182 



THE CACTACEAE. 



201. Opuntia spinulifera Salm-Dyck, Hort. Dyck. 364. 1834. 



Opuntia candelabriformis Martius in Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 159. 1837. 

 Opuntia oligacantha Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 241. 1850. 



Tall, much branched plants; joints orbicular to oblong, sometimes obovate, 20 to 30 cm. long, 

 glabrous, a little glaucous; leaves small, red, 4 to 6 mm. long; areoles on young joints usually small, 

 sometimes longer than broad, the margin at first bordered with cobwebby hairs, afterwards short 

 white hairs, either spineless or with short white bristle-like spines; areoles on old joints more or less 

 sunken, rather close together; spines on old joints i to 3, i to 2 cm. long, subulate, bone-colored. 



Type locality: In Mexico. 



Distribution: Mexico. 



We have seen no wild specimens of this species, but Mr. Berger has grown it at La 

 Mortola, Italy, and has distributed specimens now growing in New York and Washington. 



So-called Opuntia candelabriformis and 0. 

 oligacantha are also in cultivation; but the 

 original descriptions indicate that these two 

 species should be merged into 0. s-pinulifera, 

 and plants so determined in European collec- 

 tions support this view. In so far as we have 

 been able to ascertain, no type specimens of 

 any of the three supposed species are extant. 

 Schumann (Gesamtb. Kakteen 740. 1898) de- 

 scribes the flowers of O. candelabriformis as 

 purple, 6 to 7 cm. broad. Opuntia candela- 

 briformis rigid ior Salm-Dyck (Cact. Hort. Dyck. 

 1849. 68. 1850), an unpublished variety, may 

 belong here. 



Figure 221 represents a joint of a plant 

 presented to the New York Botanical Garden 

 by Mrs. George Such in 1900. 



FIG. 221. Opuntia spinulifera. Xo.4- 



202. Opuntia lasiacantha Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 160. 



1837- 



Opuntia megacanlha lasiacantha Berger, Bot. 

 Jahrb. Engler 36: 453. 1905. 



A tall plant, with a more or less definite trunk; joints obovate to oblong, 20 to 30 cm. long; 

 leaves short, red; areoles small, 2 to 3 cm. apart; spines usually i to 3, acicular, white, 2 to 4 cm. 

 long, slightly spreading; glochids numerous, prominent, dirty yellow to brown; flowers large, yellow 

 or deep orange, 6 to 8 cm. broad; ovary bearing long, brown, deciduous bristles, especially from 

 the upper areoles; style pinkish; stigma-lobes pale green. 



Type locality: In Mexico. 



Distribution: Central Mexico. 



Schumann refers 0. lasiacantha to 0. robusta, but wrongly, as Berger states, and as 

 living plants show. Pfeiffer said it is near 0. candelabriformis, here taken up under 

 0. spinulifera. 



This species is very variable and, while it seems distinct from O. megacantha, it is 

 to be noted that Mr. Berger referred it to that species as a variety. 



Opuntia chaetocarpa Griffiths (Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 27: 25. 1914), in its few 

 long white spines, resembles plants collected by Dr. Rose in southern Mexico which we 

 have referred to this species. 



Illustration: Addisonia 3: pi. 90. 



Plate xxxiv, figure 3, represents a flowering joint of a plant collected by Dr. Rose near 

 the City of Mexico in 1906. Figure 222 represents a joint of a plant collected by Dr. Mac- 

 Dougal and Dr. Rose at Tehuacan, Mexico, in 1906. 



