532 



NATIVE FLORIDA CACTUSES. 



of the state, but it is not very widely distributed 



Next, and of more importance, is Opuntia Ttina. 

 This famous species, so well-known as a hedge- 

 plant in Mexico and the West Indies, seems to have 

 entirely escaped the inquisitive eyes of the many 

 savants who have botanized on the coasts of Florida, 

 though it abounds on ever}' high sandy beach from 

 Tampa Bay around to Miami, and perhaps still further 

 north on the east coast. We can scarcely believe that 

 any one who has ever botanized on the coast of South 

 Florida, has kept his "shins" from coming into 

 occasional unpleasant contact with it. It quite often 

 grows in impenetrable masses four or five feet high, and 

 is characterized by large oval joints, six or eight inches 

 long. It is covered with two sets of spines — some small 

 and chaff-like, but whose close acquaintance is not to be 

 courted, and others an inch or more long, as sharp and 

 strong as needles, and quite as formidable as any cactus 

 we have ever seen. The yellow flowers almost invar- 

 iably have a rosy tinge, and the plant is beautiful, both 

 when in bloom and when covered with the large rich 

 purple berries, or "prickly-pears." 



Besides its use in Tropical America as a hedge-plant, 

 it is used as one of the principal cochineal plants. By 

 the by, what is to hinder the establishment of this 

 industry on the acres of Opiunia Tuna along on the 

 South Florida coast ? Probably the falling off of the 

 use of cochineal, as the world runs after the gayer ani- 

 lines, is the practical bar to producing the dye in Florida. 



This species, too, is quite hardy, and will stand several 

 degrees of frost unharmed. The fruits, covered with 

 occasional tufts of small chaff-like prickles, are two or 

 three inches long, somewhat pear-shaped and pumpkin- 

 colored. They are produced in the greatest profusion, 

 and are quite likely to become valuable, in time, for 

 culinary purposes, though but few people are acquainted 

 with their uses. 



We know of a certain lady who has been experiment- 

 ing, and of a certain cupboard containing an array of 

 glasses of marmalade, and jars of the richest wine- 

 colored sweet-pickles, all made from the fruit of Opuntia 

 Tuna, and as tempting as an epicure could wish. Cer- 

 tain it is that more attention to edible and " cookable " 

 cactuses, and commercial use for the fruits, are in the 

 strong probabilities of the near future. 



Equally as famous as Opuntia Tuna is Opuntia Ficjis- 

 Indiia, the "Indian fig'' cactus. This species has 

 escaped from cultivation and has become naturalized in 

 a few places in South Florida, especially on Key West. 

 It also, like most of the optunias, is very hardy, and 

 would probably prove so in North Florida. It is a most 

 striking and picturesque plant, attaining, in a few years 

 from the cutting, a height of ten or twelve feet, with 

 immense flat joints a foot or even fourteen inches in 

 length. The scale-like spines often drop off and leave 

 the surface perfectly smooth, so it is not very prickly, 

 nor difficult to handle. . The fruits are larger than those 

 of Opuntia Tuna, and are yellow in color. The pulp is 

 sweet and has very few seeds. It is very much 



liked by most people who are familiar with it, and we 

 have seen those who preferred it to such popular and 

 delicious fruits as the orange and banana. The fruits 

 are known as "Indian figs" in the West Indies, and 

 stray specimens occasionally find their way into the New 

 York markets from some West Indian schooner or other 

 vessel. The plant will, in time, probably be quite exten- 

 sively cultivated in Florida. 



Opuntia polyantha, mentioned in Dr. Chapman's 

 Flora of the Southern States " as native on Key West, 

 is also sparingly found on Upper Metacombe key. It is 

 an upright growing species with thin oval joints and 

 small prickles. It reaches a height of four or five feet, 

 and is distinct. 



A species of cereus found quite commonly on the 

 Southern and Western keys as far up as Tampa Bay has 

 also escaped the notice of most of the eagle-eyed scien- 

 tists who have heretofore frequented the Florida keys on 

 botanizing excursions. It is upright, or partly of scramb- 

 ling growth, depending somewhat on bushes or trees for 

 support. The stems are from one to two-and-a-half inches 

 in diameter, and often ten feet or even fifteen in length, 

 with very few branches, or none at all. The large white 

 or straw-colored flowers are five or six inches in diameter 

 when open ; it is night blooming, and flowers when quite 

 small. Mr. A. Blanc writes us that it is Cereus serpen- 

 tinus, but Professor Sereno Watson is still in doubt as 

 to whether it is or not. We have not seen the ordinary 

 form of C. serpentinns in bloom, but to us, the plant at 

 least seems different from this. Mrs. Nickels, of Laredo, 

 Texas, who is familiar with C. serpentinus , pronounces 

 this a different sort. Whether it is a different species, 

 or only a variety of C. serpentinus, will probably be 

 determined when the specimens at Harvard bloom. 

 The fruit is spherical, two or three inches in diameter, 

 and of a bright orange color. It is eaten by some people, 

 but is really little more than a mass of small black 

 seeds. 



The fruit of Cereus triangularis, known sornetimes as 

 the " strawberry pear " is often used in the West Indies 

 as a culinary vegetable. It is known as God-ochro in 

 Jamacia, where it is quite an important ingredient of 

 certain soups and stews, as it was formerly in the his- 

 torical "pepper-pot." It is often set out in South 

 Florida, and previous to the freeze of January, 1886, 

 there were many immense specimens, even in the door- 

 yards of Manatee, and it was found in Hillsborough and 

 Orange counties. In Key West it is quite plentiful, and 

 here Dr. Chapman considers it naturalized. It is one of 

 the few plants brought to South Florida by Dr. Henry 

 Perrine from Campeche, over fifty years ago, which has 

 survived the ordeals of Indian wars, fire, water, wmd 

 and weather. One of the original plants was planted in 

 Key West, and one sent to a florist in New Orleans. 

 Almost the only other surviving plants of Dr. Perrine's 

 introduction are Aloe vulgaris, still growing on Indian 

 key. Agave rigida var. Sisalana, perfectly naturalized on 

 the Southern and Western keys, and two immense date 

 palm trees on the lower Metacombe. Cereus triangularis 



