CACTEiE. VI. OPUNTIA. 



173 



Perhaps Cactus humilis, Lag. nov. spec, is different from this. 



The plant often occurs in the gardens under the name of 0. Tuna. 



Horrid Indian-fig. Fl. July. Clt. 1795. Shrub 1 to 3 feet. 



22 O. DILLE'NII (Haw. suppl. p. 79.) plant erect; joints 

 roundish-obovate, undulated, glaucous ; prickles strong, divari- 

 cated, yellow, but the brush-like bristles by which they are sur- 

 rounded are much shorter, fy . D. S. Native of South America. 

 Dill. elth. f. 382. Cactus Dillenii, Ker, bot. reg. 255. Flowers 

 large, pale yellow. Ovarium shorter than the corolla, furnished 

 at the summit by fascicles of bristles. 



Dillenius's Indian-fig. Fl. Oct. Clt. 1810. Sh. 3 to 5 feet. 



23 O. TI/NA (Mill. diet. no. 3. Haw. 1. c.) plant erect ; joints 

 broadly ovate-oblong ; prickles subulate, long, yellow ; wool at 

 the base of the spines sjiort. tj . D. S. Native of South Ame- 

 rica, at Cuenca in Quito. Cactus Bonplandii, H. B. et Kunth, 

 nov. gen. amer. 6. p. 69. Dill. elth. 386. t. 295. f. 386. 



'lowers of an orange-colour, or iron grey-colour, or dirty red. 

 tigmas 8-10-cleft. This kind of Indian-fig makes strong 

 fences. When the Island of St. Christopher was to be divided 

 >etween the English and the French, three rows of the Tuna 



were planted by common consent between the boundaries, 

 loane. Sir James Smith, in his paper upon the irritability of 



vegetables, informs us that the long and slender stamens of the 

 lower are very irritable ; and that if a quill or feather is thrust 

 hrough them, in the space of 2 or 3 seconds they begin to lie 

 lown gently on one side, and in a short time become recumbent 



at the bottom of the flower. According to Humboldt and Bon- 

 >land the fine kind of cochineal is nourished by this plant. 

 Tuna Indian-fig. Fl. July, Aug. Clt. 1731. Sh. 3 to 6 ft. 



24 O. POLYA'NTHA (Haw. syn. p. 190.) plant erect; joints 

 oblong and ovate ; prickles very different in form, yellow, larger 

 ones setaceous, erectly spreading ; flowers numerous at the tops 

 of the branches. Tj . D. S. Native of South America. Cac- 

 tus Opuntia polyantha, D. C. pi. grass, no. 138. with a figure. 



actus polyanthos, Sims, bot. mag t. 2691. Flowers yellow. 

 Style full, not fistular as in the other species. Stigmas 6. 



Many-flowered Indian-fig. Fl. July, Aug. Clt. 1811. Shrub 

 2 to 3 feet. 



25 O. MONACA'NTHA (Willd. enum. suppl. under Cdctus, Salm- 

 Oyck in litt. ex D. C. prod. 3. p. 723.) joints obovate-oblong ; 

 >rickles solitary, subulate, strong. fj . D. S. Native of South 

 America. Cactus Opuntia Tuna, D. C. pi. grass, no. 137. t. 2. 

 taints a foot long. Flowers yellow, verging to purple beneath. 



One-spined Indian-fig. Clt. 1816. Shrub 6 to 8 feet. 



26 O. ELA'TIOR (Mill. diet. no. 4. Haw. syn. 187.) plant 

 erect ; joints broadly ovate-oblong ; prickles subulate, very long, 



jlackish, with the wool from which they rise nearly obsolete. 



. D. S. Native of South America. Cactus Tuna ft, Willd, 

 spec. 2. p. 944. Dill. elth. t. 294. f. 379. Flowers yellow, 

 varying to purple. Stigma 5-cleft. Adult stem nearly terete 

 ex Jacq. 



Taller Indian-fig. Fl. July, Aug. Clt. 1731. Shrub 6 feet. 



27 O. NI'ORICANS (Haw. syn. 189.) plant erect; joints ob- 

 long and lanceolate ; prickles very different in form, of a black- 

 ish brown-colour, larger ones divaricate. Tj . D. S. Native of 

 South America. Cactus nigricans, Haw. 137. Cactus Tunay, 

 nigricans, Sims, bot. mag. 1557. Cactus pseudo-coccinillifer, 

 Bert. exc. p. 11. virid. 18^4. p. 4. exclusive of the synonymes. 

 Flowers reddish on the outside, and yellow inside. Stigmas 5, 

 thick, greenish. 



Blackish Indian-fig. Fl. Aug. Clt. 1795. Sh. 2 to 3 feet. 



28 O. MA'XIMA (Mill. diet. ed. 8. no. 5.) plant erect ; joints 

 ovate-oblong, very thick ; spines unequal. fy . D. S. Native 

 of South America. Perhaps the same as 0. Amyclea. 



Greatest Indian-fig. Shrub 6 to 8 feet. 



29 O. TRIACA'NTHA (Willd. enum. suppl. under Cactus,) joints 



ovate-oblong; prickles whitish, usually 3 together, strong, 

 longer than the wool from which they issue. Jj . D. S. Native 

 of South America. Very nearly allied to O. polyantha ex Salm- 

 Dyck in litt. but the joints are a little larger, and the prickles 

 are white. Flowers unknown. 



Three-spmed Indian-fig. Shrub 2 to 3 feet. 



SECT. IV. PARVISPINOS^E (from parvus, small, and spinostis, 

 full of spines ; in reference to the spines being small, equal, and 

 numerous). D. C. prod. 3. p. 473. Prickles uniform, hair- 

 shaped, short or nearly wanting. 



30 O. DECUMA'NA (Haw. rev. 71.) joints ovate-oblong; 

 prickles deciduous, length of the wool from which they issue. 

 f; . D. S. Native of South America. Cactus decumanus, Willd. 

 enum. suppl. 34. O. maxima, Mill. diet. ed. 2. no. 5. Cactus 

 elongatus, Willd. enum. suppl. 31-. There are varieties of this 

 plant with either ovate or lanceolate-oblong joints, almost un- 

 armed or furnished with some short white prickles. Flowers 

 yellow. The cochineal bug thrives almost as well on this species 

 as on the next. 



Huge Indian-fig. Clt. 1768. Shrub 5 to 10 feet. 



31 O. COCHINILLI'FERA (Mill. diet. ed. 8. no. 6. Haw. syn. 

 192.) plant erect; joints obovate, nearly unarmed; petals 

 connivent ; stamens and style exserted. fj . D. S. Native of 

 South America. Cactus cochinillifera, Lin. spec. 670. Hook, in 

 bot. mag. 2741. and 2742. Dill. elth. t. 297. f. 383. Joints 

 while young oblong, areolate, at length obovate-oblong. Flowers 

 blood-coloured ex Dill, elth., small, spreading a little. Spines 

 slender, blackish. The ripe fruit is said to check fluxes by its 

 mild restringency. Flowers red. Perhaps Nopal de Castille 

 Thierr-Menonville, voy. Guax. 2. p. 278. is the same as this 

 plant. 



Of the particular species of Opuntia which nourishes the co- 

 chineal insect much doubt has existed. There is some reason to 

 believe that the Opuntia cochinillifera, Haw. Cactus, Lin is not 

 the plant which produces the best Mexican cochineal. Tilloa, 

 on the authority of well informed travellers, states that the cochi- 

 neal Cactus has no spines, and a fruit imbued with deep red 

 pulp. Clavigero, however, says, " In Misteca, where I was for 

 five years, I always saw the insect upon prickly Nopals. M. de 

 Raynal imagines that the colour of the cochineal is to be ascribed 

 to the red fig on which it lives ; but that author has been mis- 

 informed, for neither does the cochineal feed upon the fruit, but 

 only upon the green part of the plant ; nor does that species of 

 Nopal bear red, but white figs. Clavigero adds, " it may be 

 reared upon the species with red fruit, but that is not the proper 

 plant of the cochineal." M. Thierry de Menonville, who pro- 

 cured the cochineal insect, and the Opuntia on which it feeds 

 from Guaxaca in Mexico, and transported them to St. Domingo, 

 and who unquestionably had the best means of determining the 

 kinds of Cacti cultivated for the insect, describes particularly 3 

 sorts on which it may be reared, and cultivated to advantage. 

 The first is the Cactier Nopal, upon which alone the cochineal 

 is reared in Mexico, both the fine and the common sorts, 

 although there are throughout the country many other kinds of 

 Opuntia. The two following, therefore, it is presumed are em- 

 ployed in St. Domingo. 2. The Cactier splendide, which may 

 be used to equal advantage with the former ; and 3. The Cactier 

 de Campeche. Of these the first, as far as can be determined by 

 description, is the Cactus Tuna of Lin. which is the Opiintia 

 Tuna of Mill. The second appears to be very similar to 

 the former, but larger in its joints, and very glaucous. The 

 third is without doubt the Cactus cochinillifera, Lin. and which 

 he says of it from his own experience, that it may be usefully 

 employed for rearing the Cochinille sylvestre, and may even sup- 

 port a small quantity of the fine kind. Humboldt also, although 



