326 FicoiDE^. (marigold family.) 



gradually assuming the asj^ect of petals / petals nwinerous^ 

 inserted on the calyx^ showy — Stamens numerous, with long, 

 slender filaments, inserted on the inside of the tube or cup 

 formed by the union of the calyx-lobes and petals. Style 

 1 ; stigmas nunierous. Fruit a 1-celled berry, with numerous 

 campylopterous seeds on several parietal placentae. Albumen 

 little or none. 



OPU^^TIA, Tourn. Prickly Pear. SuUeir. 



Sepals leaf -like; tube above ovary 0. Petals obovate, spreading^ 

 Stamens shorter than petals. Style cylindrical, constricted at base. 

 Stigmas nmuerous, fleshy. Berry ovate, umbilicate at apex, tubercled, 

 usually prickly — Shrubs with terete trunk, flattened, ovoid or oblong 

 branches, and quincuncial tufts of barbed prickles and simple thorns, 

 arranged S23irally. Flowers arising from tufts or margins. Stamens 

 somewhat irritable to the touch. 



1. O. Ficu§-Inclica, Haw. 5 Indian Fig, Sulleir. Joints 

 ovate-oblong, .4 to .5 long, obtuse at both ends. Spines .02 to .04 long, 

 slender. Flowers yellow. Fruit . 1 long, ellipsoidal-truncate, edible — 

 Summer — In hedges ; everywhere to 1200 m. One of the most charac- 

 teristic features of the landscape. 



2. O. cocliiiiillifera, Mill. 5 Joints ovate-oblong, .4 to .5 long, 

 nearly unarmed. Spines slender, blackish, Flowers reddish. Fruit 

 crimson — Summer — About jSTablus ; cultivated for the cochineal 

 bug, which is called in Arabic dudi. 



Order XL VIII. FlCOIDEiE, Juss. (Fig-Marigold Family.) 



Fleshy herhs^ with 7'egular, hermaphrodite floioers ; 

 petals 00 , inserted on calyx-tube .^ or ; stamens co , perigy- 

 nous. nserted on calyx-tube ^ ovary coherent to calyx-tube^ 

 or free.) enclosed in it^ many- or l-l-ceXled^ ovules oo or solitary^ 

 inserted on placentm adtmte to central angle, amphitropousj 

 capside corky or woody, loculicidal at apex or circum^scissile; 

 embryo curved or anmdar, surrounding the albumen. 

 * Calyx-tube adherent to ovary. Petals linear. 



1. MEISEMBRY ANTHEM Ulfl, L. Mesembryanthemum. 



Ghassul. 



Calyx-limb 5-parted. Capsule nearly pentagonal, 5-celled, the 

 apex depressed, and opening by a star-shaped split — (Ours) Annual 

 herbs with dichotomous branches, and white flowers. 



1. M, crystallmum, L. (D Ice Plant. Ghassul. Procum- 

 bent, densely covered with pellucid vesieleSy tchich glisten in the su7i like 

 'particles of glass. Leaves altern^ate, flat, ohovate, wavy, the radical broad- 

 er, petioled, opposite. Flowers nearly sessile ; calyx-lobes ovate, 

 unequal in breadth ; petals longer than calyx — May and June — Sandy 

 p laces near coast ; Ashkelon, and southward. 



