Optjntia. CACTACE^. 245 



finally losing their connection with the placentae, and immersed in the pulp. 

 Albumen none. Embryo with a thick obtuse radicle : cotyledons often united 

 or nearly wanting. — Succulent shrubby plants of singular habit ; the stems 

 usually somewhat globose, angular, 2-edged, or foliaceons and jointed, mostly 

 destitute of true leaves. Buds spluy. Flowers mostly large and showy, 

 solitary, sessile. 



1. OPUNTIA. Tourn.inst.t. 122; Endl. gen. 5161. INDIAN FIG. 



[A name of Theophrastus, applied to this genus.] 



Sepals and petals not produced into a tube, spreading. Stamens shorter than the petals. 

 Style cylindrical, constricted at the base : stigmas 3-8, thick, erect. Berry ovoid, umbili- 

 cate at the summit, tuberculate, often prickly. Embryo somewhat spiral, nearly terete. — 

 Shrubby plants with jointed branches ; the joints mostly compressed and dilated, bearing 

 tufts of bristles or prickles. Flowers yellow or red, arising from the clusters of prickles, 

 or along the margin of the joints. DC. 



1. Opuntia vulgaris, 3Iill. , Common Indian Fig, or Prickly Pear. 



Prostrate or somewhat assurgent, diffuse and creeping ; joints ovate ; prickles short and 

 very numerous, often with several strong subulate spines; fruit crimson. — Mill. diet. t. 191 ; 

 DC. prodr. 3. j). 474 ; Hook. hot. mag. t. 2393 ; Torr. ^ Gr.fl. N. Am. 1. p. 555. Cactus 

 Opuntia, Linn. ; Michx. fl. \. p. 282 ; Pursh, Jl. 1. p. 327 ; Nutt. gen. l.p. 296 ; Ell. sk. 

 l.p. 537; Torr. Jl. I. p. 466. ■ 



Plant usually growing in tufts ; the branches often more or less assurgent : joints very 

 fleshy, '3-6 inches long : tufts of bristles arranged (as in all the genus) in a quincuncial or 

 spiral order ; the bristles very slender, rigid and acute, barbed. Spines, when present, about 

 three-fourths of an inch long, and of a yellowish color. Flowers more than two inches in 

 diameter, usually several on the margin of the upper joints. Sepals ovate-lanceolate, acumi- 

 nate. Petals 'iright yellow, mucronate. Stamens very numerous : filaments smooth : anthers 

 linear. Style longer than the stamens. Fruit nearly two inches long, obovate, nearly smooth, 

 pulpy and eatable. 



On rockr^ and in sandy fields ; common around New- York and on Long Island ; rare on the 

 Hudson above West-Point. The most northern locality in the State is Fairfield, where it was 

 found by Prof. Hadley. At ManhaltanviUe, on the Island of New-York, I have found it with 

 the strong yellow spines which it so commonly bears in the Southern States. Fl. June - July. 

 JV. August. 



