ints one on
the top of the other, as do most Opuntias. This species is certain to
become a favourite when it becomes better known.

[Illustration: FIG. 76. OPUNTIA BASILARIS.]

O. Bigelovii (Bigelow's).--A cylinder-stemmed, tall-growing plant, with
a stout, woody stem, bearing a dense head of branches. Joints 2 in. to
6 in. long, 1 in. to 2 in. in diameter, light green, covered with small
tubercles and little spine-cushions, with larger spines 1 in. long. When
wild, the young joints are often shaken off by the wind, and cover the
soil around, where they take root or stick to the clothes of the
passers-by like burrs. Flowers not known. A native of Mexico, where it
forms a tree 12 ft. high; it requires stove treatment. The skeleton of
the trunk is a hollow cylinder, perforated with numerous holes, which
occur in a regular spiral. The appearance of a full-grown specimen is
very striking, the oval joints, thickly covered with long, needle-like
spines, hanging in clusters, more suggestive of spiny fruit than
branches.

O. boliviana (Bolivian); Fig. 77.--Stems 1 ft. high, erect, branching,
and composed of roundish, pale green joints, with small, round
tubercles, and long, white, flexible spines, sometimes as much as 4 in.
in length; cushions about 1 in. apart. Flowers 11/2 in. across, yellowish.
This is a fat, gouty-looking plant, from Bolivia, requiring stove
treatment. It often assumes a yellow hue on the older joints, even when
in good health.

[Illustration: FIG. 77. OPUNTIA BOLIVIANA.]

O. brachyarthra (short-jointed); Fig. 78.--A dwarf-growing,
singular-looking plant, with short, tumid joints from 1 in. to 2 in. long
and wide, and nearly the same in thickness. The shortness of the joints,
together with their growing on the top of each other, has been not
inaptly compared to a jointed finger. Cushions very close together,
composed of short, white and yellowish bristles, and stout, terete
spines, 1 in. or more long, set on little tubercles. Flowers 1 in. in
diameter, with about five sepals, eight or nine petals, and a five-rayed
stigma; they are borne on the apices of the topmost joints. This species
is worth growing on account of its peculiar stems and the length of its
white spines. It is a native of New Mexico, and has been recently
introduced to Kew, where it is cultivated among the hardy kinds, and
also in the greenhouse.

[Illustration: FIG. 78. OPUNTIA BRACHYARTHRA.]

O. braziliensis (Brazilian).--The pecu