38 
CACTACE^E. 
About the mouth of the Gallinas into the Pecos, near Anton Chico, New Mexico; collected in 
fruit in September. Plant 4 feet hig]^; joints orbicular, or even transversely oval, about 7 
inches in diameter; pulvilli 1 inch apart, large, with a semi-circle of large, coarse bristles, 3-4 
lines long at the upper edge, and a single stout spine, 1^-lf inch long, on the upper pulvilli, 
often with 1 or 2 additional ones, 4-9 lines length. Flower not seen. Fruit globose, 1-1|- inch 
in diameter, of a purple color. Seed 2.0-2.3 lines in diameter, with a broad and thick acutish 
undulate rim. The circular joints with fewer spines, and the small globose fruit with large 
seeds, distinguish this form from 0. Ungelmanni, as it usually appears further south. 
3. Op. occidentalis, (sp. nov.): erecta patulo—ramosissima, caule demurn lignose terete cor- 
ticato, articulis grandibus ohovatis rhomboideisve, pulvillis remotis griseo-tomentosis, setis 
flavis s. flavo-fuscis gracilibus confertis, aculeis 1-3 validis compressis angulatis rectis deflexis 
divergentibusve, uno alterove ad articuli marginem superiorem erecto, albidis corneisve sub- 
annulatis hasi flavo-fuscis cum adventitiis 1-2 gracilioribus pallidioribus deflexis; flore flavo 
intus aurantiaco, ovario obovoto pulvillis fusco-villosis vix fulvo-setosis sub-25 notato subinde 
parce aculeolato, sepalis (extus rubellis) 10-12 dilatato-obovatis cuspidatis, patalis (8?) obovatis 
obtusis subintegris; bacca obovata late umbilicata succosa, seminibus majoribus irregularibus 
undulato-marginatis, crenulatis. (Plate VII, fig. 1-2.) 
On the western slope of the California mountains, from QuiqualGungo, east of Los Angeles, 
to San Pasquale and San Isabel, northeast of San Diego, (A. Schott,) at an elevation of 1,000 
to 2,000 feet, in immense patches, often as large as half an acre. Flowers in June. Stout lig¬ 
neous stems, with innumerable branches, sometimes over one hundred joints, spreading far, and 
then often bent to the ground; joints 9-12 inches long, 6-8 inches wide; pulvilli 1^-2 inches 
distant, with slender and closely set (much more so than in O. Ungelmanni ) bristles, only 2-3 
lines long on the upper part of the pulvillis; spines 1-1^, smaller ones inch long. Flower 
yellowish and orange, deeper colored inside at the base, 3-3| inches in diameter; ovary 1^ inch 
long, not one inch in diameter; pulvilli pretty equally distributed over it, (not as much congre¬ 
gated toward the top as in O Ungelmanni ;) sepals short and unusually broad ; petals only 9 or 
10 lines wide by 15 lines in length, rounded, and not emarginate in my specimen, nor mucro- 
nate. Fruit 2 inches long, 1^-1^ inches in diameter, “very juicy, but of a sour and disagree¬ 
able taste.” Seeds 2^-2f lines in diameter. The young plants, raised from the seeds which we 
brought home, fail to exhibit the very hairy pulvilli which all the young of O. Ungelmanni 
show ; they bear only the numerous bristly spines seen in most young Opuntice, at least of this 
section. 
To Mr. A. Schott, who has considerably enriched our knowledge of the vegetation of the 
countries along the boundary line and in the Gadsden purchase, is due the credit of having 
discovered the flower of this plant, heretofore unknown, and of many valuable notes about its 
general habits. 
The plant mentioned in Silliman’s Journal, November, 1852, (Dr. Parry’s collections,) as 
being common “on the hill-sides and plains near San Diego,” and which Mr. Schott seems 
to have also found “on the sea-beach near San Diego,” may be a form of O. Ungelmanni , as 
suggested in the above publication; or it may be a naturalized wild state of O. Tuna, which is 
cultivated about the missions there. Enough material has not been obtained to decide about it. 
At all events, it seems to be distinct from the plant of the western mountain slopes. 
4. Op. ciilorotica, (sp. nov.): erecta grandis, caule demun-lignoso terete, cortice cinereo-fulvo 
aculeis flavis numerosissimis fasciculatis armato; articulis orbiculato-obovatis magnis pallide 
flavo-virescentibus s. subglaucis; pulvillis subremotis griseo-tomentosis, setis stramineis dif- 
formibus exterioribus brevioribus tenuioribus subrequalibus confertis, interioribus uniseriatis 
robustioribus longioribus ; aculeis in pulvillis inferioribus 1-3, in superioribus 3-6 inasqualibus 
stramineis plus minus compressis (nec acute angulatis) plerisque deflexis, interiore breviore 
