150 CACTACEAE 



yellow, suffused with red, apiculate to short-acuminate ; fruit 3—^ cm. long, obovoid-truncate, its 

 areoles 3-6 mm. apart, filled with glochids and acicular spines 8-20 mm. long. 



Gravelly slopes and rocky hillsides, Lower Sonoran Zone; Inyo County and Ord Mountains, northeastern 

 San Bernardino County, California, to southern Nevada. April-May. 



17. Opuntia megacantha Salm-Dyck. La Tuna or Rancheria Prickly Pear. 



Fig. 3317. 



opuntia megacantha Salm-Dyck, Hort. Dyck 363. 1834. 



Opuntia robusta var. megacantha Schelle, Handb. Kakteenkultur 57. 1907. 



Opuntia castillae Griff. Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 19:261. 1908. 



Opuntia incarnadilla Griff. Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 22:27. 1912. 



Arborescent, 3-6 m. tall with a definite woody spineless trunk. Joints obovate to oblong, 

 3-6 dm. long, often asymmetrical and becoming concave-convex on lateral branches, pale green, 

 somewhat glaucous; areoles 2.5-4 mm. in diameter, 5-8 cm. apart on large joints, bearing brown 

 wool, a few light brown glochids, and 1-5 spines or spineless ; spines 1-5, brown, slightly spread- 

 ing to subdeflexed, 2-3 cm. long, confined to upper and marginal areoles in most plants ; glochids 

 usually deciduous, though sometimes reappearing on older joints; flowers 6-9 cm. broad, sepals 

 greenish yellow, tinged with orange on the midribs ; petals yellow, to deep orange ; fruit obovate, 

 7-1 1 cm. long, clear yellow or tinged with orange-red, fleshy, edible ; seeds yellowish white, 

 4-6 mm. broad. 



Cultivated and occasionally escaped, Upper Sonoran Zone; in the coastal area from Santa Barbara, Cali- 

 fornia, south into Lower California. April-July. 



18. Opuntia Ficus-indica (L.) Mill. Indian Fig or Prickly Pear. Fig. 3318. 



Cactus Ficus-indica L. Sp. PI. 468. 1753. 



Opuntia Ficus-indica Mill. Gard. Diet. ed. 8. no. 2. 1768. 



Cactus Opuntia Guss. Prodr. Sic. 559. 1827-28. Not. L. 1753. 



Opuntia vulgaris Tenore, Syll. Fl. Neap. 239. 1831. Not Mill. 1768. 



Opuntia Ficus-barbarica Berger, Monatss. Kakteenk. 22: 181. 1912. 



Large, spreadingly branched shrub or small tree up to 5 m. high, with a definite, spineless, 

 woody trunk. Joints obovate to oblong or spatulate-oblong, 15-50 cm. long, slightly glaucous; 

 areoles circular or broadly elliptic, containing a tuft of short brownish wool, numerous yellow- 

 brown deciduous glochids, and 1-3 spines, or sometimes spineless ; spines white, rigid, subulate, 

 slightly flattened, unequal, 1.5-4 cm. long, subspreading ; flowers 6-10 cm. broad, bright yellow, 

 the sepals and outer petals sometimes faintly tinged with red ; fruit obovate, 5-9 cm. long, often 

 faintly pruinose, red-purple throughout the juicy flesh, the umbilicus deeply depressed; seeds 

 4-5 mm. broad. 



Widely cultivated in tropical and sublropical countries, and occurring as an occasional escape about old 

 gardens and ranches in coastal southern California. March-June. 



19. Opuntia chlordtica Engelm. & Bigelow. Golden Prickly Pear. Fig. 3319. 



Opuntia chlorotica Engelm. & Bigelow in Engelm. Proc. Amer. Acad. 3: 291. 1856. 

 Opuntia Tidballii Bigelow, Pacif. R. Rep. 4: 11. 1856. 

 Opuntia curvospina Griff. Bull. Torrey Club 43: 88. 1916. 



Erect plant, with ascending branches, 1-2.5 m. high, usually with a definite woody trunk and 

 persistent scaly gray or brownish bark densely armed with rigid deflexed spines. Joints orbicular 

 to ovate, 12-20 cm. long, occasionally broader than long, light green, faintly glaucous ; leaves 

 subulate, 4-6 mm. long; areoles 1-3 cm. apart, conspicuous, extending 2-4 mm. above the sur- 

 face, 5-8 mm. in diameter on young joints, becoming larger in age, containing a conspicuous tuft 

 of sordid-yellow wool, numerous yellow glochids and 3-7 unequal spines; spines on the joints 

 1.5-4 cm. long, bright yellow, terete, mostly reflexed; those on main stem 15-40 in an areole, 

 yellow, flattened, 2-5 cm. long, stellately radiating and covering whole surface ; flov(;ers yellow, 

 6-7 cm. broad; petals oblong, 2.5-3 cm. long, 12-15 mm. wide; fruit reddish purple, with greenish 

 flesh, 4-5 cm. long, bearing rather crowded areoles containing wool, glochids and occasionally 

 a few short spines ; seeds small. 



Occasional in canyons and rocky slopes, Lower and lower parts of Upper Sonoran Zones; northeastern San 

 Bernardino County to western edge of the Colorado Desert, California, to southern Nevada, New Mexico, 

 Sonora, and northern Lower California. April-June. 



20. Opuntia littoralis (Engelm.) Britt. & Rose. Coastal Prickly Pear. Fig. 3320. 



opuntia Engelinannii var. littoralis Engelm. Bot. Calif. 1: 248. 1876. 



Opuntia Lindhcimeri var. littoralis J. M. Coult. Contr. U.S. Nat. Herb. 3: 422. 1896. 



Opuntia littoralis Britt. & Rose, Smiths. Misc. Coll. 50: 529. 1908. 



Opuntia occidentalis var. littoralis Parish in Jepson, Man. Fl. PI. Calif. 657. 1925. 



Ascendingly branched shrub 0.6-1.5 m. high, forming extensive dense colonies. Joints 

 orbicular, ovoid, obovate, or broadly oblong, 10-20 cm. wide, 15-30 cm. long, 2-5 cm. thick; 

 areoles prominent, 4-7 mm. in diameter, filled with dark brown wool, yellowish glochids 1-4 mm. 

 long, and bearing 2-7 (9) unequal, slightly flattened, clear yellow spines 1-3 cm. long ; spines of 

 marginal areoles spreading, straight; those on face of joint mostly deflexed, curved, frequently 

 slightly twisted; flowers 5-8 cm. broad, petals yellow, often suffused with red toward the base; 



