OPUNTIA. 8 1 



49. Opuntia clavata Engelmann in Wislizenus, Mem. Tour North. Mex. 95. 1848. 



Plants low, not over 1.5 dm. high, much branched at base, spreading, forming large patches 

 sometimes 2 meters in diameter; joints short, 3 to 7 cm. long, turgid, ascending, clavate; areoles 

 close together; leaves subulate, 4 to 5 mm. long; spines pale, somewhat roughened, the radial ones 

 6 to 12, slender and acicular, 4 to 16 mm. long; central spines 4 to 7, much longer than the radials, 

 more or less flattened, the largest one dagger-like; glochids numerous, yellowish, 3 to 5 mm. long; 

 flowers yellow, 3.5 to 4 cm. long; fruit 4 to 5 cm. long, with numerous areoles filled with yellow, radiat- 

 ing glochids; seeds white, 5 mm. broad. 



Type locality: Albuquerque, New Mexico. 



Distribution: New Mexico, chiefly in the central part of the State. 



This is one of the most characteristic species of the genus and has no near relative 

 except 0. parishii, of the deserts of California and Nevada. It is a great pest to grazing 

 stock. 



Illustrations: Bull. Agr. Hxper. Station N. Mex. 78: pi. [i, 2], Pac. R. Rep. 4: pi. 22, 

 f. I to 3; pi. 24, f. 6. 



Figure 93 represents joints of a plant collected by W. T. H. Long at Albuquerque, New 

 Mexico, in 1915. 



Fig. 92. — Opuntia schottii. Xo 75. Fig. 93. — Opuntia clavata. X0.75. 



50. Opuntia parishii Orcutt, West Amer. Sci. lo: 8i. 1896. 



Stems low, creeping, rooting along the under surface and forming dense, broad clusters ; terminal 

 joints short, clavate, ascending but almost hidden under the dense armament; tubercles prominent 

 but short, 5 to 7 mm. long; spines at first reddish but soon grayish and finally nearly white; radial 

 spines numerous, slender; central spines about 4, strongly angled and more or less flattened, 2 to 4 

 cm. long; glochids numerous; flowers not known; fruit 5 cm. long, the numerous large areoles bearing 

 many long yellow glochids and short spines forming a radiating band about the margin; seeds dark, 

 4 mm. broad. 



Type locality: Mohave Desert. 



Distribution: Southern California and Nevada. 



The species here described is the Opuntia parryi as described by Engelmann in 1856, 

 although he then suspected it was different from that species. It has been renamed 

 Opuntia parishii by Orcutt, who wrote as follows : 



"We propose this name for that interesting plant of the Mohave desert region, hitherto called 

 0. parryi, and under which it has been well described. The Messrs. Parish have hardly earned this 

 light honor in many laborious trips through these desert regions, and I take pleasure in dedicating 

 this species to them; Opuntia parryi (type from San Felipe), along with bernardina and echinocarpa, 

 and a bewildering host of nameless forms, I unhesitatingly class under serpentina!" 



Illustrations: Cact. Journ. i: 132; N. Amer. Fauna 7: pi. 10; Pac. R. Rep. 4: pi. 22, f. 

 4 to 7; pi. 24, f. 7, all as Opuntia parryi. 



Figure 94 represents joints of a plant collected by S. B. Parish in southern California. 



