Obder 54— CACTACE^ 359 



Ordee LIV. CACTACE^. Indian Figs. 



Stems succulent and shrubby, usually angular or 2-cdgod or jointed. Leaws 

 almost always wanting ; prickles numerous and formidable. Flowers solitary, usu- 

 ally showy and of short duration. Sepals and petals often indefinite and confounded 

 with each other, the sepals from the surface, and the petals from the summit of the 

 ovary. Stam. oo ; filaments long and filiform ; anth. ovate, versatile. Ovaries iii- 

 ferior, 1-celled, fleshy, with parietal plaoent33. Style single, filiform, with several 

 stigmas in a star-like cluster. Fr. succulent. Seeds numerous, parietal or in ( li 3 

 pulp, exalbuminous. (Illust. in fig. 47, b.) 



Genera ]S, species about 800, all peculiarly American, no one having ever been found in any 

 other quarter of the globe. They abound in the deserts of Now Mexico and eouthward. Tjie 

 prickly pear (Oprfhtia vulgaris) is tho only species found native as for north as N. York. Their 

 aspect is peculiar, usually distingnisbablo at sight. 



Stiginasw. Calyx tube not prolonged. Berry tubercular, timbicate Opttwti.< ". 



Stigmas CO . f'iilyx tube prolonL'od nbore the ov;iry. Berry areolate, &c Guniius 2 



Stigmas 5 to 7. — Calyx tube prolonged. Berry smooth. Axis grooved Mi:i.ocactur M 



— Calyx tube short. Berry smooth. Axis maminiferous MAHiiELLKRiA 4 



1. OPUH'TIA, Tourn. Prickly Pear. {^Opuntiana was a couiitiy 

 near Phocis, where this was said to be naturalized.) Sepals and petals 

 numerous, adnata to the ovary, not produced into a tube above it ; 

 stamens 00, shorter than the petals ; style with numerous, thick, erect 

 .stigmas ; berry umbillicatc at apex, tuberculate, cotyledons semiterete. 

 — Shrubby plants, with articulated branches, the joints usually broad 

 and flattened, with fascicles of prickles, regularly arranged upon the 

 surface. 



O. vulgaris Mill. Prostrate, creeping ; joints ovate ; prickles numerous in each 

 fascicle, often with several subulate spines ; Ivs. minute, subulate from a broad 

 base ; fls. yellow. — A curious, fleshy plant, native in rooky and sandy places, 

 Mass. to Fla. W. to Iowa. The singular form resembles a series of thick, fleshy 

 leaves, 4 to 6' long, § as wide, growing from the tip or sides of each other, an' 1 

 armed with orange-colored spines from the edge of the joints, large, bright-yellow, 

 and succeeded by a smooth, crimson, eatable fruit, f (Cactus opuntia 1.) 



2. CE^REUS, DC. Sepals very numerous, imbricated, adnate to the 

 base, of the ovary and united into a long tube above it, the outer shorter, 

 the inner petaloid ; stamens indefinite, coherent with the tube, style 

 filiform, with many stigmas ; berry scaly with the remains of the sep- 

 als ; cotyledons none ? — Fleshy shrubs, with woody, prismatic axes, 

 armed with clusters of spines. Fls. from the clusters of spines. 



§ stock and branches compressed, somewhat leaf-like Nos. 1— ;- 



g Stock and branches angular-cylindrical, creeping Xos. 4, b 



1 C. phyll^nthua DC. Splbenwort. Branches eusiform, compressed, 

 sen-ate ; fls. with the terete, slender tube much longer than the limb of the pet- 

 als. — From S. Am. The articulations of the stem are 2f or more long, 2' wide, 

 weak, bordered with large, obtuse serratures, and traversed lengthwise by a cen- 

 tral, cylindrical, woody axis. Fls. white, 9 to 12' long, expanding by nighi, 

 fragrant, f 



2 C. pbyllanthoides DC. Branches ensiform, compressed, obovate, witli 

 spreading, rounded teeth ; fls. arising from the lateral orenatures of the branches ; 

 tube shorter than the limb of the petals. — From Mexico. A splendid flower, 

 with leaf-like, fleshy joints, each 6 to 10' long, 1 to 2' wide. Fls. rose-colored, 

 4' in length, expanding by day. 



3 C. tnincatus L. Branching; joints short-compressed, serrate, truncate 

 St tho summit; fls. arising from the summit of tho joints; sty. longer than tha 

 stam. or reflexed pet. — From Brazil. A very distinct species, a foot or mora 

 high. Joints 2 to 3' long, 1 to 1 .V wide, leaf-like. Fls. 2 to 3' long, piak-colored 

 t (Cactus L.) 



