388 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



in rows along a kind of ribs. The torch thistles rise 

 to a greater height, in prismatic or cylindrical stalks, 

 with projecting ribs; and they are very much jointed 

 and branched. The creeping cereuses are like the 

 former, only the stems are much slenderer, and the 

 joints much more flexible, so that they cannot sup- 

 port themselves, but lie along the ground, or climb 

 up trees, in doing which they throw out roots from 

 the stem, like ivy. The Indian figs have the portions 

 or lobes of the stem flattened, like the sole of a shoe; 

 they are scattered over with spines; and the flowers 

 are produced from the extremities of the remotest 

 branches. The Phyllanthus, or spleen-wort leaved, 

 has the lobes flattened so as to resemble leaves in- 

 dented at the edges, and without any spines, the 

 flowers appearing nearly in the indentations; while 

 the Barbadoes gooseberry ( Cactus pereskia) has a 

 round stalk, with leaves which are thick and flat, 

 and come alternately from the stalk; the spines are 

 large and stiff, and appear chiefly at the junctions of 

 the leaves with the stem; at which places, also, the 

 flowers make their appearance. The flowers vary in 

 form, some being pitcher-shaped, and some elon- 

 gated; and many of them are of the most brilliant 

 colours. The fruit varies from the size of a currant 

 to the size and shape of a fig; from which latter 

 circumstance, and their being natives of the West 

 Indies, and the adjoining countries, they are called 

 Indian figs. Throughout the West Indies, Mexico, 

 and the other cultivated parts of tropical America, 

 the larger species of the cactus are used for hedge- 

 rows, the strength of the stems, and formidable 

 armature of the spines, rendering a hedge of them 

 proof against animals. 



The fruit of several of the species is eaten; but 

 those which are most esteemed are the opuntia, or 

 Indian fig; the triangularis, or strawberry-pear 



