442 EXPLORATIONS ACROSS THE GREAT BASIN OF UTAH. 
0. rutila , Nutt, in Torr. & Gray Flor. 1, p. 555. Joints 5 inches long, half as wide, 
obovate; leaves 11 lines long; areolae closely set with long straw-colored bristles; 
lower ones with few and short white spines, upper ones with numerous grayish-red 
spines, 1^-2 inches in length. Flowers pale straw-colored, 2J—3 in diameter; ovary 
1 inch long, with 20—30 white woolly aculeolate areolae ; exterior sepals oblaneeolate, 
squarrose, or recurved at the elongated tip; petals obovate, obtuse, crenulate; style 
with 8 or 10 short erect stigmas, longer than the stamens. The squarrose tips of the 
sepals are particularly conspicuous on the bud. 
Opuntia Missouriensis, Be Cand. Prod. 3, p. 472; Torr. & Gray , FI. 1, p. 555 (in 
part)) Cactus ferox, Nutt. Gen. 1, p. 296*. 
From the deserts of Salt Lake Valley to Eu^ Valley; specimens without flower 
or fruit. Joints small (2-3 inches long), broadly obovate or circular; areolae closely 
set; spines numerous, stiff, stout, angular, white, mostly deflexed. 
Opuntia Missouriensis, var. albispina, & Bigelow , l. c. p. 46; t. 14, fs. 
8-10; Syn. Cact. p. 44. 
Sniith Creek, Lookout Mountains, in Western Utah; flowering in July. By their 
slender flexuous spines, the specimens approach to var. trichophora: Flowers 3-3| 
inches in diameter, bright golden-yellow; ovary 1 inch long, with 20 or 25 areolae, 
scarcely spiny; exterior sepals obovate, cuspidate; petals about 8, obtuse, crenulate; 
style shorter than the stamens; stigmas about 5, very short, erect. Some flowers have 
elongated and very spiny ovaries, evidently abortive. 
Opuntia fragilis, Haworth, Suppl. p. 82; Torr. dc Gray , FI. 1, p. 555; Synops. Cact. 
p. 45; Cactus fragilis, Nytt. (fen. 1, p. 296. V , 
Fort Kearny ^Eo‘the North Platte co'untry;* hf flower in June and July. • This is, 
I believe, the first time that the flowers of this species were collected since Nuttalks 
discovery of it in 1813. Travelers report that the plant is very frequently seen in the 
sterile prairies east of the Rocky Mountains, but that it is rare to find them in flower 
and rarer still in fruit. Since many years I have the plant in cultivation from speci¬ 
mens brought down by Dr. Hayden, but have not been able to get it to flower. 
Nuttall only informs us that the flowers are solitary and small. In the specimen 
before me, they are yellow, scarcely 2 inches in diameter; ovary 8-9/lines long; the 
13-15 areola are densely covered with thick white wool; the upper ones bear a few 
white spines; lower sepals broadly oval, with a short cusp; petals 5, obovate, rounded, 
crenulate; style longer than the stamens; stigmas 5, short, erect, cuspidate^* 
■ ness of Dr. A. W. Chapman, of Apalachicola, Fla., I have received living specimens * 
an now complete the description of this very distinct southern species.' 
Le Conte in herb. Eng elm.) Append, to Synops. Cact. in Proceed. Am. Acad. Arts $ Sc. II, p. 3' 
: diffusa, Isete viridis; articulis parvisWatis seu obovatis tiimidis ssepius teretius< 
illis subdistantibus pulvinatis; foliis tereYiusculis ovatis cuspidatis incurvi's ; areolis j 
sas brevissimas pallidas et plerisque aculeos 1-3 rectos rigidos ssepe basi compressos 
lis inermibus; floribus flavis minoribus: ov^rio obovato pulvillos perpaucos fusco-vi 
s ovato-lanceolatis, interioribus obovatis cuspidatis; petalis sub-5 obovatis spatulatif 
igmatibus 4-5 erectis; seminibus paucissimis aWuste obtuseque marginatis in pulj 
floris rudimentis coronatse nidulantibus. \ 
3 along the coast of Georgia and Florida. Joints inches long, obovate tumid, or 
