308 Select Plants for Industrial Culture and 



Opuntia Hernandezii, Be Oandolle. 



Mexico. Also affords food for the Cocous Cacti. 



Opuntia TCissouriensis, De Candolle. 



From Nebraska to New Mexico. Very hardy. Professor Meehan 

 found this Cactus covered with the Cochineal- Coccus, and points to 

 the fact, that this insect will live through the intense cold, which 

 characterizes the rocky mountains of the Colorado-regions. 



Opuntia Rafinesquii, Engelmann. 



A prickly Pear of North- America. The most northern of all 

 species, extending to Lake Michigan. It resists severe frosts, as 

 do also 0. brachyantha, O. Comanchica, O. humilis [Mayer] O. 

 Whipplei, O. oplocarpa, 0. arborescens and Mammillaria Missour- 

 iensis [Loder, Meehan]. 



Opuntia spinosissima, Miller. 



Mexico and West-Indies. Stem columnar, with pendent branches. 

 Also a good hedge-plant. Harding recommends for hedges, besides 

 these species, O. maxima (Miller) as the most repellent. 



Opuntia Tuna, Miller. 



West-Indies, Ecuador, New Granada, Mexico. Irrespective of 

 its value as a principal cochineal-plant, this cactus is also of use 

 for hedges. It will attain a height of 20 feet. The pulp of the 

 fruit is edible. With many other species hardy anywhere in 

 Australia down to the south-coast. Of Cochineal Great Britain 

 imported in 1884 14,100 cwt., value 80,000. 



Opuntia vulg-aris, Miller. 



The ordinary " Prickly Pear." Central America, northward to 

 Georgia, southward to Peru. Very hardy. Adapted for big- 

 hedges, and like the rest not inflammable, hence particularly 

 valuable along railway-lines. The fruit almost smooth, eatabJe. 

 A dye can also be prepared from its pulp and that of allied species. 

 Numerous other species are industrially eligible for hedging 

 purposes, but sometimes spreading much beyond control, particu- 

 larly in warm climes. Don F. de la Camera states, that in rocky 

 ground at Malaga, the fruits on fermentation and distillation give 

 about 6 per cent, alcohol. During seasons of drought the fruits 

 are sought for aiding in the feeding of cattle. Dr. Porcher found, 

 that through prickly pears the tallow for candlemaking can be 

 more hardened. See also notes in Dyer's Kew Bulletin, 1888, p. 

 170-171, on various uses of Opuntias. In Texas, Cacteee of many 

 sorts are thoroughly scorched, and then cut up for dairy- feed, given 

 along with other sustenance. 



