286 FLOWERS OF FIELD, HILL, AND SWAMP 



5, forming in fruit a 5 -celled capsule, angled and beaked, 

 opening by the falling off of the beaks. Stems, 4 or 5 inches 

 high. Flowers in i -sided, at first coiled, leafy, 3 -spiked 

 cymes. 



Plants of this genus spread and attach themselves to the sur- 

 faces of rocks. Not uncommon. Found from New England to 

 Georgia. 



21. Prickly-pear. Indian Fig 



Opuniia vulgaris. — Fami/y, Cactus. Color, pale yellow. 

 Leaves, very small, pale green, \ inch long, awl-shaped, with 

 barbs or prickles in their axils, arranged spirally on the fleshy, 

 flattened, jointed stems. Tijtie, June. 



Sepals, indefinite. Petals, about 8, united with the sepals 

 into a short tube, which is attached to the top of the i-celled 

 ovary. Flowers, about 2 inches broad. Stamens, many, their 

 filaments long and slender. Pistil, i, forming in fruit a fleshy, 

 pear-shaped, edible berry, i inch long. 



The flowers lie close to the flattened branches. Clusters of 

 short, greenish-yellow bristles underlie them and spring up in the 

 leaf-axils. The branches grow irregularly out of each other, 2 to 

 4 inches long, oval in shape. 



22 



O. Rafinesqiiii is the only other Eastern species, with longer 

 jointed, deeper green branches and larger flowers and fruit. 

 The flowers often have a reddish centre. Bristles reddish 

 brown, otherwise much like the last. 



Both species grow on sandy soil or on flat rocks. Among the 

 hills of New Jersey they attain great perfection, the pedestrian 

 coming sometimes upon a large, flat rock covered with the yellow 

 beauties basking in the direct heat, which they love so well. They 

 are also found near the shore from Nantucket to South Carolina, 

 in sandy soil. 



The cactus is essentially a desert plant, adapted by its habit of 

 patient, slow growth, its succulent branches, wherein moisture is 



