GRIFFITHS: NEW SPECIES OF OPUNTIA 85 
to be less woody, more spreading and therefore more easily broken 
down. Like so many other species, when grown from cuttings it 
forms a hemispherical shrub, at least for five or six years, and only 
very remotely suggests a tree form. It is often a low-spreading 
to hemispherical shrub in its native heath, but when unmolested 
it assumes the form of a tree. The plants from which our speci- 
mens were secured were 3 m. high but have not gotten over 1.5 m. 
in any of our plantations up to this time after five years of cultiva- 
tion. The species was secured originally in the vicinity of 
Brownsville, Texas, in 1908, and has been propagated vegetatively 
since that time at Brownsville and San Antonio, as well as at 
Chico, California. The type bears my collection number 10501. 
v Opuntia laxiflora sp. nov. 
A hemispherical shrub, 1 m. high and about 2 m. in spread of 
branch, main arms ascending or resting on edge, and secondary 
ones erect from them, open, lax in habit of growth; joints long- 
- obovate, mostly rather sharply rounded above, long contracted 
below into a strong stipitate base, light yellowish green, with some 
bloom, about 15 X 30 cm., prominently raised, tubercular at 
areoles for 2 years, with those on the margins very decidedly 
raised until the margins of the joints often appear notched between 
the areoles; leaves subulate, cuspidate, 8 mm. long, recurved at 
tip; areoles brown, subcircular, 4-5 mm. in diameter, 4 cm. apart; 
spicules yellow, abundant, formidable, unequal, mostly scattered 
through upper and lateral margins of areole, 7-8 mm. long, con- 
tinuing to develop the second year, when they are frequently 
decidedly brown; spines yellow, one to four, mostly two, increasing 
in age to six, faintly annular, flattened, slightly deeper colored at 
base, when two, the upper porrect, and lower reflexed, the upper 
2 cm. in length; flowers (late in the day), 8 cm. in diameter when 
fully opened, decidedly purple, the midribs of petals deep orange- 
red, and the margins purple, exteriorly petals have a strong 
orange cast also, but purple impression is given of the whole, 
lax, petals long, obovate, cuspidate, pointed, tapering to almost 
cuneate below, 5-6 cm. long, eroded-wavy above, light yellowish 
green with only a tinge of red in the apex of an occasional sepal 
in the bud, filaments tinged purplish below, style white, stigma 
light green, with six long linear divisions, ovary obovate, 34 - 
in length, its areoles prominent, tawny to gray, with a pronounc 
protuberance of wool, I-1.5 mm. high, spicules of same character 
as on joints, but there are two to seven or eight bristles 1.5 cm. 
