ORDER 54 CACTACE^E. 359 



ORDER LIV. CACTACE^E. INDIAN FIGS. 



Stems succulent and shrubby, usually angular or 2-edged or jointed. Leaves 

 almost always wanting; priddes numerous and formidable. Flowers solitary, usu- 

 ally showy and of short duration. Sepals and petals often indefinite and confounded 

 with each other, the sepals from the surface, and tho petals from the summit of tho 

 ovary. Stem. CO ; Jttaments long and filiform ; anth. ovate, versatile. Ovaries in- 

 ferior, 1-celled, fleshy, with parietal placenta. Style single, filiform, with several 

 stigmas in a star-like cluster. Fr. succulent Seeds numerous, parietal or in tho 

 pulp, exalbuminous. (lllust. in fig. 47, b.) 



Genera IS, species about 800, all peculiarly American, no one bavin? ever been found in inv 

 other quarter of the globe. They abound in the deserts of New MexFco and 8mtlw?rl ffi 

 prickly pear <Opunlia vulgaris) is the only species found native as far north as N York " Their 

 aspect is peculiar, usually distinguishable ut sight. 



Stigmas ce. Calyx tube not prolonged. Berry tubercular, umbilicate OPTTHTIX 1 



Stigmas &--> . Calyx tube prolonged above the ovary. Berry areolatc, &c CKUKUS 2 



Stigmas 5 to 7. Calyx tube prolonged. Berry smooth. Axis grooved MELOCACTUS 3 



Ca!yi tube short Berry smooth. Axis mammiferous MA.MMKLLARIA 4 



1. OPURTIA, Tourn. PRICKLY PEAR, (Opuntlana was a country 

 near Phocis, where this was said to be naturalized.) Sepals and petals 

 numerous, adnate to the o vary, not produced into a tube above it; 

 stamens oo, shorter than the petals; style with numerous, thick, erect 

 stigmas ; berry umbilicate at apex, tuberculatc, cotyledons semiterete. 

 Shrubby plants, with articulated branches, the joints usually broad 

 and flattened, with fascicles of prickles, regularly arranged upon the 

 surface, 



O. vulgaris Mill. Prostrate, creeping ; joints ovate ; prickles numerous in each 

 fascicle, often with several subulate spines ; Ivs. minute, subulate from a broad 

 base ; fls. yllow. A curious, fleshy plant, native in rocky and sandy places, 

 Mass, to Fla. W. to Iowa. The singular form resembles a series of thick, fleshy 

 leaves, 4 to G' long, |- as wide, growing from the tip or sides of each other, and 

 armed with orange -colored spines from the edge of the joints, large, bright-yellow, 

 and succeeded by a smooth, crimson, eatable fruit.* f (Cactus opuntia L.) 



2. CE V REUS, DC. Sepals very numerous, imbricated, adnate to the 

 base of the ovary and united into a long tube above it, the outer shorter, 

 the inner petaloid ; -stamens indefinite, coherent with the tube, stylo 

 liliform, with many stigmas; berry scaly with the remains of the sep- 

 als ; cotyledons none \ Fleshy shrubs, with woody, prismatic axes, 

 armed with clusters of spines. Fls. from the clusters of spines. 



Stock nnd branches compressed, somewhat leaf-like Nos. 13 



Stock and branches angular-cylindrical, creeping Nos. 4, 5 



1 C. phyllaiitlms DC. SPLEENWORT. Branches ensiform, Compressed, 

 serrate ; fls. with the terete, slender tube much longer than the limb of the pet- 

 als. From S. Am. The articulations of the stem are 2f or more long, 2' wide, 

 weak, bordered with large, obtuse serratures, and traversed lengthwise by a cen- 

 tral, cylindrical, woody axis. Fls. white, 9 to 12' long, expanding by night, 

 fragrant, f 



2 C. phyllanthoides DC. Branches ensiform, compressed, obovate, with 

 spreading, rounded teeth ; fls. arising from the lateral crenatures of the brandies; 

 tube shorter than the limb of the petals. From Mexico. A splendid flower, 

 with leaf-like, fleshy joints, each 6 to 10' long, 1 to 2' wide. Fla rose-colored, 

 4' in length, expanding by day. 



3 C. truncatus L. Branching; joints short-compressed, serrate, truncate 

 at the summit; fls. arising from the summit of the joints; sty. longer than tho 

 stam. or reflexed pet. From Brazil. A very distinct species, a foot or more 

 high. Joints 2 to 3' long, 1 to 1 ' wide, leaf-like. Fls. 2 to 3' long, pink-colored. 

 f (Cactus L.) 



