200 GRIFFITHS: NEW AND OLD SPECIES OF OPUNTIA 
enlarged in age; spines white, short, porrect, diverging, at one year 
of age, about 1 cm. or less in length, straight, stiff, but not 
stout, all but lowermost areoles armed, very variable in number, 
averaging 2 to 5; mostly about 4, later increasing irregularly to 
6 to to and in length to 2 cm.; spicules yellow in a compact tuft 
one mm. long in upper part of areole, at first surrounded by nar- 
row zone of brown wool, but. this soon crowded out by increased 
spicular growth, not becoming any more conspicuous in age; 
flowers yellow, rather undersized, inclined to be slightly greenish 
obovate about 45x58 mm. yellowish-white, bleaching towards 
spring to a dirty white, rind same color as epidermis, pulp purplish- 
red and difficult of separation from the thick rind. 
The species is one of the stockiest and strongest growers we 
have in our plantation, but it is not rapid in its vegetative growth 
like some of the spineless forms. It is a striking species for many 
reasons. Its glaucous, gray-green color is attractive. Its fruits 
are medium sized, not edible raw, but are used cooked and pickled. 
It is remarkable from the fact that the fruits cling on the plants 
until the next season in its natural habitat, but with us in Cali- 
fornia there may be a few fruits holding over even to the third 
year. They never, however, like some other species become incor- 
porated as a permanent part of the plant. It is a remarkable 
thing also that under our conditions we seldom, if ever, have 
perfect fruits upon the plants in the spring, they being more 
subject to injury from low temperatures than the plant itself. 
Consequently, it is the rule to find practically all the fruits injured 
slightly on one side by cold weather in the spring. They, however, 
appear to mature perfectly in autumn. 
The type is preserved under my inventory No. 8086 and was 
collected originally at Aguas Calientes, Mexico, August, 1905. 
It has been grown by us successfully in the open at Brownsville, 
Texas, and at Chico, California; also under winter protection at 
San Antonio, Texas. Almost no injury occurred to it at Chico 
even in 1913 except that the plants were badly bent down by the 
weight of the snow. At both Brownsville and Chico seedlings of 
the species have been grown to maturity under outdoor conditions 
and they are indistinguishable from the parent plants, which are 
vegetatively propagated from the type collection. 
