874 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



colored, yellow, greenish, reddish, or brown, 3 to 5.5 cm. broad ; ovary tuber- 

 culate, with large areoles bearing wool, glochids, and long deciduous bristles ; 

 fruit persisting for months, sometimes for a year, 2.5 to 4 cm. long, at first 

 somewhat tuberculate, becoming pear-shaped or globose, sometimes proliferous ; 

 seeds white, 5 mm. broad. 



The fruit of this species was eaten by the Pima Indians of Arizona, either 

 raw or prepared like that of 0. imbricota. 



15. Opuntia lloydii Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 292. 1909. 

 Central Mexico ; type from Hacienda de Cedros, Zacatecas. 



Much branched, 2 to 3 meters high and nearly as l)road ; joints terete, 2 cm. 

 in diameter ; tubercles prominent, oblong ; spines few, on last year's joints 3, 

 reddish, 1.5 cm. long ; flowers 3 cm. long, opening after midday ; petals 15 mm. 

 long, dull purple ; filaments olive-green below, purplish above ; style rose- 

 colored ; ovary yellowish, strongly tuberculate, naked ; fruit 3 cm. long, yellow 

 to orange, slightly tuberculate. 



16. Opuntia imbricata (Haw.) DC. Prodr. 3: 471. 1S28. 

 Cereus imbricatus Haw. Rev. PI. Succ. 70. 1828. 

 Opuntia rosea DC. Prodr. 3: 471. 1828. 



Opuntia deeipiens DC. Mem. Mus. Hist. Nat. 17: 118. 1828. 



Opuntia exuviata DC. Mem. Mus. Hist. Nat. 17: 118. 1828. 



Opuntia arborescens Engelm. in Wisliz. Mem. North. Mex. 90. 1848. 



Opuntia magna Griffiths, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 27: 23. 1914. 



Opuntia spinotecta Griffiths, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 27: 24. 1914. 



Central and northern Mexico. Southwestern United States. 



Treelike, often 3 meters high or larger, with a more or less definite woody 

 trunk 25 cm. in diameter ; ultimate joints 2 to 3 cm. in diameter, strongly 

 tuberculate ; tubercles 2 to 2.5 cm. long, flattened laterally ; spines 8 to 30, 

 2 to 3 cm. long, brown, covered with papery sheaths ; flowers borne at ends 

 of branches, 4 to 6 cm. long, sometimes 8 to 9 cm. broad, purple ; ovary 

 tuberculate, bearing a few bristles from some of the upper areoles; fruit 

 naked, yellow, 2.5 to 3 cm. long, strongly tuberculate or, when long persistent, 

 smooth; seeds 2.5 to 3.5 mm. in diameter. " Xoconochtli " (Hernandez); 

 " xoconostle," "joconoxtle" (Jalisco); "joconostle" (Zacatecas); " car- 

 denche " (Durango, Zacatecas) ; " tasajo " (Chihuahua) ; " coyonostle " (Nuevo 

 Le6n, Coahuila) ; " coyonoxtle " (Ochoterena) ; " coyonostli " (Nuevo Le6n) ; 

 "tuna joconoxtla " (Jalisco); "tuna huell " (Griffiths); " velas de coyote," 

 " entraiia " (New Mexico). 



In many parts of its range this is an abundant and characteristic plant, 

 often forming extensive thickets. In early times a decoction of the fruit was 

 used to set cochineal dye, and it is said to be so employed even at the present 

 time. The stems contain a hard woody framework resembling a network after 

 tl»e soft tissue has been removed, and they are often made into canes. Among 

 the Penitentes, a religious organization of the Southwest, it was formerly 

 the custom, among other similar practices, during Holy Week to march in 

 processions with large bundles of the very spiny stems bound upon their 

 naked backs. 



The Pimas of Arizona formerly consumed quantities of the hard fruits of a 

 related species. These were cooked over night in pits filled with heated stones, 

 then dried in the sun, after which the spines were removed, and the fruit stored 

 for later use. Thus prepared, the fruit was boiled and salted and eaten with 

 pinole, or it was cooked with meat or various herbs. 



Opuntia cardenche Griffiths* is perhaps a synonym of this species, or possibly 

 referable to O. kleiniae. 



' Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 19: 259. pi. 21. 1908. 



