31 



Steylerville, Uitenhage, Bedford, Fort 

 Beaufort, Fort Brown, Alexandria, 

 Albany, Cradock, tlookhouse, Somerset 

 East, and to a less extent at Middelburg, 

 Stockenstroom, Tarkastad, Victoria 

 West, Gamtoos, Loerie, Oudtslioorn, 

 Swellendam, Queenstown, and East 

 London. In other areas occasional 

 patches of this pear may be seen — e.g., 

 Malmesbury, Stellenbosch, Capetown, 

 Tulbagh Eoad, Vogelsvlei, Malan, Hex 

 Eiver, Biesjespoort, Kabeljaauws, 

 Thornhill, Port Elizabeth, Persever- 

 ance, Ladysmith, Eichmond, Philips- 

 town, Stutterheim, Uniondale, King 

 Williamstown, Beaufort West, Steyns- 

 burg, Murraysburg, Lady Prere, Nauu- 

 poort, Aliwal North, Colesburg, Con- 

 way, Eosmead, Glenheath, and Cypress 

 Grove. 



It has been found a difficult task to grow the 

 Kaalblad variety of this species at Kim- 

 berley and in many parts of the Western 

 Karoo (E.S.C., 1906, p. 11, &e.). It is 

 cultivated as a fodder plant for ostriches 

 in certain parts of this region — e.g., 

 Eichmond, the neighbouring portion of 

 Griqualand West and Orange Free 

 State, Fraserburg, Victoria West, &c. ; 

 irrigation being resorted to in some cases 

 (E.S.C., 1891, pp. 16, 18, 19). 



In the Orange Free State, 0. decumana may 

 be seen at Fauresmith, Vredefort, 

 Bethlehem, Bloemfontein, Springfon- 

 tein, Brandfort, Glen, Edenburg, and 

 Donkerpoort ; but it has not yet become 

 a pest. 



In the Transvaal clumps may be noticed 

 thriving at Pretoria and Johannesburg 

 at an altitude of over 5,000 feet; while 

 near Pietersburg there are masses 

 which, though well established, have 

 not, as a rule, spread to any appreci- 

 able extent. At Mpatlele, in the 

 Zoutpansburg district, about 40 miles 

 from the town of Pietersburg, there is a 

 large clump occupying a considerable 

 area, having been originally planted by 

 the natives around their settlements as a 

 protection and as a hedge. Prickly-pear 

 may not infrequently be seen around 

 the sites formerly occupied by native 

 huts. Burtt Davy (1909") has published 

 a photograph of a thicket in this dis- 

 trict. 



In the Transvaal and in the northern part 

 of the Orange Free State, it is the 

 Kaalblad which is usually met with; 

 while in Southern Orange Free State 

 and in Cape Colony, it is the Doornblad, 

 which is rather more common. Hybrid 

 forms are classed as Doornblads. 



The Kaalblad is cultivated in certain parts 

 of the Western Karoo, in Cape Colony, as well 

 as in a few places in the Orange Free State and 

 Transvaal, as a supplementary fodder for cattle 

 and ostriches. In addition to this form, two 

 other varieties— "anacantha" and "manado — 

 are being experimented with at Groenkloof 

 (Transvaal) and Middelburg (Cape Colony), 

 and will probably be of value for the same 

 purpose. 



E 



Opuntia aueantiaca, Gillies. — This small 

 plant is known in South Africa as the Jointed 

 Cactus or 0. pusilla, and has been figured 

 by E. Nobbs (1906, p. 812) and J. Burtt 

 Davy (1913, p. 13). It AV'a.s originally intro- 

 duced into Cape Colony as an ornamental plant, 

 just as has been done in the ease of some of the 

 pests now existing in Australia. A. C. Mac- 

 donald (1892 b, p. 93; 1897 b, pp. 37-8) and, 

 later, Dr. Nobbs (1906, p. 813; E.S.C., 1906, p. 

 7) referred to its introduction into the Bedford 

 district of Cape Colony, R. Leonard (E.S.C., 

 1906, p. 44) having supplied the information to 

 Dr. Nobbs. 



This cactus has been proclaimed as a noxious 

 weed in very many districts of Cape Colony 

 (Nobbs, 1908, p. 341) as well as generally in the 

 Transvaal and Orange Free State (Burtt Davy, 

 1913, p. 15). 



Its presence was first reported by Dr. Mar- 

 loth (1892 a, p. 112; 1892 b, p. 21), who 

 believed it to be 0. pusilla, this being the name 

 by which it has come to be known in South 

 Africa. Macdonald (1892, p. 93 ; 1897 b, p. 37) 

 and Nobbs, as well as others, have dealt with 

 this pest, which will be referred to later. {See 

 Appendix.) Mr. Maiden (1912, d, p. 888) has 

 recently referred to the occurrence of 0. auran- 

 tiaca in South Africa. 



Distribution. — It was thrown out from a 

 private garden into the Kaga River in 1874. 

 Soon after the river became flooded and distri- 

 buted the cactus, so that it now extends down to 

 the river mouth and has spread widely, being 

 found in many districts— Albany, Alexandria, 

 Bathurst, Bedford, Cradock, Fort Beaufort, 

 Humansdorp, King Williamstown, Peddle, 

 Somerset East, Stockenstroom, Uitenhage, and 

 Victoria East, &e. (Nobbs, 1906, p. 813; 1908, 

 p. 341). In addition to the places mentioned by 

 Nobbs, some occurs at Grahamstown; while at 

 GraafE Reinet a small patch which existed pre- 

 viously has been eradicated by the municipality. 

 It is now more or less under control at Bedford, 

 Somerset East, Alice, &c. It appears to be really 

 troublesome only in a few places, such as 

 Uitenhage and Hankey (Humansdorp district). 



It was introduced as a garden plant into the 

 latter town by a lady belonging to the staff of the 

 Hottentot Mission at that place, but has now 

 spread from the village down to the Gamtoos 

 River, and has become a rather serious pest. 



The plant is so developed that its small 

 joints and fruits are readily detached and, by 

 reason of their long barbed spines, become at- 

 tached to cattle, &c., and may thus be transported 

 over very great distances. On several occasions 

 the Commission noticed mules and cattle carry- 

 ing pieces of jointed cactus attached to their 

 limbs and faces. The joints and fruits readily 

 sprout to give rise to new plants. Owing to 

 their small size, it is no easy matter to thoroughly 

 cleanse an area of the fragments of the pest. It 

 generally forms small low clumps, and is not 

 nearly so evident as the large-jomted species ot 

 Opuntia It grows much higher and the jomts 

 are longer when protected by undergrowth. 



Opuntia FtfLGioA ( ?) :— At Uitenhage, a 

 Cvlindropuntia is beginning to spread on the 

 town common, but as yet it has not _ obtained 

 a strong footing. It resembles 0. tmlncata, 



