882 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HEEBAEIUM. 



porrect or a little spreading, but never reflexed, the larger ones much flattened, 

 t he longest 5 cm. long ; glochids numerous, brown with yellowish tips ; flowers 

 large, yellow ; fruit 3.5 to 4 cm. long, red ; seeds 3 to 4 mm. broad. 



52. Opuntia discata Griffiths, Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 19: 266. 1908. 

 Northern Sonora. Arizona, the type from the Santa Rita Mountains. 

 Plants bushy, spreading, sometimes 1.5 meters high ; joints thick, orbicular 



to broadly obovate, 25 cm. in diameter or less, pale bluish green, somewhat 

 glaucous; areoles rather few, distant, in age becoming very large, filled with 

 short brown wool ; spines usually 2 to 4, sometimes 7 or more in old areoles, 2 

 cm. long or more, grayish with dark bases, somewhat flattened ; flowers 9 to 10 

 era. broad, light yellow, darker near the center; fruit magenta, pyriform, 6 

 to 7 cm. long. 



53. Opuntia rastrera Weber, Diet. Hort. Bois 896. 1898. 

 lOpuntia liicens Griffiths, Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 19: 269. 1908. 

 San Luis Potosl. 



Creeping plant ; joints circular to obovate, the largest 20 cm. in diameter ; 

 spines white, several from an areole, the longest 4 cm. long; glochids yellow; 

 flowers yellow ; fruit purple, acid, oboyoid. " Cuija." 



54. Opuntia fuliginosa Griffiths, Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 19: 262. 1908. 

 Jalisco ; type from Guadalajara. 



. Tall, treelike, 4 meters high or more, much branched ; joints orbicular to 

 oblong, 30 cm. long or less, shining ; areoles distant ; spines few, rarely as 

 many as 6, dull brown or horn-colored, the longest 4 cm. long, slightly twisted ; 

 glochids yellow to brown ; flowers at first yellow but in age red, 5 to 6 cm. 

 long (including the ovary) ; fruit pyriform to short-oblong, 3 to 4 cm. long, red; 

 seeds 5 mm. broad. 



55. Opuntia scheeri Weber, Diet. Hort. Bois 895. 1898. 

 Mexico. 



About 1 meter high, branching at base, the lower branches sprawling over 

 the ground ; joints oblong to orbicular, 15 to 30 cm. long, bluish gi'een ; areoles 

 circular, elevated, filled with short brown wool ; spines 10 to 12, yellow, 

 acicular, each surrounded by a row of long, white or yellow hairs ; fiowers 

 large, pale yellow, in age salmon-colored ; fruit globular, red, juicy, truncate ; 

 seeds 4 mm. broad, with a broad irregular margin. 



56. Opuntia chlorotica Engelm. & Bigel. Proc. Amer. Acad. 3: 291. 1856. 

 Sonora and Baja California. New Mexico to California. 



Erect-bushy, sometimes 2 meters high or more, with a definite trunk ; 

 main branches nearly erect ; joints ovate to orbicular, sometimes broader 

 than long, 15 to 20 cm. long, more or less glaucous, bluish green ; areoles 

 closely set, prominent; spines yellow, several, most of them usually appressed 

 and reflexed, setaceous, 3 to 4 cm. long; glochids yellow, numerous, elongate, 

 persistent ; flowers yellow, 6 to 7.5 cm. broad ; fruit purple without, green 

 within, 4 cm. long ; seeds small. 



57". Opuntia dillenii (Gawler) Haw. Suppl. PI. Succ. 79. 1819. 



Cactus dillenii Gawler in Edwards, Bot. Reg. 3: pi. 255. 1818. 



Eastern coast of Mexico. West Indies and southeastern United States. 



Low spreading bushes growing in broad clumps and often forming dense 

 thickets, or tall and much branched, 2 to 3 meters high, sometimes with definite 

 terete trunks ; joints obovate to oblong, 7 to 40 cm. long, bluish green, some- 

 what glaucous, but bright green when young, the areoles somewhat elevated; 



