CACTUS FAMILY CACTACEAE 
PRICKLY PEAR 
Opuntia Rafinesquii Engelm. 
The Cactus family is strictly American in distribution 
and is largely confined to the desert regions of North and 
South America. The members assume a variety of shapes, 
from flat and sprawling to erect 
and polelike, some at least 25 
feet high. 
Leaves of the Cactus, in all 
but certain tropical species, come 
out tiny and fleshy but soon drop 
off and are replaced by prickles or 
spines. 
The only Illinois Cactus is the 
j Prickly Pear, growing in dry sandy 
or rocky soil and blooming in the 
middle of summer. It is found from 
Ohio to Minnesota and south to 
Kentucky and Texas. 
This is a prostrate plant with 
very fleshy branching stems made 
up of flattened joints, one of which 
is shown. The leaves are very 
small and awl shaped and soon fall 
off, but the stems are a deep green 
and carry on the work of food manu- 
facture. In the axils of the leaves are 
clusters of short barbed bristles and 
often longer spines as well. The 
bristles are bright reddish brown 
and the spines are whitish but may be red at base and tip. 
The large brilliant flowers are yellow but often have a reddish 
center. They open only in sunshine, but for several days in 
succession. The flower parts are attached above the ovary. 
The green sepals are numerous and spreading and there are 10 
or 12 petals. Stamens are very numerous and arranged in 
several rows. There is only 1 style but several stigmas. The 
ovary matures into a pear-shaped, fleshy and edible berry nearly 
2 inches long. 
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