26 
“TI. Opuntia lata Small, sp. nov. 
Plant prostrate, often radially branched, sometimes forming 
mats nearly a meter in width, the tip of the branches sometimes 
assurgent, with elongate cord-like roots: joints elliptic to nar- 
rowly obovate, often narrowly so, thick, o.4-1.5 dm. long, 
deep-green, sometimes glaucous, especially when young: leaves 
subulate,6—11 mm. long, green or purple-tinged: areolae scattered, 
often conspicuous, sometimes very prominent and densely 
bristly, the marginal ones, at least, armed: spines slender, solitary 
or 2 together, pink, turning red or red-banded, at maturity gray 
or nearly white, nearly terete, slightly spirally twisted: flowers 
usually several on a joint, conspicuous: sepals subulate to lan- 
ceolate, acute: corolla yellow, 7-9 cm. wide; petals numerous, 
the inner ones broadly obovate to flabellate, erose at the broad 
minutely mucronate apex: berries clavate, 5-6.5 cm. long, red 
or red-purple, many-seeded: seeds about 5 mm. in diameter. 
Pinelands, northern peninsular Florida——Type specimens col- 
lected twelves miles west of Gainesville, Florida, December, 
1917, J. K. Small, in the herbarium of the New York Botanical 
Garden. Living specimens of the same collection are in the 
garden at Buena Vista and in the conservatories of the New 
York Botanical Garden. 
The discovery of this plant was recorded by me about a year 
ago.! Since that time the specimens I transplanted from Gaines- 
ville to Buena Vista have grown and assumed. the habit of the 
plants in their native habitat. In addition they have flowered 
freely and fruited. The specimens I brought to the New York 
Botanical Garden also flowered; but naturally they did not grow 
to any extent under the necessarily artificial conditions under 
glass. 
Information received from the region where Opuntia lata grow= 
naturally, in addition to the personal observations of the writer. 
indicates that the plants always grow prostrate, just as the 
writer found them in the winter of 1917. The early joints may 
either give rise to branches that spread radially and thus form 
mats, or they may branch more in one direction, thus giving rise 
to a long string of joints with only a few lateral branches. Opun- 
tia lata somewhat resembles O. Pollardi in habit; but it differs 
' Journal of the New York Botanical Garden 19: 74. 1918. 
