BOTANICAL EEPOET 



443 



OruNTiA PULCiiELLA {spcc. )iov.) :* parvulfi ca^spitosa diffusa; nrticulis 2>arvis ob- 

 ovato-clavatis; foliis minutis c basi ovata ^iibulatis; areolis confertis, supenonbus ucii- 

 leos albidos rectos, sing-ukim longiorem complanatuni porrectuni scu dcflexiim alios 



brevissimps radiantcs gerentibus; floris purpuroi OA'ario areolis 13-15 convexis albo 

 villosissimis et loiige setosis dense stipato ; sepah*s inferioribiis lliiearl-oblongis brcviter 

 cuspldatis, siiperioribiis spatidatis; petalis siib-8 obovatis obtusis, stylo cylindrlco ex- 

 serto, stigmatlbiis 5 linearibiis siiberectis; bacca sicca setoslsslniaj seminibiis crassis 

 rhaphe lata plana notatis. 



Sandy deserts on Walker River; f fl, in June. 



This is one of tlie smallest, as it is one of tlie prettiest, species of tbis genus. It 

 belongs to the small section of Clavatce (Synops, Cact. p. 4G) of the cylindric Ojnm- 

 ticCj but is distinct from all those known to me by its small joints and purple flowers; 

 all the others have, so far as I know, yellow flowers. Joints 1-1.^ inches long, A-G 

 lines thick, very slightly tuberculated; leaves scarcely one line long; arcohi} crowded^ 

 white woolly; larger central spine on the upper areohx3 4-G lines long, flat, and some- 

 what rough above, convex below; smaller ones -1-G or 10, radiating, i-lj Hues longj 

 flowers crowded, of a beantiful l)rig]it purplish-red or deep rose-red color, 1|-] 

 inches in diameter; ovary 4—5 lines long, beset with Avliite capillary spines, 3-5 hues 

 long, 15-20 on each areola; style not ventricose, as is nsual in the genus, but cylin 

 dric; stigmas slender, pale yellow; berry clavato, at last dry, about 1 inch long, well 

 marked by the conspicuous white-woolly areolae and their numerous puridish-brown, 

 flexible, hair-like bristles, 4-6 or 7 lines long. These bristles are entirely destitute of the 

 minute barbs which otherwise invariably characterize spines and bristles of Opunfuc. 

 The thick round seeds, 2 lines in diameter, are well distinguished by a broad rhaphe, 

 much wider than T have seen it in any other clavate Opiuitla, 



Plate 3, Fig, 1. Part of a plant of Op}()iti 



flowers, natural size. 

 Figs. 2-4. Bundles of spines, 4 timet! 

 Yvj. 5. Section of a laro-er snine, moi 



a flower-bud and 



Yvj:, 6. A leaf from 



natural size. 

 Fig. 7. A fruit. 



r 



oolly and bristl} 



Figs. 8-9. Seed, 4 times magnified; fig. 9 showing the broad rhaphe. 



aud cyliiulric, fresli or dark jj;reeij, usually grovvuig one on top of the otlier, forming chains of 1 or 2 feet long, at laHt 

 proirstrate; juiiitis fragile, soparatiug as readily as in O^fnujUU ; tumid pulvilli 4-G or evea 8 lines apart; leaves 2i-3J or 

 4 lines long, incurved; spines l-l J inclios loii^» very straight, wboa in throes divergent like the " crovvufoot " used again.st 

 cavalry, whence the name given by the military geutlcmon who discovered tliis sx>ccics. Flowers 1J-1| inches In 

 diameter ; sepals and peUils Jess nnmorons and narrower than in any allied species; ovary about \ inch long, with only 

 2 or 3 areola^ on the surface aud ^-5 on the upper margin. Fruit obovate, iy-l lines long, rose-purple, with a shallow 

 umbilicus, oftened crowned with the blackened remains of the flower ; areolie almost obliterated ; red pulp very gluti- 

 nous, including 1-3 or at^^most 5 seeds, which are regularly shaped, lenticular, with a narrow but thick and very 

 obtuse rim. By its pulpy fruit, tliis species is widely removed from O./rci^iVis, to which its tumid aud fragile joints seem 

 to ally it, nor can it be confounded with any other species, though allied to 0. vnhjaris and 0. liafine^qMiL 



* Au account of this species was given in the Transactions of the St. Louis Acatl. 2, p. 201 (18G3). 



\ This pretty species was afterward collected, 1867, "among the sage brushes" of Nevmla, by Mr. William Gabb 

 aud in the following year by Mr. S. Wutson ^' frequent in the valleys of Western Nevada from the Trinity Mountains 

 to Monitor Valley, 4-5,000 ftet alt." 



J^ 



