Mr: > : - 
i 
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39 
§ 4. Vulgares: procumbentes vel adscendentes : articuli plerumque 
minores : ^ aculei validi, subteretes vel nulli, albidi vel obscuriores : 
bacca clavata. 
16. O. Rafinesquii, E. in P. R. R. : diffusa ; radice fibrosa ; articulis 
obovatis vel suborbiculatis perviridibus, foliis elongatis patulis ; pulvil- 
lis subremotis setas graciles rufas gerentibus plerisque inermibus; ' 
aculeis paucis marginalibus validis rectis singulis erectis patulisve, uno 
alterove minore deflexo subinde adjecto, rufo variegatis; alabastro 
acuto ; ovario clavato pulvillis 20 - 25 stipato ; petalis 10-12; stig- 
matibus 7 - 8 ; bacca clavata. 
Var. microsperma : subinermis : seminibus minoribus angustius 
marginatis. 
Sterile, sandy, or rocky soil in the Mississippi valley, from Kentucky 
to Missouri, and from Minnesota southward : fl. May and June.~ 
Joints 3-5 inches long; leaves 3-4 lines long; spines 9-12 lines 
long, sometimes entirely wanting. Flowers 2£- 3^- inches in diame¬ 
ter, yellow, often with a red centre. Seed 2£ lines, or in the variety 
less than 2 lines in diameter. — This species had been confounded 
with the Eastern O. vulgaris by all our botanists, with the exception 
of Rafinesque, who pretended to distinguish three species, viz. O. hu - 
mifusa, O. casyitosa , and 0. mesacantha (sometimes erroneously 
accredited to Nuttall), which cannot be made out, and which I have 
again united under their author’s name. — The following is probably 
only a Southern variety of this species : — 
O. grandiflora, E.: subadscendens ; articulis majusculis; pulvillis. 
remotis; setis. tenuissimis; aculeis • subnullis ; floris grand is ovario 
elongato; petalis sub-10 latissimis; stigmatibus 5; bacca elongata 
clavata. 
On the Brazos, Texas. — Joints often 5-6 inches long; pulvilli 
nearly an inch apart. Flowers 4^-5 inches in diameter, red in the 
centre ; petals 2 inches long or more, and 1J- wide. 
Dr. Bigelow collected on his tour from Arkansas to Santa Fe sev¬ 
eral forms, which, though somewhat distinct, are perhaps not entitled 
to be considered species. The true O. Rafinesquii does not seem to 
K • occur west of the western line of Missouri and Arkansas. The West¬ 
ern forms or subspecies are : - T 
O. CYMOCHiLA, E. & B. in P. R. R. : diffusa ; articulis orbiculatis; 
pulvillis subremotis stramineo- seu fulvo-setosis plerisque armatis ; acu¬ 
leis 1 - 3 robustioribus albidis basi fulvis patentibus deflexisve, additis 
\-o- 
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