d2 



be distinct, differing froni it in possessing more 

 numerous areoles, these being more elevated and 

 bearing spines which, though generally curved, 

 were of a deeper yellow and were more widely 

 divaricate than in 0. dillenii. These spines be- 

 come a dirty white when old. The flowers also 

 differed from those of 0. dillenii in being orange 

 or orange-red in colour. The fruits appeared to 

 be shorter and less pedunculated.* It is called 

 the "Flathand Pimploe" by the islanders. 



Injury hy Insect and Fungoid Enemies. 



A brown scaly condition of the epidermis of 

 0. dillenii (?) sometimes associated with a more 

 or less dried appearance of the affected joints was 

 probably due to uncongenial soil conditions. Some 

 injuries suggestive of the presence of the shot-, 

 hole fungus, Olwosporlum lunatum, were seen on 

 this species of prickly-pear. 



Near the village of Crane, there were seen 

 occasional injuries in joints of 0. dillenii (?) 

 exactly like those produced in the drier parts of 

 U.S.A. by species of Melitara. Dead hoUowed-out 

 segments or parts of segments were noticed, each 

 with one or more small round openings, and con- 

 taining rounded insect excreta. The borers were 

 not found (December). 



The only insect pest noticed was a species 

 of Diaspis. It has been mentioned that a wild 

 cochineal near Coccus confusus has been recorded 

 from Barbados (C.I., p. 42), but it has been 

 ascertained that the specimens were collected in 

 Antigua and forwarded through the Agricultural 

 Department at Barbados to the Bureau of Ento- 

 mology, Washington, D.C. 



MARTINIQUE. 



A very brief stay at Port de France, and 

 observations made with a field-glass in skirting 

 the coast to the north of it, whilst aboard a small 

 steamer, served only to reveal the presence of a 

 broad-leaved Opuntia growing sporadically there. 

 Subsequently, however, opportunities occurred 

 for consulting Rev. R. P. Duss, the author of the 

 " Flore Phanerogamique des Antilles Fran- 

 eaises," whose plant investigations on the island 

 had covered a period of upwards of twenty 

 years. He confirmed what he had already stated 

 (1897, p. 318), that Opuntia tuna, Miller (evi- 

 dently referring to 0. dillenii, Haworth) grew 

 abundantly in certain parts of the island, where 

 it was known under the name of Baquette au 

 hord-de-mer or Baguette a piquants, and that 

 Xopalea cochinelifera, Miller — the Baquette sans 

 piquants — grew there also, but less abundantly. 



Although he had very commonly observed 

 them under different modes of occurrence, he had 

 not found that any natural check of the nature 

 of disease or insect had served to control their 

 spread. A special local inquiry appeared then 

 uncalled for. 



* R. Schomberg (1841, p. 619) also mentions three 

 kinds as growing there, viz., 0. tuna, MiU. (^ O. dillenii. 

 Haw.), 0. curassavica. Mill. ("Orange-flowered Opuntia"), 

 0. coccinelifera, MiU. (= N. cochinelifera), assigning to them 

 as native homes — (1) Brazil; (2) West Indies (Leeward 

 Islands) ; and (3) South America respectively. The first- 

 mentioned he designated Pimploes, Hughes; the second 

 " Pincushion." 



DOMINICA. 



Of the 291 square miles contained in this 

 island, a very small portion indeed supports any 

 growth whatever of prickly-pear, a fact no doubt 

 due to its relatively high rainfall and the preva- 

 lent humid conditions that characterise it. Opun- 

 lia spp. are, however, to be met with along the 

 west coast in proceeding from Roseau northwards, 

 especially at the Grand Savanna near the Batalie 

 River. In the portion of the area traversed, irl 

 which these plants grow, only 0. dillenii was met 

 with. This plant occurred in fairly large clumps 

 on the foreshores, and was not affected by disease 

 or other natural enemy. In the course of the 

 limited investigation that was practicable, the 

 two other species of Opuntia — i.e., 0. catacantha 

 and 0. catacantha taylori — which we were in- 

 formed by Dr. Britton, grew on Dominica, were 

 not encountered. 



Again, the Curator and Assistant Curator 

 of the Botanic Gardens, Messrs. E. J. Jones and 

 G. A. Jones, as well as other local residents, stated 

 that they had not found that the prickly-pear 

 plants were controlled in any way by natural 

 enemies on Dominica. 



GUADELOUPE AND THE SAINTS 

 ISLANDS. 



The explored portions of these islands in- 

 cluded the west coast for some miles on each side 

 of Basse Terre, the east coast from Les Trois 

 Rivieres to Point a Pitre, and the interior; also 

 the mountainous island Terre de Haut. With 

 the exception of a few isolated plants of 0. dil- 

 lenii that grew on the east coast, Opuntia spp. 

 were, so far as our observations extended, re- 

 stricted in their occurrence to the first and last 

 of the areas mentioned. However, it was elicited 

 from the veteran botanist, Rev. R. P. Duss, who 

 most generously identified himself with the work 

 of the Commission throughout the period occu- 

 pied in Guadeloupe, that these plants not only 

 occurred on the small island named, but were 

 more or less prevalent on the Saints group gener- 

 ally, being especially abundant at Desirade on 

 the arid rocky savanna that stretches between 

 La Broserie and the sea. 



The kinds of prickly-pear present were — (1) 

 0. dillenii (0. tuna. Mill., Duss, 1897, p. 318) ; 

 (2) 0. triacantha, WiUd. {0. spinosissima. Mill., 

 Duss, I.e.) ; and (3) Nopalea cochinelifera, Mill. 

 Of these the first-mentioned grew generally wher- 

 ever prickly-pear plants occurred, whereas 0. 

 triacantha was met with only on the Saints 

 islands and to the north of Basse Terre in ap- 

 proaching Vieux Habitants, on the rocky foot- 

 hills near the sea. The red-flowered thornless 

 prickly-pear N. cochinelifera was restricted to 

 gardens adjacent to dwellings or to spots that 

 had once been cultivated as gardens. As a rule 

 the plants of all three kinds grew isolatedly; 

 but in certain places 0. dillenii and 0. triacantha 

 formed small thickets, especially where the soil 

 in which they grew was unsuitable for agricul- 

 ture and therefore little liable to be disturbed. 



Insect and Fungoid Enemies. 



The only insect enemy noticed was Diaspis 

 echinocacti, Bouche. 



Examples of retarded growth were seen, but 

 such result was evidently not in any way due to 

 parasitic invasion. 



