26 



THE CACTACEAE. 



leaves and areoles similar to those of the stem; leaves on ovary spreading or ascending and persisting 

 after the flower falls; flower-bud (above the ovary) 2 to 3 cm. long, acute; sepals green or deep red 

 tinged with yellow ; petals bright yellow. 



Type locality: In hedges about city of Ouere- 

 taro, Mexico. 



Distribution: Table-lands of central Mexico. 



This plant is called by the natives nopaleta and 

 cola de diablo. 



Illustration: Smiths. Misc. Coll. 50: pi. 44. 



Figure 21 is from a photograph of type plant. 



2. PeresMopsis diguetii (Weber) Britton and Rose, 



Smiths. Misc. Coll. 50: 332. 1907. 



Opuniia diguetii Weber, Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 4: 

 166. 1898. 



Tall shrub, larger than the preceding species; old 

 stems reddish; branches pubescent; areoles when young 

 filled with long, white, cobwebby hairs, when old" large 

 and filled with short black wool ; leaves elliptic to obovate, 

 3 to 5 cm. long, usually abruptly pointed, more or less 

 cuneate at the base ; spines usually i , rarely as many as 

 4, at first nearly black, in time becoming lighter, some- 

 times nearly 7 cm. long; glochids brownish, not very 

 abundant; flowers yellow; fruit 3 cm. long, red, pubes- 

 cent, its areoles often bearing spines as well as glochids ; 

 seeds white, 5 mm. broad, covered with matted hairs. 



Type locality: Near Guadalajara, Mexico. 



Distribution: Central Mexico. 



Common in hedges near Guadalajara and 

 Oaxaca, Mexico. According to W. E. Safford, it 

 is known in Guadalajara as tasajillo and alfilerillo. 



Figure 22 represents a leafy branch of a plant 

 collected by W. E. Safford in Guadalajara, Mexico, 

 in 1907. 



3. Pereskiopsis opuntiaefiora (De Candolle) Britton and 



Rose, Smiths. Misc. Coll. 50:332. 1907. 



Pereskia optintiaeflora De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 475. 1828. 

 Opuniia golziana Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 654. 1898. 



Shrubby, glabrous; leaves obovate, mucronate, 

 often in pairs; spines, when present, solitary, elongated, 

 2 to 3 times as long as the leaves; flowers subterminal, 

 short-pedunculate; petals numerous, ovate, subacute, 

 reddish yellow, arranged in two series; ovary leafless, 

 bearing areoles filled with glochids. 



Type locality: In Mexico. 



Distribution: Known only from the original 

 description. 



This description is drawn from De Candolle's 

 original description and illustration ; otherwise nothing is known of the plant. 



This species, as illustrated by De Candolle, is unlike anything we know. In its pedun- 

 culate fruit it is like Pereskia, but its leafless ovary and its areoles filled with glochids would 

 exclude it from that genus. In a general way the illustration looks more like a Pereskiopsis, 

 and we suspect that the delineation is incorrect or that the leaves had fallen away from the 

 specimen drawn. 



Pereskiopsis velutina. 



