OPUNTIA. 



109 



elliptical, flat joints, 12 to 20 inches long, and about 1 foot broad, 

 smooth, grey -green, with a few scattered cushions of very tiny 

 bristles, and sometimes, though rarely, a spine or two. Flowers 

 large, orange -coloured, produced in summer. Fruit over 4 inches 

 long, spiny, brownish-red, very watery when ripe ; flesh red, sweet. 

 Brazil. Requires stove treatment. This is said to be what is 

 known in Malta, as the Indian Fig. 



Fig. 56. Opuntia Dlllenll. 



O. Aiademata. 



Small, with a short, erect stem, composed of globose, superposed 

 joints, grey -green in colour, and very succulent. Cushions large, 

 about 1 inch apart, furnished with a tuft of short, grey hairs and 

 short spines, with a large one at the base. The character of this 

 spine is exceptional, being broad, flat, cartilaginous, whitish, curving 

 downwards, and on large examples 2 inches long, and \ inch wide. 

 Flowers and fruit not known. Mendoza (La Plata). Requires a 

 warm greenhouse or stove. Examples of it in cultivation over ten 

 years arc only 4 inches high. 



