32 



which occurs in certain places in New South 

 AValcs and nc.ir Gatton, in Queensland, but 

 is rather more spiny. It is probably _ 0. 

 fulgida. There is a specimen in Kew Herbarium 

 from Barkly West (Cape Colony) which has been 

 identified as 0. arboresccns (?). It belongs to 

 the same species as the plants seen by the Com- 

 mission at Uitenhage. 



Opuntia microdasts, Lehm.— This dwarf 

 species is occasionally met with growing natural- 

 ised in certain districts of the Orange Free 

 State, where there is a low rainfall, specimens 

 being forwarded by C. van der Merwe. 



NOPALEA COCHINELIFEKA, MiLL. TMs Spine- 



less tree-pear does not, as far as is known, occur 

 naturalised in South Africa, but is cultivated at 

 the Experiment Farm at Groenkloof (Pretoria), 

 and Grootfontein (]\Iiddelburg, Cape Colony) 

 as a possible fodder crop. 



MacOwan (Fischer, 1891, p. 43) has, evi- 

 dently in error, applied the name 0. cochineUfera 

 to the Kaalblad, but in this respect has followed 

 high authorities. 



Opuntia, sp.— Dr. Marloth (1892 a, p. Ill; 

 1892 b, p. 18) referred to the presence in 

 Capetown of a Prickly-pear used for making 

 hedges, this species resembling 0. Mlerm in 

 many ways, but differing in the character of 

 the "flower. In company with him, the Com- 

 mission visited the locality, but found that 

 this cactus had been entirely eradicated. 

 Photographs were sent to Kew in 1892 

 by him, and it was these that Mr. BurkiU 

 (1911, p. 290) consulted {jide Mr. N. E. Brown, 

 of Kew Herbarium) and based his record of the 

 occurrence in South Africa of 0. elatior or of a 

 kindred species. 



Opuntia, sp. — At Tidbury's Toll, near 

 Beaufort, attention was drawn to another 

 species, which occurred in isolated patches in 

 the district as well as at King Williamstown. 

 The following description will serve to charac- 

 terise it: — 



It forms a compact hemispherical shrub of 

 from 4 to 6 feet in height. The joints 

 are deep green, circular to sub-circular 

 with the base narrowed and prolonged 

 to form a short stalk-like portion. The 

 terminal segments are 7 or 8 inches 

 long and about 6 inches wide, while 

 those bearing fruit are typically larger, 

 being about 12 inches long by 10 inches 

 in width and half an inch in thickness. 



The spines are not numerous, but occur 

 singly, occasionally in pairs, being 

 situated mainly along the edge of the 

 upper half of the joint, while a few 

 may be distributed here and there on 

 the upper half of one or both faces. The 

 spines are very short, V^ to li/^ inches 

 in length, and project prominently, 

 being more or less curved but some- 

 times straight. They are of general 

 orange colour with their bases more of 

 an orange-red, but become light coloured 

 or white with age. The fairly prominent 

 cushions or areolae are generally sur- 

 rounded by a darker green rim. Each 

 bears a dense tuft of numerous short 

 grey-brown bristles or glochidia, 

 amongst which the large spine, if pre- 

 sent, lies eccentrically. 



Flowers were not seen, but fruit was in 

 abundance (April-May). The latter 

 arise chiefly from the appendages of the 

 joints, from 4 to 22 being counted on 

 each, the average number being 7 or 8. 

 Their uniform purple colour contrasts 

 strongly with the general hue of the 

 plant. They are pyriform with a con- 

 cave apex, and from 2 to 214 inches 

 long by 1% to 11/2 inches broad. _ The 

 spinules of the cushions on the fruit are 

 generally much smaller than those on 

 the joint. The grooves present on the 

 green fruit disappear at maturity. 

 Deeper purple longitudinal markings, 

 indicating the position of the vascular 

 bundles, show through the purple skins. 

 The sub-acid " flesh " is firm, the cor- 

 tical portion being red-purple, while the 

 pulp in which the seeds are embedded 

 is colourless. The juice is purplish. 

 The seeds are discoidal with wide, red, 

 rims. 

 A local farmer, Mr. C. H. Every, stated that 

 birds do not distribute it, as they do not feed on 

 the fruit. Though ostriches will eat it, they 

 prefer the other species. Cattle do not willingly 

 feed upon either the fruit or the joints. 



The species appears to be 0. Undheimeri, 

 Eng., or an allied form. 



Opuntia spmuLrPERA, S.D. — This occurs in 

 at least two widely-separated localities, namely, 

 at Wylie's Siding, Capetown, and near Tidbury's 

 Toll, in the Fort Beaufort district. It is natural- 

 ised in both places, but has not spread to any 

 extent. 



DESTRUCTION BY NATURAL ENEMIES. 



Insects. 



The Wild Cochineal Insect of South Africa 

 (Coccus confusus capensis. Green). 



According to Vauxhall and Prinsep, Baron 

 Ludowigne received at the Cape from Hamburg, 

 about 1832, specimens of a Wild Cochineal 

 Insect (Grana sylvestre), which, after its intro- 

 duction, showed a preference for the Opuntia 

 growing there rather than for the species on 

 which it had been brought. This local pear was 

 designated as 0. vulgaris, Mill. (syn. Cactus 

 opuntia, Linn.), a name amongst others formerly 

 bestowed on 0. monacantha. Haw. It was from 

 South Africa that the "Wild Cochineal was taken 

 in 1836 by Captain Charlton to India and estab- 

 lished in the East India Company's Garden, Cal- 

 cutta (Tryon, 1910). 



Its presence in South Africa does not appear 

 to have been referred to again till 1891, when 

 Macdonald (1891 b, p. 40) recorded its occur- 

 rence at Grahamstown and Capetown. It was 

 further mentioned incidentally in 1906 (R.S.C., 

 1906, p. 19). In 1911 one member of this Com- 

 mission recorded that Mr. Thomas O'Hagan in- 

 formed him of the presence of a Cochineal Insect 

 near Port Elizabeth which attacked, and was 

 sometimes capable of destroying, one of the two 

 species of Prickly-pear growing in that district. 

 This evidence as to its occurrence in South 

 Africa was corroborated by Mr. C. Lounsbury. 

 Government Entomologist of the Union, who, 

 however, stated that he had never seen any of 



