MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 1095 



Fig. 7. — Germinating Ureclo spores («) thin-walled (b) thick-walled x500. 



S. L. AJREKAR, b.a., 

 Agricultural College, Assistant Professor of Mycology. 



PooNA, January 1912, 



No. XXXIII.— NOTES ON CACTI IN NORTH-WEST INDIA. 



A considerable number of plants belonging to the Cactaceee are to be 

 seen in cultivation in N.-W. India, and a few of them, have obtained suffi- 

 cient footing to deserve mention in local floras. The following plants as 

 far as I have observed are firmly established and are capable of holding 

 their own against, or even extending at the expense of the indigenous 

 vegetation : — 



Opuntia, S]). No. 1. — About four feet in height, as a rule spineless, occa- 

 sionally 1 ( — 3) spines in some of the tufts of bristles. Leaves ^ in. long, 

 conical, green or reddish. Joints dull, greyish-green, thick, very uniform 

 in size, usually about 6 by 2\ in. Flowers yellow. 



The commonest species in the Plains of the Punjab between the Jhelum 

 and the Sutlej, elsewhere it appears to be less common than other species. 



Opuntia, Sp. No. 2. — About five feet in height. Spines in tufts of 4-6, 

 the largest very stout awl-shaped, often somewhat curved, pale yellowish- 

 brown with a horny appearance, 1-| in. long, bristles numerous, conspicuous. 

 Leaves pale green, conical, ^ in. long from a broad base. Joints large, 

 dull, bluish green, relatively not thick, usually about ^| by ~ in. more 

 or less undulate when looked at edgeways and at the margin. Flowers 

 yellow. Found with the above but not quite so frequent. Planted in 

 hedges in Rawalpindi. 



Opuntia, Sp. No. 3. — About fcen feet in height or even more. Very like 

 Sp. No. 2 but spines slender, grey and opaque except when quite young, 

 not curved. Leaves subulate, recurved, reddish at the tip, ^ in. long. 

 Joints not undulate, relatively rather thin. Flowers orange. 



Comtnon on the Ridge at Delhi and at and around Jaipur. 



Opuntia, Sp. No. 4.— About six or eight feet in height. Spines at first 

 one or several of which one is considerably larger than the rest, as the 

 joints get older the number of spines in a tuft increases by the growth of 

 fresh spines till in old stems as many as ten spines may be seen in each tuft. 

 Leaves dark-brown, slightly recurved, J in. long. Joints bright green, 

 very variable in size and shape, narrow-oblong to broad obovate, usually 12 

 by J in. sometimes 2f feet long and broad in proportion. Flowers yellow. 



Widely distributed but not common in the Plains, the only species at 

 till common in the Sub-Himalayan tract. Haripur, Abbottabad, Mansehra, 

 Shinkiari, &c., in Hazara, in the Rawalpindi District not common, frequent 

 throughout the Kangra District at suitable elevations, at many places in 

 Hoshiarpur and Ambala Districts, Solon and Nirth in Simla District, In 



