46 



much useful information regarding prickly-pears, 

 their diseases and natural enemies in the Argen- 

 tine, and strongly advised that an investigation 

 should be carried out there. Though many of 

 the facts referred to by him had already been 

 published in Australia (Tryon, 1911), yet their 

 confirmation by him was deemed of value. The 

 subsequent visit to South America v\ras largely 

 due to his offer to render every assistance. In 

 company with him, the collections of Cactaceie in 

 the Royal Botanical Gardens were carefully 

 examined. 



At Florence, Prof. A. Berlese, Director of 

 the Royal Entomological Station, was inter- 

 viewed. It had been hoped to have met at Pisa 

 Prof. Giglioli, who had devoted considerable 

 attention to the chemistry of 0. ficus-indica, but 

 matters could not be conveniently arranged at 

 the time. 



The Museum and Library at Genoa were 

 visited, and thence the journey was undertaken 

 to Ventimiglia, where the well-known Hanbury 

 Gardens (La Mortola) are situated. It was 

 there that, through the courtesy of Lady Han- 

 bury and under the guidance of its able curator, 

 Mr. Alwyn Berger, some time was spent in 

 studying the lar^e collection of living cacta- 

 ceous plants, so many species of which it 

 was expected that the Commission would meet 

 with in America. The neighbouring gardens at 

 Monaco and Bordighera were visited. 



■' J-^^ return journey to England was made 

 ma Milan, where a number of principals of firms 

 interested in paper and "board" manufacture 

 were interviewed regarding the possibility of 

 utilising prickly-pear fibre in that way. 



SPECIES PREVIOUSLY REPORTED AS 

 NATURALISED IN EUROPE AND THE 

 MEDITERRANEAN COUNTRIES. 

 Mr. BurkiU (1911, pp. 287-8) has given a 

 brief resume of the distribution of Opuntias in 

 this area. He mentions that 0. nana Visiani 

 occurs naturalised in Central Europe, Switzer- 

 land, Tyrol, and North Italy; while the Mediter- 

 ranean coast of Prance, Italy, and Sicily is said 

 to contain 0. nana, 0. ficus-indica of Gussone and 

 most aiithors, 0. dillenii, 0. inermis, and 0. amy- 

 clma, Tmore. He appears to agree (p. 289) with 

 Berger (1903, p. 92) in regarding the last- 

 mentioned species as being merely a form of 

 decumana which name he prefers to use rather 

 than ficus-mdica (p. 288). 0. decumana is 



tjli^.^F^'T:^''^ '^^ ^™t °^ ti^e Riviera, 

 in Italy, Malta, Sicily, and elsewhere. His short 

 account of it (p. 289, footnote) shows that he S 

 referring to the smooth- jointed species known 

 along the Mediterranean coasts as the Barbary 

 or Indian fig. He goes on to say that Spain con- 

 tains this species and apparently 0. nana, while 

 North Africa possesses both of these Opuntias 

 mtroduced, no doubt, by the Moors on their ex- 

 pulsion from Spain into Morocco. 



Dr. Schumann (1899 a, p. 34) had referred to 

 the presence of 0. nana under the names 

 vvlqans and 0. vulgaris, var. nana, at Bozen 

 (lyrol) and m certain parts of Southern 

 Europe (e.g., DaWia). He also mention^ 

 that 0.merm^s and 0. leptocaulis may often be 

 met with m quantity in Southern Europe, the 



former species occurring in South France, Cata- 

 lonia, and the Balearic Islands. In his mono- 

 graph (1899) published in the same year he 

 repeated the above information regarding the 

 European distribution of 0. nana (p. 715) and 

 0. inermis (p. 718), but 0. leptocaulis is not men- 

 tioned as being found wild in Europe. 0. ficus- 

 indica is given (p. 719) as the name of the com- 

 mon species cultivated in Spain, Italy, Sicily, and 

 Greece for the sake of its fruit. 



The various Opuntias above referred to have 

 been quoted under these or other names by earlier 

 writers on the botany of the Mediterranean 

 countries (Gussone, Tinore, and others). 



Holmes (1903, p. 24) has recorded the pre- 

 sence of 0. decumana (i.e., 0. fi^us-indica) in 

 Algeria; while Gennadius (1898) referred to the 

 occurrence of the spiny form in Cyprus, and 

 Bourde (1894) to its presence in Timisiia. 



SPECIES NOW KNOWN TO OCCUR 

 NATURALISED IN THE MEDITER- 

 RANEAN REGION. 



Ten or eleven species have been recognised, 

 some of them being common and widespread' 

 others being quite rare. In no case were these 

 plants so far beyond control as to constitute a 

 serious pest, though in a few localities one species 

 might occur in moderately dense patches. 



The following is a list of the Opuntias met 

 with : — 



1. 0. monacantha. Haw. 



2. 0. tomentosa, Salm-dyck. 



3. 0. bergeriana, Weber. 



4. 0. robusta, Wendl. 



5. 0. spinulifera, Salm-dyck. 



6. 0. nana, Vis. 



7. 0. dillenii, Haw. 



8. 0. inermis, DC. 



9. Common Indian or Barbary Fig, known 

 under various local and scientific names. 

 It will be referred to in this report as 0. 

 ficus-indica, Linn. Many varieties of 

 this species are known. 



10. The white-spined Barbary Fig (0. amy- 

 clcea, Tinore). 



11. Nopalea cochinelifera, L. 



1. 0. monacanf^a, Haw.— This species, which 

 lias been referred to earlier in this report, and 

 which IS one of the pest pears of Queensland, was 

 seen growing wild, but sparingly, in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Nice and Monaco in Southern 

 1^ ranee The plants were evidently derived 

 °"gi°ally from local gardens. Risso (1844, p. 

 295) mentions that this species occurred as an 

 introduced plant as Nice. 



2. 0. tomentosa, S.D.~A few plants belong- 

 ing to this species were seen growing wild near 

 ban Remo m the French Riviera, but, like the 

 above-mentioned 0. monacantha, were evidently 

 garden escapees. 



3. 0. bergeriana, Weber.— According to Mr. 

 Alwyn Berger, this species, though locaUy abun- 

 dant, occupies a very restricted area in the 

 Kiviera. It was seen in that region by the Com- 

 mission. It was originally a garden escapee. 



