm. long. 



Type locality: Chile (in error). 



Distribution: Argentina and 

 Uruguay. 



Cactus aurantiacus Lemaire 

 (Cact. 87. 1868) is usually cited in 

 synonymy, but Lemaire only men- 

 tions the name as a species of 

 Cactus. It is in fact Gillies's man- 

 uscript name, first published in 

 the Botanical Register in 1833 

 as a synonym of 0. aurantiaca. 



0. extensa Salm-Dyck (Pfeif- 

 fer, Enum. Cact. 147. 1837) is also 

 given as a synonym. 



Remy states (Gay, Fl. Chilena 

 3: 25. 1847) that it grows in the 



Central provinces Of Chile, but he aurantiaca. FIG. ui.-O. schickendantzii. 



probably had in mind some other plant, as 0. aurantiaca is not known to be native of Chile 

 by resident botanists. 



Illustrations: Anal. Mus. Nac. Montevideo 5: pi. 34; Edwards's Bot. Reg. 19: pi. 1606. 



Figure 130 represents a joint from a plant found by Dr. Rose, in Argentina, in 1915. 



91. Opuntia schickendantzii Weber in Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 688. 1898. 



Shrub-like, i to 2 meters high, much branched, grayish green; branches cylindric or flattened, 

 somewhat tuberculate; leaves minute, 2 mm. long, reddish; spines i or 2, subulate, i to 2 cm. long; 

 flowers 4 cm. in diameter, yellow; fruit green, sterile. 



Type locality: In Tucuman, Argentina. 



Distribution: Northern Argentina. 



Figure 131 is from a photograph of a plant in Argentina contributed by Dr. Spegazzini. 



FIG. 130. O. 

 aurantiaca. 



