SYNOPSIS OF THE CACTACEZ OF THE UNITED STATES. 145 
Joints 24-3 inches long ; pulvilli 6-9 lines apart ; bristles 2-3 lines long ; spines 1-1} inches long, the lower one, 
when present, about half as long, but hardly less stout. Flower nearly 3 inches in diameter ; ovary an inch lon 
rather slender, its pulvilli covered with long grayish-brown wool, and the upper ones with a few bright-brown bristles. 
O. VULGARIS, Mill.: diffusa, prostrata; radice fibrosa; articulis obovatis seu suborbiculatis crassis lete 
seu pallide viridibus plerumque inermibus ; foliis ovatis cuspidatis fere adpressis ; pulvillis subremotis parvis subim- 
mersis setas paucas abbreviatas virescenti-stramineas gerentibus ; aculeis rarissimis singulis robustis variegatis sub- 
erectis ; alabastro subgloboso obtuso; ovario clavato pulvillis sub-10 stipato; petalis sub-8; stigmatibus 5; bacca 
obovata clavata ; seminibus ipecinatieas erassis crasse marginatis. 
From the southeastern coast of Massachusetts to Georgia and Florida ; apparently only in the low countries east 
and southeast of the Alleghany Mountains, generally not far from the sea-coast: flowers May and June. — Joints 
2-4 inches long and 2-2} in diameter, rather thick and fleshy. Leaves 2-2} lines long, — appre 
i sa very vigorous specimens more patulous: spines, when present, less than 1 long, - stout. [298] 
Flow sensei 2 ge in diameter, pale yellow. Seed 2} lines in diameter. It seems to be w 
tingu ished f O. Rafinesquii (which grows only west of the Alleghanies) by the sai size, it pitt small 
pulvilli, videlly the absence of spines, the smaller flower, with all the parts less numerous, and sapiens by the short, 
thick, and more or less appressed leaves. 
§ 5. PuBuSCENTES : erectz seu procumbentes : articuli pubescentes : folia minuta; aculei subnulli. 
* Flaviflore. 
19. O. micropasys, Lehm.: erecto-patula ; articulis oblongis obovatis seu orbiculatis pubescentibus lete viridi- 
bus ; foliis minutis ; pulvillis confertis inermibus lanam flavidam setasque numerosas gracillimas flavas gerentibus. 
Only south of the lower Rio Grande, near Rinconada, etc.— Plant 2-4 feet high ; joints 2-3 inches long, 14-2 
wide; pulvilli }-4 of an inch apart. 
20. O. RuFIpDA, E. in B. C. R.: erecto-patula ; articulis late-obovatis seu suborbiculatis een cate ; foliis 
longe acuminatis ; pulvillis confertis setas rufidas graciles numerosissimas gerentibus inermibus ; floris flavi ovario 
obovato alia numerosis instructo ; stigmatibus 7 in capitulum congestis. 
about Presidio del Norte, on the Rio Grande : flowers May. —-Stem 2-4 feet high, much branched; joints 
3-6 ‘cla ae ; leaves 2} lines long. "Flower 23 inches in diameter, with 40-50 pulvilli on the ovarium.— Appar- 
ently near 0. microdasys and O. puberula ; distinguished from the former by the rounded joints, larger leaves, and red- 
brown bristles; from the latter by the entire absence of spines, and of the purplish spot which in that species surrounds 
the pulvillus. Further investigations are necessary to decide about these closely allied forms, as about most species of 
this intricate genus. 
* * Rubriflore. 
21. O. pasmaris, E. & B. 1. c. : humilis ; articulis obovatis seu triangularibus glaucescentibus pubescentibus e 
basi proliferis ; foliis minutis ; pulvillis subconfertis fulvo-villosis setas gracillimas demum numerosissimas — 
et subinde aculeolos setiformes caducos gerentibus ; floris purpurei ovario obovato pulvillis plurimis instructo 
stigmatibus 8 in capitulum congestis; bacca obovata late umbilicata (sicca ?); seminibus magnis crassis on: [299] 
regularibus. 
n Williams’s River, the Colorado, and the Mojave, and down to the Gila: flowers April and May. — Habit very. 
different from any other of our Opuntie ; the stout obovate or fan-shaped joints (5-8 inches long) originate from a 
common base, forming a sort of rosette. Leaves only one line long, 4-6 lines apart ; pulvilli red-brown, somewhat 
immersed. Flower about 2} inches in diameter ; ovary with 40-60 pulvilli. Fruit apparently dry, thereby approach- 
ing the next section. Seed 3 lines in diameter, 2 lines thick. 
r. Schott has observed, on the dividing ridge of the California mountains, west of the mouth of the Gila, and 
again in "is Santa Cruz Valley, Sonora, a very similar but suberect species, 3 feet high, spineless, inclined to assume 
a purplish hue, which he seems to have confounded with 0. basilaris. Can it be O. rujfida, or is it an undescribed 
species 
§ 6. XEROCARPE : diffuse: articuli suborbiculati vel tumidi: aculei plurimi: bacca sicca aculeolata : semina 
eburnea, magna, plerumque latissime marginata 
* Articult compressi suborbiculati. 
2. O. nysrrictna, E. & B. 1. c.: diffusa; articulis obovato-orbiculatis; pulvillis subconfertis setas pallidas 
es gerentibus, omnibus armatis ; iio 5-8 superioribus validis elongatis angulatis seu tortis patulis vel de- 
flexis, inferioribus 5-7 gracilioribus radiantibus ; bacca ovata aculeolata, umbilico planiusculo ; seminibus maximis. 
est of the Rio Grande, to the San Francisco mountains. — Joints 3-4 inches long; pulvilli 5-6 lines apart, 
ssaeinile large ; longer spines 1}-3 and even 4 inches long, brownish; lower radiating ones white, 4-9 lines long. 
19 
