114 



THE cactaceae;. 



slightly tinged with red, oblong, rounded at apex ; filaments short, greenish below ; style and stigma- 

 lobes cream-colored or yellowish; ovary bright green, narrowed downward; fruit red, obovoid, about 

 3 cm. long; seeds 3 to 4 mm. broad. 



Type locality: Jamaica. 



Distribution: Southern side of Jamaica, West Indies. 



Opuntia tuna is one of the old Cactus species. It was described by Linnaeus as Cactus 

 tuna and by Philip Miller as Opuntia tuna. In the early part of the Nineteenth Century it was 

 renamed Opuntia humilis and also 0. polyantha, and has long passed under the latter name. 

 Opuntia tuna, however, is one of the commonest Opuntia names in our botanical literature. 

 This is due partly to the fact that the name was early transferred to Opuntia dillenii, one 

 of the most common species, both wild and cultivated, and partly because tuna is the 



Fig. 141. — Opuntia tuna. 



KiG. 142. — Opuntia tuna. X0.5. 



common Mexican name for opuntias, and many species have therefore been identified as 

 0. tuna. So far as our studies indicate, this species is confined to the Jamaica lowlands. 



Opuntia multiflora is referred here, although we do not know the plant. It is figured 

 by Nicholson (Diet. Card. Nicholson 2: f. 754); this figure is republished by Riimpler 

 (Forster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. f. 130), and by Knippel (Kakteen, pi. 28), both calhng it 

 Opuntia polyantha; while W. Watson (Cact. Cult. f. 79) uses the same illustration, caUing 

 it 0. dillenii. 



Opuntia coccinea (Pfeiffer, Knum. Cact. 161. 1837) is given as a synonym of 0. tuna, 

 but it was never pubUshed; it is doubtless different from 0. coccinea Rafinesque (Med. Fl. 

 U. S. 2: 247. 1830), also unpublished. The following names seem to belong here, but were 

 not formally pubHshed: Opuntia flexibilis (Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 161. 1837); 0. tuna 

 humilis Salm-Dyck (Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1844. 46. 1845); 0. tuna laevior Salm-Dyck (Hort. 

 Dyck. 186. 1834) ; and 0. tuna orbiculata Salm-Dyck (Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1844. 47. 1845). 



Illustrations: Loudon, Encycl. PI. ed. 3. f. 6878, as Cactus tuna; Wiener lUustr. 

 Gartenz. 10: f. 114, as Opuntia humilis; Bliihende Kakteen 2: pl. 75; Forster, Handb. Cact. 



