CACTACE^E. 123 



tough-shelled nut, or a capsule splitting all round. Seeds with 

 mealy albumen. Succulent herbs or rarely small shrubs. 

 Leaves alternate, without stipules. Flowers small, axillary. 



SESUVIUM. Linn. Sesuvium. 

 (From <7ijco<;, a bird's nest ; which the capsule resembles when open.) 



Calyx 5 -parted, persistent; lobes colored within. Stamens 

 15 30, inserted at the top of the short calycine tube. Styles 

 3 5. Capsule 3- rarely 4 5-celled, opening circularly, many- 

 seeded. 



S. Portalacastruiii Linn. : leaves linear or lanceolate-oblong, flat ; flow- 

 ers pedicelled or subsessile. 



Sandy beaches. N. J. to Flor. W. to Ark. June Sept. %. Stem succu- 

 lent. Leaves opposite, entire. Flowers solitary, axillary, reddish. " Varies 

 with flowers upon long pedicels, S. pedunculatum Pers. and with the flowers 

 subsessile, S. sessile Pers" D. C. Purslane-leaved Sesuvium. 



ORDER LV. CACTACEJ5. INDIAN FIGS. 



Sepals numerous, usually indefinite and confounded with the 

 numerous petals. Stamens indefinite ; filaments long, filiform. 

 Ovary fleshy, 1 -celled ; style filiform ; stigmas numerous. Fruit 

 a berry, 1 -celled, many-seeded. Seeds without albumen. 

 Succulent shrubs, very variable in form. Leaves mostly want- 

 ing ; when present fleshy, smooth, and entire or spine-like. 

 Flowers usually showy, sessile. 



OPUNTIA. Tourn. Indian Fig. 

 (A name given to this plant by Theophrastus.) 



Sepals numerous, leafy, adnate to the ovary ; outer ones flat, 

 short ; inner ones petal-like, obovate, rosaceous ; tube above 

 the ovary none. Stamens numerous, shorter than the petals. 

 Style cylindric, contracted at base. Stigmas many, erect, thick. 

 Berry ovoid, umbilicate at the apex, tuberculate, often bearing 

 spines. 



O. vulgaris D. C. : stems erect or procumbent, destitute of proper leaves, 

 articulately proliferous ; joints compressed, ovate ; spines setaceous ; flow- 

 ers sessile on the margin of the joints. Cactus Opuntia Linn. 



Dry rocks and sandy soils. N. Y. to Flor. W. to Miss. June, July. 1\. 

 Flowers large, yellow. Fruit obovate, umbilicate, nearly smooth, eatable. 

 Seeds numerous, immersed in the crimson pulp. 



Common Indian Fig or Prickly Pear. 



