126 OPrXTIACEAE. 



slightly larger than the others: stipules foliaeeoiis, ovate to reniforni: sepals 

 oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 2-2.5 em. long: corolla wanting: berries golden- 

 yellow, 4-5 cm. in diameter: seeds 4.5-5 mm. long, tuberculate at the top. — 

 Hammocks. — (Cuba.) 



Order OPUNTIALES. 



Succulent, typically spine-aiined, herbs, shrubs, or trees, mainly 

 leafless or essentially so, or leafy rigid herbs, with more or less specialized 

 hairs. Flowers perfect. Hypanthium present. Calyx of 4 or 5, or many, 

 sepals. Corolla of 4 or 5, or many, petals. Androecium of usually many 

 stamens, in several series or groups, sometimes partially reduced to 

 staminodia. Gjmoecium of 4, or 2-several, united carpels. Ovarj' in- 

 ferior. Fniit baccate or capsular. 



Sepals and petals 4 or 5 each, very different : leaves with entire or dissected blades : 

 erect or climbing plants, with rigid hairs. Fam. 1. Loasaceae. 



Sepals and petals nearly alike, at least the latter numerous : 

 leaves typically mere scales or wanting: succulent plants, 

 usually "armed'with spines. Fam. 2. Opuntiaceae. 



FAiiiLY 1. LOASACEAE. Loasa Family. 



Rigid herbs with barbed or stinging hairs. Leaves with entire lobed, 

 pinnatifid. or dissected blades. 



1. MENTZELIA [Plnm.] L. Brittle-stemmed, mostly diffuse or reclining 

 herbs. Leaf-blades relatively broad, sinuate or lobed. Androecium without 

 staminodia. Seeds angled. 



1. M. florldana Xutt. Leaf-blades 2-9 em. long, ovate to deltoid-ovate, toothed 

 and 3-lobed : sepals lanceolate, often very broad at the base : petals golden- 

 yellow, 15-18 mm. long: capsules 1-1.5 cm. long. — Hammocks. — F. K. {Bah.) 



Family 2. OPUNTIACEAE. Cactus Family. 



Succulent plants, typically spine-armed, and often with cushions of 

 bristles or hairs at the base of the spines. Leaves mostly wanting, obso- 

 lete, or rudimentary'. 



Stems not jointed : leaves obsolete : areolae without barbed bristles : flowers 

 nocturnal. 

 Plants erect or reclining, without aerial roots : fruits spiny. 1. AcanthocerbdS. 

 Plants climbing, with aerial roots : fruits scaly. 2. Hylocerbds. 



Stems jointed : leaves scale-like, deciduous : areolae with barbed 



bristles : flowers diurnal. 3. OrrNTiA. 



1. ACANTHOCEREUS Britt. & Rose. Plants with erect or reclining 

 stems and branches, the 3-(3 angles low, the areolae remote, with several spines 

 and short wool. Hypanthium elongate, with spine-bearing areolae. Corolla 

 large, white, the petals, like the sepals, long and narrow. Berry spiny. 

 1. A. pentagonus (L.) Britt. & Eose. Stems and branches sometimes 8 m. 

 long, the joints various, a 3-angled one often arising from a 5-angled one, 

 deep-green: spines 5-8, the radial bristle-like or subulate, brittle, the central 

 one 1-2 cm. long: corolla white, 9-12 cm. broad: fruits oval, 6-9 cm. long, 

 deep-red, spiny. [Cereus baxaniensis Karw.] — Hammocks. — F. K. {Ctiba, 

 Ant.) 



