86 



THE CACTACEAE. 



Series 2. FLOCCOSAE. 

 Low plants, forming dense clumps or mounds ; joints short, thick, and fleshy, usually covered 

 with long, white, silky hairs. The two species are common in the high valleys of the Andes of Peru 

 and Boli\'ia. 



Key to Species. 



Spines yellow, stout 56. 0. floccosa 



Spines white, acicular 57-0. lagopus 



56. Opuntia floccosa Salm-Dyck, Allg. Gartenz. 13: 388. 1845. 



Opuntia senilis Roezl in Morren, Belg. Hort. 24: 39. 1874. 

 Opuntia floccosa denudata Weber, Diet. Hort. Bois 897. 1898. 

 Opuntia hempeliana Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 690. 1898. 



Plant growing in clumps or low mounds sometimes i to 2 meters in diameter, with himdreds of 

 short, erect branches; joints oblong, 5 to 10 cm. long, usually hidden under a mass of long white 

 hairs coming from the areoles ; spines usualh^ one from an areole, sometimes as many as three, yellow, 

 I to 3 cm. long; leaves minute, green or pinkish; tubercles somewhat elevated, elongated; flowers, 

 small, 3 cm. long, yellow; fruit globular, 3 cm. in diameter: seeds 4 mm. in diameter, with very nar- 

 row margins. 



Fig. ioi. — Opuntia floccosa. 



Type locality: Said to be from vicinity of Lima, Peru, but doubtless only from the 

 high mountains east of Lima. 



Distribution: High mountain valleys and hills of the Andes from central Peru to 

 central BoHvia. 



0. floccosa is one of the most unusual and striking species of all the opuntias. One 

 who is familiar only with the opuntias of North America would not suspect that it belongs 

 to the genus. It does not grow on the hot mesas in the low country, as one would expect, 

 but in the high, cold valleys and hills near the top of the Andes. The following paragraph, 

 taken from John Ball's notes, is interesting in this connection: 



Reserving some remarks on the botanj^ of this excursion, there is j^et to be mentioned here one 

 plant of the upper region so singular that it must attract the notice of ever>^ traveler. As we ascended 

 from Casapalta we noticed patches of white, which from a distance looked like snow. Seen nearer 



