OPUNTIA. 



155 



160. Opuntia schumannii Weber in Berger, Gard. Chron. III. 35: 34. 1904. 



Bushy, I to 2 meters high; joints obovate to oblong, 1.5 to 2.5 cm. long, dull dark green; areoles 

 distant, medium sized; spines 2 to 10, sHghtly spreading, very unequal, the longest ones 4.5 cm. 

 long, more or less twisted, flattened, dark brown; glochids few, soon disappearing; flowers 6 cm. 

 long, yellowish to orange, turning in age to dull red; ovary tuberculate, spineless, deeply umbilicate; 

 fruit dark purple, turgid, juicy, deeply umbilicate, 5 cm. long. 



Type locality: Not cited. 



Distribution: Northern South America; sometimes assigned to Argentina. 



Opuntia schumannii is described by Berger as being intermediate between Opuntia 

 and Nopalea, and according to him, it has long stamens and upright petals; otherwise it 

 has little in common with Nopalea; a plant from Santa Clara, Colombia, which agrees 

 with plants of 0. schumannii from La Mortola, Italy, has a normal Opuntia flower. 



Illustration: Gard. Chron. III. 35: f. 16. 



Plate XXVII, figure i, represents a fruiting joint of the plant collected by John G. Sin- 

 clair at Santa Clara, Colombia, in 1913; figure 2 shows a flower of the same plant. 



161. Opuntia fuliginosa Griffiths, Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 19: 262. 1908. 



Tall, tree-like, 4 meters high or more, much branched; joints orbicular to oblong, 3 dm. long 

 or less, shining; leaves subulate, 8 to 12 mm. long; areoles distant; spines few, rarely as many as 6, 

 dull brown or horn-colored, the longest ones 4 cm. long, slightly twisted; glochids yellow to brown; 

 flowers at first yellow but in age red, 5 to 6 cm. long including the ovary; stigma-lobes yellowish 

 green; fruit pyriform to short-oblong, 3 to 4 cm. long, red; seeds 5 mm. broad. 



Type locality: Near Guadalajara, Mexico. 



Distribution: Central Mexico. 



We refer this species to our series Elatiores with hesitation. 



Illustration: Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 19: pi. 25. 



161a. Opuntia zebrina Small, Journ. N. Y. Bot. Gard. 20: 35. 1919. (See Appendix, p. 222.) 



162. Opuntia boldinghii sp. nov. 



Bushy, 2 meters high; joints dull green, somewhat glaucous, 

 obovate, 2 cm. long, spineless or with very short brown spines; 

 leaves conic, red, 2 to 3 mm. long; areoles large, elevated, filled 

 with short brown wool; flowers rose-colored, 5 cm. long; petals 

 obtuse; filaments pink, much shorter than the petals; style 

 nearly white; stigma-lobes yellowish; fruit obovate, 4 cm. long, 

 spineless; seeds 4 mm. in diameter. 



Collected by Dr. N. L- Britton and Dr. J. A. Shafer, 

 March 1913, in cultivation on Curasao (No. 2905, type); 

 also collected by H. Pittier around El PaUto, Venezuela, 

 July 2, 1913 (No. 6450), and by Dr. Rose in a hedge at 

 Valencia, Venezuela, October 27, 1916 (No. 21842). 



This species is named in honor of Dr. I. Boldingh, a 

 Dutch botanist, author of a valuable descriptive flora of 

 the Dutch West Indian islands. 



Plate XXVI, figure 3, shows a flowering joint of a 

 specimen obtained by Dr. Britton and Dr. Shafer in 

 Curagao in 19 13. 



163. Opuntia distans sp. nov. 

 Erect, densely much branched, 3 to 4 meters tall, with a 



short trunk 1.5 dm. in diameter; joints flat, bluish green when 

 young, grayish green when old, obovate, 2 to 2.5 dm. long, about 

 1.5 dni. wide and nearly 2 cm. thick, rounded above, narrowed 



Fig. 195 — Joint of O. distans. X0.4. 



