HETEROTAXY. 179 



and then a circle of small buds, like those of the stem, 

 may be seen at the top of the fruit, each bud springing 

 from the axil of a little tuft of wool and spines found 

 on the fruit. These little buds elongate into long 

 shoots, produce flowers the following year, which 

 flowers exhibit the same peculiarity. Gasparini and 

 Tenore are said to have recorded the same fact as long 

 since as 1832. The specimen from which the figure (fig. 

 93) was taken produced its fruits in the Royal Gardens 

 at Kew, and is now preserved in the museum of that 

 estabhshment. The adventitious growth in these cases 



Fig. 93. Small buds projecting from the edges of tbe fruit in OpuiUia. 



appears to arise from the tufts of spines, which, it has 

 been suggested, are the homologues of the sepals. 

 There can, however, be little doubt that the outer and 

 lower portion of the fruit of Opuntia and its allies is a 

 dilatation of the flower-stalk. This is borne out by 

 the fruits of Pereslda, which bear leaves on their sur- 

 face arranged spirally ; indeed, the fruits of Percskia 

 Bleo are mentioned as producing buds from their 



