142 



THE CACTACEAE. 



141. Opuntia santa-rita (Griffiths and Hare) Rose, Smiths. Misc. Coll. 52: 195. 1908. 



Opunlia chlorotica santa-rita Griffiths and Hare, N. Mex. Agr. Exp, Sta. Bull. 60: 64. 1906. 

 Opuntia shmcana C. Z. Nelson, Galesburg Register, July 20, 1915. 



Compact plant, 6 to 14 dm. high, with a very short trunk; joints orbicular or a little broader 

 than long, bluish green but deep purple about the areoles and margins; areoles 1.5 cm. apart, bear- 

 ing numerous chestnut-brown glochids and occasionally a brown spine; flowers very handsome, 

 deep yellow, 6 to 7 cm. broad; ovary purple, oblong. 



Type locality: Selero Mountains, Arizona. 



Distribution: Southeastern Arizona. 



This species is one of the most ornamental of the opuntias, and although it does not 

 grow well in greenhouse cultivation, it would doubtless flourish in the Southwest, where it 

 could be given conditions similar to its wild surroundings. 



Illustrations: Smiths. Misc. Coll. 52: pi. 15; Plant World n 1 ": f. 6, this last as Opuntia 

 clilorotica; Journ. Inter. Card. Club 3: facing page 5, as O. clilorotica santa-rita. 



Plate xxiv, figure i, is from a photograph taken by Dr. MacDougal of a plant near 

 Surritas, Arizona, in 1906. 



142. Opuntia angustata Engelmann, Proc. Amer. Acad. 3: 



292. 1856. 



Ascending to erect; joints narrow, 15 to 25 cm. long, 

 rounded above, gradually narrowing downward; areoles 

 distant, often 2.5 cm. apart, large, oblong; spines sharply 

 angled, straw-colored or whitish but with brown bases, 2.5 to 

 3.5 cm. long ; glochids brown ; fruit obovoid, 2.5 to 3 cm. long. 



Type locality: Bottoms, Bill Williams Fork, 

 Arizona. 



Distribution: Recorded as extending from New 

 Mexico to California, but known definitely to us only 

 from central Arizona, perhaps extending north to Utah. 



Engelmann's Opuntia angustata was based on 

 three specimens, one from New Mexico, one from 

 Arizona, and one from California. He stated that the 

 first and last were prostrate, while the second was erect. 

 A study of his specimens and descriptions indicates 

 that he had three species before him. The first is 

 from Zuni, New Mexico, and is probably Opuntia 

 phaedcantha. The California specimen is the Opuntia 

 magenta Griffiths, which is probably the same as 

 0. vaseyi, while the suberect plant from the bottoms 

 of the Bill Williams River we have allowed to stand 

 for O. angustata. Wooton and Standley (Contr. 

 U. S. Nat. Herb. 19: 447. 1915) suggest that the two 

 fruits illustrated by Engelmann in connection with this 

 species may belong to two species of Cylindropuntia . 



This plant was first collected by J. M. Bigelow, February 4, 1854. 



Illustrations: Pac. R. Rep. 4: pi. 7, f. 3, 4. 



Figure 180 is copied from figure 3 of the illustrations above cited. 



143. Opuntia atrispina Griffiths, Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 21: 172. 1910. 



Usually low and spreading, sometimes 2 meters in diameter, but sometimes the central branches 

 nearly erect and 6 dm. high; joints rather small, nearly orbicular, 10 to 15 cm. in diameter, light 

 green, sometimes a little glaucous; lower areoles spineless; spines from the upper areoles 2 to 4, 

 the principal ones spreading, flattened, dark brown, almost black at base, much lighter above; 

 glochids at first yellow or yellowish, but soon changing to brown; flowers described as yellow, 

 changing to orange; fruit reddish purple. 



FIG. 1 80. Opuntia angustata. 



