Order 54.— CACTACE.E. 359 



Order LIV. CACTACEJ3. Indian Figs. 



Stems succulent and shrubby, usually angular or 2-edged or jointed. Leaves 

 almost always wanting ; prickles numerous and formidable. Flowers solitary, usu- 

 ally showy and of short duration. Sepals and petals often indefinite and confounded 

 with each other, the sepals from the surface, and the petals from the summit of the 

 ovary. Slam. co ; filaments long and filiform ; anth. ovate, versatile. Ovaries in- 

 t ferior, 1-celled, fleshy, with parietal placentas. Style single, filiform, with several 

 stigmas in a star-like cluster. Ft: succulent. Seeds numerous, parietal or in th® 

 pulp, exalbuminous. (Illust. in fig. 47, b.) 



Genera 18, species about SOO, all peculiarly American, no one having ever been found in any 

 other quarter of the globe. They abound in the deserts of New Mexico and southward, The 

 prickly pear (Opuntia vulgaris) is the only species found native as far north as N. York. Their 

 aspect is peculiar, usually distinguishable at sight. 



Stigmasw. Calyx tube not prolonged. Berry tubercular, umbicate Opc^tia 1 



Stigmas co. Calyx tube prolonged above the ovary. Berry areolate, &c. ...Gkeeus 2 



Stigmas 5 to 7. — Calyx tube prolonged. Berry smooth. Axis grooved Mf.locactus 3 



— Calyx tube short. Berry smooth. Axia mammiferous Ma.m.mei,i.ki:i\ 4 



1. OPUNTIA, Toura. Prickly Pear. (Opuntiana was a country- 

 near Phocis, where this was said to be naturalized.) Sepals and petals 

 numerous, adnate to the ovary, not produced into a tube above it ; 

 stamens co, shorter than the petals ; style with numerous, thick, erect 

 stigmas ; berry umbillicatc at apex, tuberculate, cotyledons semiterete. 

 — Shrubby plants, with articulated branches, the joints usually broad 

 and flattened, with fascicles of prickles, regularly arranged upon the 

 surface. 



O. vulgaris Mill. Prostrate, creeping ; joints ovate ; prickles numerous in each 

 fascicle, often with several subulate spines ; lvs. minute, subulate from a broad 

 base ; fls. yeUow. — A curious, fleshy plant, native in rocky and sandy places, 

 Mass. to Fla. W. to Iowa. The singular form resembles a series of thick, fleshy 

 leaves, 4 to 6' long, § as wide, growing from the tip or sides of each other, and 

 armed with orange-colored spines from the edge of the joints, large, bright-yellow, 

 and succeeded by a smooth, crimson, eatable fruit, f (Cactus opuntia L.) 



2. CE^REUS, DC. Sepals very numerous, imbricated, adnate to the 

 base of the ovary and united into a long tube above it, the outer shorter, 

 the inner petaloid ; stamens indefinite, coherent with the tube, style 

 filiform, with many stigmas ; berry scaly with the remains of the sep- 

 als; cotyledons none? — Fleshy shrubs, with woody, prismatic axes, 

 armed with clusters of spines. Fls. from the clusters of spines. 



§ Stock and branches compressed, somewhat leaf-like Nos. 1 — 8 



§ Stock and branches angular-cylindrical, creeping Nos. 4, 5 



1 C. phyllanthus DC. Spleenwort. Branches ensiform, compressed, 

 serrate ; lis. with the terete, slender tube much longer than the limb of the pet- 

 als. — From S. Am. The articulations of the stem are 2f or more long, 2' wide, 

 weak, bordered with large, obtuse serratures, and traversed lengthwise by a cen- 

 tral, cylindrical, woody axis. Fls. white, 9 to 12' long, expanding by night, 

 fragrant, f 



2 C. phyllanthoides DC. Branches ensiform, compressed, obovate, with 

 . -spreading, rounded teeth ; fls. arising from the lateral crenatures of the branches; 



tube shorter than the limb of the petals. — From Mexico. A splendid flower, 

 with leaf-like, fleshy joints, each 6 to 10' long, 1 to 2' wide. Fls. rose-colored, 

 4' in length, expanding by day. 



3 C. truncatus L. Branching ; joints short-compressed, serrate, truncate 

 at the summit ; fls. arising from the summit of the joints ; sty. longer than the 

 Btam. or reflexed pet. — From Brazil. A very distinct species, a foot or mors 

 high. Joints 2 to 3' long, 1 to W wide, leaf-like. Fls. 2 to 3' long, pink-colored, 

 t (Cactus L.) 



