626 



A TEXT-BOOK OF BOTANY. 



FIG. 341. Prickly Pear or Indian Fig (Opuntia vulgaris), a prostrate, more or less 

 spreading cactus, composed of flattened stems bearing very small, awl-shaped and decidu- 

 ous leaves and short, yellowish-green bristles and occasionally solitary spines. The flowers 

 are pale yellow, opening in the sunshine. The fruit is a succulent berry about 2.5 cm. 

 long. Various of these cacti are used as food by the cattle, which often eat them with the 

 bristles. Frequently the spines are burnt off by the cattlemen with the use of gasolene 

 torches, so as to prevent the accumulation of spines in the stomachs of the cattle in the form 

 of phyto-bezoars, which are globular accumulations of vegetable tissues. (See p. 577.) 

 After Troth. 



