GRIFFITHS: NEW SPECIES OF OPUNTIA 89 
rind greenish, and pulp nearly colorless, oval in outline, 3.5-4 X 
4.5-5.5 cm., slightly to deeply pitted, areoles tawny, subcircular, 
with prominent wool 1-2 mm. in diameter, spicules yellow, 1-2 
mm. long, fugacious spines, delicate, 10 cm. long. [PLATE 2.] 
This species is more closely related to O. chlorotica Engelm. & 
Bigel. (PLATE 3) than any other described, but it is a larger, 
more robust plant throughout and possesses very different spina- 
tion. The seeds and the fruits are also quite different. “It is 
apparently quite widely distributed in the California- Nevada- 
Arizona Desert. The type was collected between Nipton, Cali- 
fornia, and Searchlight, Nevada, in April, 1912, under my inven- 
tory number 10530, when young plants were transferred into 
cultivation and are still growing, slowly but vigorously. 
’ Opuntia semispinosa sp. nov. 
An erect shrub 1-1.5 m. high and having a spread under 
normal conditions of 2 m. or more, either open or compactly 
branched, growing mostly in thickets but occasionally isolated 
individuals; joints obovate, mostly pointed above and _ below, 
about 12 X 25 cm., dark green with a little bloom; areoles broadly 
obovate to subcircular, 5 mm. in length, enlarging to subcircular 
or even transversely elongated and often 6-8 mm. in diameter, 
dirty tawny-gray but a lighter tawny with prominent wool when 
young; leaves subulate, terete, cuspidate, reddish tipped, 8-10 
mm. long; spicules yellow, numerous, formidable, occupying one 
half of areole, very unequal, the upper crescentic, compact, first 
developed tuft 4 mm. long, the others below more scattering 
towards center of areole 1 cm. long, continuing to increase with 
age, especially in numbers; spines white and some of the more 
central larger ones brownish tinged at base, tips yellowish or 
simply transluscent-bonelike, some flattened, angular, twisted, at 
one or two years very faintly when at all annular, usually no trace 
of annulation; flowers 6-7 cm. in diameter, yellow with tinge of 
red in the upper part of ribs making them appear a trifle deep- 
yellow to orange in the upper part of the ribs and lighter-greenish 
tinged in center, filaments yellow, greenish at very base, style 
light-red, very large, sometimes I cm. in diameter at the largest 
point, stigma light green, eight- to ten-parted, buds light olive 
with a tinge of red in the tip, the outer sepals being mostly recurved 
in bud; fruit purplish red throughout, about 34 X 50 mm. 
obovate with broad, nearly flat umbilicus, areoles large, 3-4 mm. 
in diameter with prominent tawny wool; spicules yellow, about 
2 mm. long, fugacious spines, conspicuous, numerous, 4-12 mm. 
