r,*^"^^. 



A DESIRABLE FORM, READY TO HAND 



The Mexican population of Southern Texas is believed to have produced this admiralale spine- 

 less prickly pear, Opuniia ellisiana, by conscious or unconscious selection of the hardy 

 but usually spinv native species. Here the spines have not only been abolished, but 

 the spicules have been almost wholly eliminated, as well. In nearly all other spineless 

 forms, the spicules are more numerous. The fleshy hooks on the young joints at the 

 top are rudimentary leaves, which will soon drop off. Professor J. C. Ellis of the Univer- 

 sity of Texas first discovered this form among the Mexicans in the outskirts of Corpus 

 Christi, Texas. It is hoped that the hardiness of the form here shown, which will endure 

 a temperature of close to zero, Fahrenheit, can be combined with the valuable commercial 

 qualities of other parents, and an ideal spineless cactus produced for the Southwestern 

 States. (Fig. 19.) 



