Evening Visitor Suj 
SATURDAY, AUGUST' 19, 1876. 
I. o. MARTIN DALE AT/THE AC- 
ADEMY OF NATURAL 
SCIENCES, 
1 of the Falls of the* Potomac, and 
s a real native of New Jersey. On 
I think' there’ can be no doubt, as 
«-*f the land; 'John Gill, informs me 
|5 meeting of the Academy of Natural 
Sciences of Philadelphia on Tuesday, the 15th 
Inst , Laac C* Marti udale.made^ome remarks 
'on tic genus Opuntia, the Only representative 
in New Jersey of the large order Cactacm. 
M r Mcrtindale is a close observer and agood 
’.botanist, and as many of our readers are in- 
r -!Vresced im botany, and this has a direct bear- 
ing on the flora of New Jersey, we publish 
hhs/ remarks as near in full as we could gath* 
them. There were specimens of leaves and 
fruit mounted on cardboard exhibited, show- 
ing the characters appointed out. 
The lar^e natural b^der Cactacse comprises 
gabbut 8(Xhspecies, chiefly natives of tropical 
countries, and. the western part of the United 
State's, where many grow to an immense size. 
The only representative of this large order in 
the Northern United Staies^easf; of the Miss- 
ies i{ p , is the geru*. Opuntia The only species 
of this genus described' in the old works on 
the Flora, of this section was the sorcalled 
Opuntia Vulgaris, from Massachusetts and 
southward, mostly neat the coast; in the new* 
edition of Gray’s Mailbag the Opuntia Miss- 
ouriensis, a western, species, having dry, prick- 
ly fry * t, is admitted as. occurring in Wiscon- 
pulpy fruit, similar in this respect to Opuutia 
Vulgaris, also in the western section from ’ 
Wisconsin to Kentucky, Dr. George Engel- 
mann, o! St. Louis, in a recent examination 
of the genus, after comparing specimens from 
Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and 
New Jersey, heretofore classed as Opuntia 
Vulgaris, determines them to be identical with 
Opuntia Rafinesquii from the west. In a re- 
cent note from him he says: “I have speci- 
mens growing he/e from Massachusetts, New 
York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and. 
they are all Opuntia Rafinesquii ; the Vulgar- 
is I have only from the Falls of the Potomac 
and South Caroline.” 
In June la^t I eul Leri ed near Hnddoufidd, 
N.M., some specimens of Opuntia in flower, 
which, on examination and comparison with; 
the species as figured in the 4th volume of the 
Pacific Railroad Reports, I determined to be 
the Opuntia Vulgaris. In the latter part of 
July 1 again examined the plant, then in full 
fruit, and my former conclusion was sustained. 
I also sert a fully developed specimen to Dr. 
Engelmann, who pronounced it to be the 
true Opuntia Vulgaris, which he had not 
it has lieen ther^ to his knowledge at least 
25’ years, and while it does not incline to 
S p reu d any , shn ws n ni i gti of di sn p pen tin g. 
In comparing this plant with specimens 
growing near the coast, and; which apuear to 
he the O fmnt ra Uafimsquii, the following 
characters appear : The Opu ntia V uigaris 
has a pale green appeaMnce; the flat joints 
,ju«>v:a t e,wii h small -ovate suim bite leaves , stout 
a n d * a pc r i i » g fro m a , - br uadis h base*/ m os tiy : 
“less than (me fourth of an inch in length, and 
appressefl to The joint, with a fascicle of mi-, 
nateiy barbed bristles, j and occasionally a 
spine iirAheir axils; the* flowers are sulphur 
yellow, tthe fruit smdoihish, about an inch in 
r Length and hal fan inch in thickness, some- 
what ventricose, or largest just above the 
middle and tapering to the base, with a de- 
pression at the top where the flower has fal- 
len off, from one eighth to one quarter of an 
inch in depth. The Opantia Rafluesquii has 
rather larger flowers, occasionally with a 
reddish centre, more numerous petals, the 
fruit fully one and a half inches in length, 
with an elongated base, the depression in the 
top in the specimens examined not so deep as 
in the Vulgaris ; the older joints have a dark- 
en’ yu en appe trance, the leaves more Mender, • 
longer,. rum one quarter to three eighths of an 
. inch in length, and spreading, and more fre- 
quently with tiie large spine, particularly 
aboul: the top of the joint. I have ex- 
amined specimens from W oodbury, about 12 
miles from the Haddopfieid locality, which 
are Opuntia Rafluesquii, and which have 
fusiform tubers., on tjie extremities of the 
roots, similar in this lespect to a western form 
of Rafinesquii, described in the Pacific R. R. 
Reports as O. fusifomiis. I have not been 
able to find tubers on the Vulgaris, and the 
published descriptions of that species make 
no reference to any. There is growing in the 
Meehan nurseries, near Germantown, a speci- 
men of Opuutia Rafluesquii from New Jersey, 
which is identical with one. . from * II linois ; 
also a specimen of Opuntia Vulgaris from 
Harper’s Ferry, which is identical with the 
one collected near Haddonfield. These iwo 
species are somewhat closely allied, yet the 
form and position of the leaves are very mani- 
fest, and being early deciduous it is possible 
is the cause of their being so long confounded. 
Certain it is, that if the two species as de- 
scribed are distinct, we have both of them in 
New Jersey. 
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