MamilUiria. CACTACEtI*:. 248 



ill many series, the coliering bases of all of which coat the inferior 1 -celled iiiaiiy- 



ovuled ovary, and above it form a tube or cup, nectariferous at base. Style 1, 



with several or numerous stigmas. Fruit a pulpy or rarely dry 1 -celled berry, 



with numerous campylotropous seeds (without or with some albumen) on several 



parietal placentae. 



An order of few genera, comprising a large innnl)cr of species, i)eculiar to the warmer parts of 

 America, and confined in California to the southern and southeastern districts. 



suiioHDKH 1. cAcri':,!':. 



No leaves proper : spines never barbed. Flower-bearing and spine-bearing areolne 

 distinct. Tube of the sessile solitary flowers well developed, often long. Seeds 

 brown or black, mostly small. — The limits between the genera are arbitrary. 



1. Mamillaria. Globose or oval plants, covered with spine-bearing tubercles. Flowei-s (usually 



small) from between the tubercles. Ovary naked. Seeds without albumen. 



2. Echinocactus. Globose or oval plants, stouter than the last, usually ribbed ; bundles of 



spines on the ribs. Flowers mostly larger, from the youngest part of the ribs clo.se above 

 the nascent bunches of spines. Ovary covered with sepals. Seeds albuminous. 



3. Cereus. Oval or columnar ])laiits, sometimes tall, ril)bed or angled ; bundles of spines on the 



ribs. Flowers usually larger, close above bundles of full grown (older) spines. Ovary 

 covered with sepals. Seeds without albumen. 



Si'nounRK n. OPUNTIE/E. 



Leaves small, subulate, early deciduous. Sessile and solitary flowers from the 

 same areola as the always barbed spines : tube <if the (lowi^-s short, cui)-shaped. 

 Seeds larger, whitish, covered with a bony arillus. 



4. Opuntia. branching or jointed jilants : joints flattonod or cylindrical. 



SuiiouDKii III. l'EIRES('IF/K, with flat persistent leaves, sjiines never barbed, flowci-s 

 usually peduncled and often ]wnicnlate, with a very short tul)e, and large black albuminous secd.s, 

 includes the genus Pc.ire.icia of the tropics, in aspect very unlike the rest of the order. No species 

 have been found in California, but they may be e.xpected in the Peninsula. 



1. MAMILLARIA, ll.nvorth. 



Flowers about as long as wide ; the tube canipanulate or funnel-shaped. Ovary, 

 often hidden between the bases of the tubercles, as well as the exsert succulent 

 berry, naked. Seeds yellowish-brown to black, exalbuminousor nearly so. Embryo 

 mostly short and straight, with extremely short cotyledons parallel to the sides of 

 the seed. — Small more or less globose or oval simple or cespitosc jdantg, the spine- 

 bearing areolic borne on cylindric, oval, conic, or angular tubercles, which cover the 

 body of the plant. Flowers from a distinct woolly or bristly areola at the base 

 of these tubercles, fully open in sunlight, mostly only for a few hours. 



§ 1. Floirrrs umally small, lateral from the axils of older or full -<jr own tubercles. 

 Our species have limpid juice and exsert ovaries. — EuMAMliiLARiA. 



1. M. GrOOdridgii, Scheer. Oval to subcylindrical, mostly single, covered with 

 crowded ovate tubercles and a den.se mass of gray and ilusky thin sj)ines ; axils of 

 the younger tubercles woolly and bristly : the 10 to 15 outer spines radiating and 

 whitish ; the 1 to .'J itiiKU" ones longer, stouter and dark brown, of which l\u\ Rtout- 

 est is strongly hooked : lower sepals Iringcd : p(>lMls about H, ovate, awned : Htigmns 

 5 to G : club-shaped berry scarlet: seeds obovate, minute, black, delicately jjitted. -- 

 Salni. ('act. 1849, 91 ; Engelm. Cact. Mex. Bound. 8, t. 8, fig. 9-14. 



