520 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. [1885. 



their fruit, so that, although the plant is abundant, the berry exactly 

 ripe and untouched by insects is never common. Whenever the trav- 

 eler notices the pink fruit, glowing through the long spiny straws beset- 

 ting the stem, he seldom fails to dismount and secure it, even at the 

 risk of getting his hands badly punctured. 



Cereus dubius, Eng., and C. enneacanthus, Eng. 



Species allied to the preceding and common from El Paso down to 

 the Lower Rio Grande ; edible fruit, varying in size and quality, seldom 

 ripening. 



Cereus dasyacanthus, Eng. 



About El Paso and downward to the Oauon of the Rio Grande, on 

 rocky hills. " Fruit subglobose, 1 inch in diameter, green or greenish 

 purple, when fully ripe delicious to eat, much like a gooseberry." 



Echiuocactus longehamatus, Galeotti. (Turk's Head.) 



Common along the Rio Grande, specially in the Great Bend country. 

 Heads 1 to 2 feet in diameter, with long, hooked spines. Fruit ripening 

 in September, 1 to 2 inches long, red, and as delicious as that of the 

 Strawberry Cactus. 



E. horizontlialonius, Lemaire, and perhaps others, under the name of 

 Bisagre, are sliced, candied in Mexican sugar and kept in confection- 

 eries. 



Mamillaria meiacantha, Eng. 



Common at San Antonio and southwestward into the Great Bend. 

 The oblong scarlet berries, an inch or less long, are very good to eat. 



Mamillaria tuberculosa, Eng. 



Common west of Devil's River. The red berries are also very palata- 

 ble. 



Opuntia Engelmanni, Salm. (Prickly Pear.) 



Tills and other species of flat-jointed Opuntia, known under the name 

 of Nopal,* abound all over Southern and Western Texas. 



The joints, erroneously called "leaves," are readily eaten by cattle 

 and sheep for which they are an important article of food. It is well, 

 as far as practicable, to make them undergo a preliminary scorching 

 for a few moments, over a bright fire, to burn off the bristles and blunt 

 the spines. I have seen cattle eating Nopal leaves with great relish in 

 the open field, although there was good green Grama near by, seemingly 

 indifferent to the many bristles and spines sticking to their noses. There 

 are times when they prefer them to any other food. These leaves con- 

 tain a large proportion of water and often save cattle and sheep from 

 great suffering in dry seasons. If the time of drought be much pro- 



* The Mexican names Nopal and Tuna should not be confounded ; the former refers 

 to the leaves, the latter to the fruit of the several species of Prickly Pear. 



