ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



253 



The Prickly Pei 



THE PRICKLY-PEAE FAMILY. 



liafinesque' s opuntia (0. rafinesquii.) 

 [From the Journal of Agriculture.] 



T)ii.s family comprises a number ot genera of 

 diflerent habits and appearance. They are 

 mostly natives of sandy, arid soils, and are of a 

 fleshy, succulent nature, destitute of ordinary 

 leaves, having a skin or epidermis of such a 

 nature that they part very reluctantly with any 

 of their juices by exhalation, and hence are 

 peculiarly fitted for growth upon our great 

 "Western plains, and especially on the more 

 southern, almost rainless districts of Arizona 

 and New Mexico. 



In the eastern part of our country we have 

 only one genus, Opuntia, and but very few 

 .species. The common Prickly Pear of the East- 

 ern States Is Opuntia vulgaris, Mill. In some 

 of the Western States, we have also Rafinesque's 

 Opuntia {Opuntia Bajinesquii, Engel.), and 

 Opuntia 3Iissouriensis, D. C. As we proceed 

 westward and southward we find many new 

 species, and several new genera. All travelers 

 over the great Plains will remember the profu- 

 sion of these plants in that region — so plentiful, 

 indeed, as to seem to form the principal vegeta- 

 tion. Many, too, will remember the grand and 

 beautiful display sometimes seen, of miles in 



extent, covered with 

 their large and hand- 

 some yellow and red 

 blossoms. 



Ur. Engel man I), of 

 St. Louis, has carefully 

 studied our Cacti, and 

 classified tlipin in the 

 following genera : 1, 

 Mumniilaria; _', Echi- 

 nocactus ; :), Cereiis ; 

 and -t, Opuntia. The 

 ist named genus i.s 

 most numerous, and 

 comprises within our 

 limits over twenty-five 

 .species. 



It is divided into 

 two sections, viz: the 

 broad or flattened 

 kinds, and those of a 

 cylindrical form. Some 

 of these, in Arizona 

 and New Mexico, are 

 woody and arbores- 

 cent, giving a very 

 peculiar appearance to 

 those regions. 

 s''-'^' The fruit of many 



species is pulpy and edible, and in some regions 

 is an important article of sustenance for the 

 Indians who inhabit the country. The seed and 

 pulp of others furnish food fur many small 

 animals, and in the Rocky Mountains a species 

 of rat, which makes its abode in the rocks, col- 

 lects large piles of Prickly-pear and the spiny 

 branches of Grease-wood, to barricade the en- 

 trance to its nest. 



Our engraving gives a view of the Opuntia 

 Rafinesquii, Engel., one of the handsomest of 

 the genus. This is now introduced into cultiva- 

 tion by some of our florists, among others, by 

 Michel Bros., St. Louis. 



The love of flowers is such an acknowledged 

 virtue that many claim it who do not possess 

 it. It seems to me that a lady who only hires 

 a stranger to cultivate and cut her flowers, and 

 has no other use for them than the adornment 

 of her house or her person, evinces more admir- 

 ation for herself than for her flowers; and I 

 cannot help questioning the genuineness of that 

 artection, which permits the last novel to make 

 one forget to water plants, or the delicacy of 

 one's hands prevent cultivating them.— .If/-.?. T. 

 A. E. Holcomb. 



