INDIAN OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. 219 



Indian Fig. — Opuntia Tuna and 0. Ficus-indica and other 

 species of the Cactus family (Cactacete) have received the 

 names of Indian Figs or Prickly Pears. They are common 

 throughout the tropical and sub-tropical countries of America, 

 and since the discovery of that continent they have become 

 naturalised in Southern Europe, many countries of Africa and 

 Asia, even growing on the old walls of Jerusalem. Their stems 

 when young are fleshy and nearly flat, but in age they become 

 cylindrical, hard, and branched ; the branches consist of oblong 

 fleshy joints, superposed upon one another, smooth or more gener- 

 ally furnished with strong spines. They seldom exceed a height 

 of 10 to 12 feet, but Humboldt says he saw at Cumana "erect 

 Cactee (Cereus) and Opuntias 30 to 40 feet high, 4 feet 9 inches in 

 circumference, and covered with lichens, and the wood becomes 

 so hard from age that it resists for centuries both heat and 

 moisture." They make impenetrable hedges. Their fruits are 

 pear or egg shaped, flat at the top, 2 to 3 inches in length, 

 covered with tufts of small spines, and are of a green, yellow, 

 or red colour ; they are wholesome, and are esteemed for their 

 cooling juice. They abound on the lava slopes of Mount Etna, 

 and are the pioneers of cultivation, their roots penetrating and 

 breaking up the lava ; they naturally decay in time, forming a 

 rich vegetable mould on which vines are planted. The fruit is 

 collected and sold in large quantities in the markets, forming 

 an extensive article of food to the inhabitants. They contain 

 saccharine matter ; their juice is used for colouring confection- 

 ery, and in Mexico a drink called Colinche is prepared from 

 them. The plants grow abundantly in other parts of South 

 Europe and in Algeria, from which place the fruits are imported 

 into this country. When old the fibrous parts of the joints of 

 the stems become hard and firm, and are made into ornamental 

 articles. 



Indian Paper is made from the bark of Daphne cannahina, 

 a small tree of the Spurge Laurel family (Thymelaceoe), native 

 of India, China, and Japan. Also of the bark " of Edgeworthia 

 Gardneri, a shrub or small tree of the same family, native of 



