CACTUS. 



that thcfc two ponfra, notwithft.indiiig tlie difforenct- in the 

 number of tlnir namcns and petals, are clofely connected by 

 tbcir inferior jTirmen, lin),.lc llvle, and or.e-cellid fruit, with 

 the feeds ;<ttachcJ to its inr.er Surface, and that the atHnity is 

 ftrtnjjthcnid by the fimilar flrudtiire of the fpiiits in feveral 

 of duir fpecics. La Marck adds to this natural order 

 Tetragonia and Mefcmbryaiitliemuni, which JufTicu arranges 

 under Ficoidcne, liis fifth order of the fame c1h(s. 



Cacti, in Enlomolany, a fpecics of Coccinella, wltli the 

 wing-nicalhs bhick, a:id two red fpots. Fabricius. Found 

 on the caili of America. — Alfo, a I'peeies of Coccus. 



CACTOIDE/K, in Botany, the fifth natural order of 

 Vcntenat's fourteenth clafs, wlio places under it only the 

 Lirnxan genus Caftus, confuiering Ribes as more properly 

 belonging to the Saxifragtx, but foiming the conriecting 

 link bttwem that order and C;>aus. This able botanift has 

 fallen into a llight abfujdity in calling an order which con- 

 tains only the genus Cailus, Cafloidtx ; which in fad is 

 only faying that Cadus is like itfelf. 



CACTl.'S, (xixTo;, Gr. the name of a plant dcfcribcJ 

 firft by Thcophraflus, and afterwards by Diofcorides, Athe- 

 rxus, and Pliny. Theophrallus, whom the fueceeding 

 writers have nearly copied, fpeaks of it as a plant not in- 

 digenous in Greece, and peculiar to Sicily, producing from 

 the root feveral creeping Items, with a broad and prickly 

 leaf, which, when ftripped of their bark, are eaten either 

 frefli or pickled ; with an upright ftem bcfides, which he 

 fays is called pternix, and is eaten frefli but not pickled ; 

 and having a prickly pericarp, called afculia, which is like- 

 wife eatable when feparated from the down of the feeds, and 

 rcfembles the head of a palm. Moft of the earlier modern 

 botanills, fupported by the authority of Athensus, fuppofe 

 it to be the fame plant which the Greeks called xivv^px, and 

 the Romans Cardui:s, the Cynara fcolymus of Linnajus, or 

 common artichoke ; but Bodasus a Stapel ftrongly infills, 

 that it muft be another plant not afcertained by modern 

 botanifts. See his Notes on Theophraftus, p. 627— 629, 

 where he has correfted the corrupt texts of Theophrallus 

 and Athenxus, by comparing them with each other, and 

 with the Latin of Pliny. What are called by Theophraftus 

 creepmg Hems, are probably nothing more than the ftrong 

 midrib of the broad prickly leaves). Linn. gen. 615. Schreb. 

 838. Willdcn. 966. G2:rt.799. JuflT. p.311. Vent, vol.3. 

 291. Clafs and order, kofcnilria 7jionogjnia. Nat. ord. Suc- 

 cuIenU Linn. Caai Jnlf. Cacloldis Vent. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. fuperior, imbricated, tubular, deciduous. 

 Cor. petals numerous, difpofed in feveral ranks ; the outer 

 ones Ihoiter, the inner rather larger. Stam. filaments nume- 

 rous, inferted into the calyx ; anthers oblong. Pm. <rerm 

 inferior; (lyle cylindric ; lligma headed, multilid. Paic. 

 berry oblong, umbilicattd at Us fummit, one-celled. Seids 

 numerous, bedded in pulp. 



Jiff. Ch. Calyx fuperior, imbricated. Corolla of many 

 petals. Berry one-celled. Seeds numerous. 



Obf. Linnaeus, on account of the conformity in the parts 

 of fruaification, has united in one genus a numerous tribe of 

 fucculent plants, differing greatly from each other, and many 

 of them from all other plants, in their general ftrufture and 

 habit, which former botanills had diftributed into feparate 

 genera, under the names of Melocaftus, Cereus, Opuntia, 

 and Perelkia. Ho obferves, that Melocaftus is monocotyle- 

 d.nous, and Opuntia dicotylcdinous ; but that neverthelefs 

 they are of the fame natural genus. Juffieu mentions the 

 circumftancc on the authority of Linnxus, but gives no 



/'b'/ "A'""'°" °",^'" '""''J'^^' '■"'"^■■'■'"g 'he germination 

 of Melocaaus, as well as the exiftence and nature of the 

 penfpermum la all the Cadli, to future inquiry 



• Echlnomehcaa'i, turks'-cap, or mclon-thiftles ; of a 

 roundilh form, in fome dcurec refcmbling a melon. 



Species 1. C. mammilaris, fmalkr melon-thiftle. Linn. 

 Sp. Plant. (Echinomelocaftui minor, Herm. Par. 136! 

 tab. 136. Ficoides, Pluk. Aim. 184. tab. 39. f. i. Comml 

 P-i°5- t- 55- l^rad. fuccul. 3. p. n. tab. 19.) 



liort. 1, 



" Roundi(h, covered with ovate, bearded tuberclcb." The 

 body of the plant confiRs of a roundiOi (\.lhy fubftance, 

 fcflile, about the fize of a man's fill, without remarkable 

 angles, but befet on all fides with numerous conic tubercles, 

 which are cottony at their fummit and terminated by fmall 

 diverging fpiiies. There is alfo a (light cottony down be- 

 tween the tubercles. I'he flowers arc fmall, whitifli, fcattertd 

 about the plant between the tubercles. The berries are of 

 a purphfli blue colour, according to La Marck, but are faid 

 by Miller to be of a line fcarlet, and continue frefli upon the 

 plant through the winter. They have an agreeable flavour, 

 aiid are very good to eat, efpecially when properly drefl"cd 

 Bole. A native of South America, among rocks. 2. C. 

 glomeralus, clulfered melon-tliiftle. La Marck. Plum Sp" 

 19. tab. 201. f. I. " Ovate, downy, compound, growing 

 clofe together, covered with papillary tubercles." LT feveral 

 refpeds it refembles the preceding, but differs from it ia 

 growing feveral together in a clofe group, in its glaucous 

 colour, and very white abundant down, in its fize which 

 does not exceed that of a pullet's egg, and in the red colour 

 of Its flowers. Obferved by Plumier at St. Domingo, and 

 defcribed by La Marck from his MSS. It appears to be 

 the Ch.lding of Miller, though that is faid by him to be 

 rather larger than the mamillofa. 3. C. melocaBus, great 

 pielon-thiltle. Linn. Sp. PI. (Melocadus, Bauh Pm -Si 

 Tourn. 653. Echinomelocadus, Clu'. Exot. tab 9^ 'Lob 

 ic 2. p.24. BradLSucc 4. p. 9. tab. 32.) " Roundifli! 

 with fourteen angles." A roundifl. mafs, fometimes more 

 than a yard in circumference, and m its native country 

 alnioll twice as large , confifting internally of a foft, green, 

 flelhy fubftance, f u 1 of moiilure ; deeply divided into four! 

 teen or hfteen regular, fmooth, flat-fided parts; the ridge of 

 the ribs furniflied with a row of cluttered, ftiff, ftraight di 

 verging fpmes, about an inch long, and red at their fum'mit' 

 Flowers red, fituated at the top of the plant. A native of 

 South America 4. C. coronatus, crowned melon-thiftle 

 La Marck « Ovate, with twenty angles ; crowned with a 

 cottony pileus or cap." About a foot high, flefliv ; yit, 

 oblique or a httle fpiral ; their ridges befet with a row of 

 cluttered diverging fpines, about fix or feven fines long, and 

 generally a lute curved ; cap three inches and a half in dia- 

 meter, compofed of a white, very clofe cottony down, in- 

 ter perfed with clutters of red fpine.s, which are ftifl^as the 

 bnlUes of a brufli, but not prickly. A native of South 



:^R"''";n,^- ^l"fc'"' "°^'^ -^lon-thilHe. Linn. Man 

 •' Roundifli, with fifteen angles; fpines broad, recurved." 

 This lpec.es feems to hold a middle fpacc between the lafl 

 two ; but us external fu, face is entirely red. It varies in i 

 form, being fometimes oval or conic, and fometimes more 

 globular. It, ribs are oblique or fpiral, and its fpines W 

 white as ivory, and a little curved. A native of St Do' 

 mmgo, among rocks on the coaft. Obf. Mr. Miller makes 



\Z^^l"V^T' "{'K' g"-"^ «elon.th,ftle, and tZk 

 that 'f the iflands in the Weft Indies were examined, many 

 more would be found Profeffor Martyn confiders them as 

 only varieties La Marck has made three fpecies wh cTwe 

 hav^e adopted: though from the defcription in different 

 authors, It IS not eal^ to determine which are fpec es and 

 which vanet.es. They grow from apertures in^the fteep 

 fides of rocks m the hotteft part of America, .nd feldom 

 live long when tranfplanted into a better foil. In times o" 



great 



