554 CACTACEÆ. Cereus.
High hills of the Missouri, Nuttall.—Berry scarlet, about equal with the
tubercles. Nutt. Tubercles in 18-20 series, turning to the left, about 20 or
25 in each series : the axils at first somewhat tomentose. DC.—It is singular,
if Mr. Nuttall’s plant be the same with the tropical species, that it should
be found so far north.
2. M. vivipara (Haworth): csespitose, the glomerules subglobose ; tubercles
cylindric-ovate, bearded, marked above with a proliferous groove; flowers
(bright-red) central, large, exserted ; exterior segments of the calyx ciliate;
fruit filiform, greenish. Nutt.—Haw. 1. c. p. 42 ; DC. 1. c. Cactus (Melo-
cactus) viviparus, Nutt. gen. 1. p. 295.
Summits of gravelly hills, Missouri. June-Aug.—Flowers large, almost
similar to those of C. flagelliformis. Roots long and fusiform, penetrating
deep into the soil. Plants sometimes forming masses 2 or 3 feet broad.
Berry about the size of a grape, smooth and eatable. Nutt.
2. ECHINOCACTUS. Link Sp Otto, diss. (1827) ; DC. prodr. 3. p. 461.
Sepals numerous, imbricated, adnate to the base of the ovary and united
in a very short tube; the exterior involucriform, the inner petaloid. Stamens
numerous. Style filiform, many-cleft at the apex. Berry somewhat squa-
mose with the vestiges of the sepals.—Plant simple, ovate or globose, leafless,
with alternate vertical ribs and furrows; the former bearing fascicles of
spines. Spadix none. Flowers from the clusters of spines at the summit
of the ribs, similar to those of Cereus, but with scarcely any tube. DC.
1. E. ? viridescens (Nutt. mss. under Melocactus): “ large and nearly
globose, with 20 or more angles ; spadix none ; flowers (rather large) yellowish
green, from the upper clusters of spines; spines radiating, unequal;
three of them usually larger, broad, acuminate, transversely striate; fruit
green and smooth.
“ Arid hills &c. near St. Diego, California.—Sometimes afoot high and 9-
10 inches in diameter; seldom if ever laterally clustered. Segments of the
calyx ciliate, nearly the length of the linear-lanceolate petals. Berry about
the size of a gooseberry.” Nuttall.—We have not seen the plant, but it
seems to be an Echinocactus rather than Melocactus.
3. CEREUS. DC. cat. hort. Monsp. (1813) 8f prodr. 3. p. 462.
Sepals [and petals] very numerous, imbricated, adnate to the base of the
ovary, united in a long tube; the exterior shorter and calycine, the middle
ones longer and colored, the interior petaloid. Stamens very numerous,
coherent with the tube. Style filiform, many-cleft at the apex. Berry
somewhat tuberculate or squamose with the vestiges of the sepals.—Fleshy
elongated shrubs, with a ligneous axis and an internal pith, grooved verti-
e a lly ; the angles bearing fascicles of spines, either numerous or few, or
rarely only 2. Flowers from the clusters of spines. DC.
There is a large columnar species in Key West (perhaps C. Peruvianus), and
several Cacteae noticed by Dr. James along the base of the Rocky Mountains (C.
cylindricus, James, in Ding’s exped. &c.) appear to belong to this genus, but we
have not the means for characterizing them. To this genus the following species
seems to belong.
Opu n t ia . CACTACEÆ. 555
1. C- ? Californicus (Nutt. mss. under Cactus): “ erect and shrubby, with
numerous cluster's of long and short spines ; the branches somewhat cylin-
dric, repandly grooved, reticulated; flowers small, yellow; fruit dry and
spiny.
“ Arid hills and denuded tracts near St. Diego, California, common.”
Nutt.
4. OPUNTIA. Tourn. inst. t. 122; Haworth, syn. p. 187; DC. 1. c.
Sepals and petals numerous, adnate to the ovary, not produced into a tube;
the interior petaloid, obovate, spreading. Stamens numerous, shorter than
the petals. Style cylindrical, constricted at the base: stigmas numerous,
thick, erect. Berry umbilicate at the apex, tuberculate, often prickly. Embryo
somewhat spiral, nearly terete: plumule small.—Shrubby plants, with
articulated branches; the joints (rarely terete) mostly compressed and dilated,
bearing fascicles of prickles or bristles arranged in a quincuncial or spiral
order. Flowers (yellow or red) arising from the clusters of prickles or along
the margin of the joints. Stamens somewhat irritable. DC.
E O. vulgaris (Mill.): diffusely prostrate, creeping; joints ovate; prickles
short and very numerous, usually with several strong and subulate (yellow)
spines; flowers yellow; fruit crimson, nearly smooth.—Mill. diet. t.
191; Haw. A c.; DC. 1. c. ; Hook. hot. mag. t. 2393. Cactus Opuntia,
Lin n .; Michx.jl. 1. p. 282; Pursh, Jl. 1. p. 327 ; Nutt. gen. 1. p . 296 ;
Ell. sk. 1. p. 537; Torr.! Jl. 1. p. 467. C. humifusus, Raf. ann. not. p. 15.
Sandy fields and on rocks, New York! to Florida.—Fruit obovate, umbilicate,
eatable. Petals much longer than the calyx. In the Northern
States the plant seldom produces the stronger spines.—Prickly Pear.
2. O. Ficus-Indica (Haworth): joints ovate-oblong, obtuse at each end (a foot
in length); prickles very short, setaceous, immersed in wool; flowers sulphur
color. DC. 1. c.—Cactus Ficus-Indica, Linn. spec. 1. p. 468 ; Willd.
spec. 2. p. 944.
Key West, Mr. Bennett !—Fruit large, eatable.—Indian Fig.
3. O. Missouriensis (DC.) : joints large, nearly orbicular, very spiny;
spines of two kinds ; the larger radiate, persistent; flowers numerous, aggregated
(pale sulphur-yellow, rose-color towards the base); fruit dry and
spiny. Nutt.—DC. prodr. 3. p. 472. O. polyacantha, Haworth. Cactus
ferox, Nutt. gen. 1. p. 296; Torr. in ann. Vue. New York. 2. p. 202; not
of Willd.
Arid plains of the Missouri, common, Nuttall. Also on the Platte and
Arkansas, and on the Rocky Mountains, Dr. James. July.—This is said to
be a much larger plant than the common Prickly Pear. “ Thorns formidable.
Fruit deep purple, as large as a hen’s egg.” Stigmas 8-10, greenish.
Nutt.
■ 4. O. rutila (Nutt, mss.): “ spines strong and numerous, as well on the
fruit as the joints ; flowers carmine-red.
“ Arid clay hills in the Rocky Mountain range, near the Colorado of the
West, about lat. 42°.” Nuttall.
5. O.fragilis (Nutt, under Cactus): joints short, oblong, somewhat terete,
very fragile ; spines of 2 kinds; flowers solitary at the summit of the joints,
small; fruit dry and spiny.—Nutt. gen. 1. p. 296 ; DC. prodr. 3. p. 472 ;
Torr. in ann. lyc. New York, 2. p. 202.