NOTES 409 
ready published several interesting and useful accounts. In other 
countries efforts are being made to plant as food for cattle the 
“spineless Cactus,” a form of O. Ficus-indica, originally introduced 
from Italy to the United States Department of Agriculture. Mr. 
Griffiths gives a negative account of these trials. In several 
districts of South Africa and in Australia the ‘“ prickly pears” 
have spread to such an extent as to become a real pest. 
O. albicans seems to be closely related to O. robusta. So far, 
the individuals that have flowered showed the ovarium without 
ovules, the flowers being thus practically only male. We received 
our plants from Mr. Winter, of Bordighera. 
O. aoracantha was received from Palermo in 1901. This, as 
well as many other species from great altitudes of South America, 
only grows with difficulty. 
O. arbuscula was received from the New York Botanic Garden 
a few years ago. 
O. basilaris was first introduced from Kew by Mr. Daniel 
Hanbury, July, 1868. 
O. Beckeriana is an old inhabitant of this garden; its history is 
not known. Dr. Weber was inclined to consider it identical with 
O. sericea. 
O. Bergeriana is another old inhabitant of the Riviera, growing 
abundantly on almost barren sandstone at Bordighera, but dis- 
liking heavy soil. It is a fine species, and produces throughout the 
year a profusion of brilliant red flowers. The fruit is dark red. 
O. brasiliensis, though succeeding in the open, does not escape 
injury from frost and has therefore been put under glass. The 
first specimen was hrought from Kew by Mr. Daniel Hanbury, in 
July, 1868. O.caracasana was received from Dr. Weber, of Paris, 
in 1901, and later on from the Botanic Garden at Catania. Its 
very curious flowers and fruits were first described from our 
specimens. 
O. cholla was also received from Dr. Weber. 
O. chlorotica came from the New York Botanic Garden. 
O. cochinelifera was brought from Kew by Mr. Daniel Hanbury 
in May, 1868. 
O. crimfera was bought from M. Pfersdorff, of Paris, by Mr. 
Daniel Hanbury in April, 1872. We have now large bushes of 
this fine species. Young plants, especially when growing in the 
shade, form a trunk covered with long white hair (O. senzlis Parm.). 
O. decumana Haworth was brought from Kew by Mr. Daniel 
Hanbury in May, 1868. This name has remained rather obscure. 
Schumann in his monograph does not describe the plant, he 
simply mentions it in a footnote after the description of O. Fcus- 
indica, together with O. elongata and O. gymnocarpa. The latter 
is of more recent introduction, whilst O. elongata was recog- 
nized, without a doubt, among our Opuntias by the late Dr. A. 
Weber. Haworth’s description* of O. decwmana can only be ap- 
plied to the plant known in gardens as O. Labouretiana Console. 
* Haworth, Revisio Plantarum Succulentarum, p. 71. 
