OPUNTIA. 



illustrations showing fine habit views of the Galapagos Opnntia. The early descriptions 

 of this species were very inaccurate and, as pointed out by Mr. Stewart, the characters 

 assigned to its fruit are those of a Cereus-like plant. Mr. Stewart visited the Galapagos 

 Islands in 1905-1906 and brought back a remarkable series of photographs and specimens. 

 Through the kindness of Miss Alice Eastwood, Curator of Botany in the California Academy 

 of Sciences, we have been able to study this material. It consists of about forty sheets of 

 well-preserved joints with a few flowers and fruits. These, in connection with the pub- 





FIG. 191. Opuntia galapageia. Xo-75- 



lished illustrations, show a great range of variation in habit, armament of joints, and char- 

 acter of spines. While these differences are very marked, they are similar to what is 

 sometimes met with in other opuntias, such as O. gosscliniana and 0. leiicotricha, or in 

 certain Peruvian and Chilean types of Cereus relatives; indeed, in a number of cacti 

 which live under intense desert influences, most diverse forms in the same species are often 

 produced. The habit-character in this species seems to be of little value, according to Mr. 



