OFUKTIA. 107 



subulate, very sharp, ash-coloured, in clusters. Joints broadly 

 oblong, resembling leaves, or the thin, leaf-like joints of a Phyllo- 

 cactus, with the addition of long, whitish spines on both sides. 

 Flowers 1| inches in diameter, lemon-yellow, freely produced on 

 the younger joints in May and June. Fruit as large as a walnut, 

 spiny, yellow when ripe, Brazil, whence it was introduced in 

 1816. Grows freely, in a warm, airy greenhouse, and forms a 

 striking object. Its fruits are edible. 



O. candelabrifonnis. 



Stems erect, 5 to 8 feet high ; joints flat, almost circular, about 

 6 inches in diameter, glaucous-green, densely clothed with numerous 

 cushions of white, bristle-like spines, a few in each cushion being 

 Jong and thread-like. Flowers not known. Mexico. Succeeds if 

 planted on a little rockery or raised mound in a warm house, where 

 it branches freely and forms a dense mass of circular joints. One 

 of the best of the larger Opuntias. 



Fig. 55. Opuntia brachyarthra. 

 O. clavata. 



Stem short ; joints club-shaped, 2 inches long and 1 inch wide 

 nan-owed almost to a point at both ends. Cushions J inch apart, 

 composed of numerous bristle-like flattened spines. Leaves inch 

 long. Flowers yellow, H inches across. Fruit H inches Jong, 

 covered with stellate clusters of white, bristle-Jike spines, lemon- 

 yellow when ripe. New Mexico. Requires warm-house treatment. 



O. cochinellifera. 



Stems erect, attaining a height of 9 feet or more, brandling 

 freely, becoming woody and cylindrical ; young joints flat, oblong- 

 ovate, varying in length from 4 inches to 1 foot, deep green, rather 

 soft and watery, spineless, the cushions distant, and sometimes 

 bearing a few very short bristles. Flowers at the extremities of the 

 joints, 1J- inches long, composed of numerous imbricating, scale- 

 like petals, curving inwards, and coloured crimson. Fruit flat- 

 topped, 2 inches long, red ; pulp reddish ; seeds black. South 

 America, whence it was introduced in 1()88. Requires tropical 



