ORDER 54. CACTACE^E. 359 



' ORDER LIV. CACTACILE. INDIAN FIGS. 



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

 almost always wanting ; prickles 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 the petals from the summit of the 

 ovary. Siam. oo ; filaments long and filiform ; anth. ovate, versatile. Ovaries in- 

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

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

 pulp, exalbuminous. (Illust. in fig. 47, 6.) 



Genera 18, specie* about 800, all peculiarly American, no one having ever been found in any 

 other quarter of the globe. They abound in the deserts of New Mexico and southward. The 

 prickly pear (Opuntia vulgaris) is the only species found native as far north as N. York. Their 

 iispect is peculiar, usually distinguishable at sight. 



Stigmas cr> . Calyx tube not prolonged. Berry tubercular, uuibicate OPTJXTIA 



Stigmas co . Calyx tube prolonged above the ovary. Berry areolate. fcc CKRECS 



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



Calyx tube short. Berry smooth. Axis mammiferous MAMMELLEBIA 4 



1. OPUNTIA, Tourn. PRICKLY PEAR. (Opuntiana was a country 

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

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

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

 stigmas ; berry umbillicate at apex, tuberculate, 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. yellow. 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 6' long, f 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'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, style 

 iiliform, 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 and branches compressed, somewhat leaf-like Nos. 16 



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



1 C. phyllantlrus 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 branches ; 

 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. Fls. rose-colored, 

 4' in length, expanding by day. 



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

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

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

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

 f (Cactus L.) 



