424 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
THE INDIAN FIG. OPUNTTA. ‘'Tournefort. 
Shrubby plants with articulated branches; the joints mostly 
compressed and dilated, bearing fascicles of prickles or bristles, 
arranged in a quincuncial or spiral order. Flowers, yellow or 
red, sessile, arising from the clusters of prickles, or along the 
margin of the joints. Stamens numerous, shorter than the pe- 
tals, somewhat irritable. Berry tuberculate, often prickly, eat- 
able.—Flora of N. A. Five species of this genus are found 
north of Mexico. 
Tue Pricxty Pear. O. vudgdris. Miller. 
An erect, or prostrate, creeping plant, with articulated stem, 
the joints from two to four inches long, very fleshy and armed 
with tufts of setaceous spines. ‘The flowers are large and grow 
from the margin of the joints. Petals bnght yellow, obovate, 
mucronate, much longer than the calyx. ‘The fruit is obovate, 
pulpy and edible; the seeds numerous, small, immersed in the 
crimson pulp. 
My friend Thomas A. Greene informs me that he found this 
plant growing plentifully at Coatue Point, a long, narrow pro- 
montory extending towards Nantucket Harbor from the east, 
and accessible only at low water or ina boat. It was so near 
the water's edge that it must have sometimes been overflowed 
by the sea. “It was found early in July, and was then in full 
flower. From its succulent qualities, it remained fresh, and 
continued to put forth flowers for a long time, though thrown 
carelessly by in the door-yard. One of the plants, after lying 
thus for many days, was transplanted to James Arnold’s garden 
and continued to live several years.” 
Nantucket is in north latitude 41° 16’, and this is the most 
northerly point on the Atlantic coast, at which a cactaceous 
plant is found growing naturally. Myr. Greene has seen the 
same species growing in thin soil on the rocky ledges of Man- 
hattan (New York) Island, and it is said to be found at New 
Haven, in Connecticut. It is found also in New Jersey, and 
thence to Florida. 
