. Carnegie Institution of Washington publication. OPUNTIA. 101 123. 77d. Opuntia depauperata sp. nov. (See Appendix, p. 216.) 78. Opuntia pubescens Wendland* in Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 149. 1837. Opuntia leptarthra Weber in Gosselin, Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 10: 393. 1904. Plants small, usually low, sometimes 4 dm. high, much branched; joints easily becoming de- tached, nearly terete, glabrous or pubescent, 3 to 7 cm. long; spines numerous, short, brownish; flowers lemon-yellow but drying red; filaments greenish; style white; stigma-lobes cream-colored; fruit small, 2 to cm. long, red, a
. Carnegie Institution of Washington publication. OPUNTIA. 101 123. 77d. Opuntia depauperata sp. nov. (See Appendix, p. 216.) 78. Opuntia pubescens Wendland* in Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 149. 1837. Opuntia leptarthra Weber in Gosselin, Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 10: 393. 1904. Plants small, usually low, sometimes 4 dm. high, much branched; joints easily becoming de- tached, nearly terete, glabrous or pubescent, 3 to 7 cm. long; spines numerous, short, brownish; flowers lemon-yellow but drying red; filaments greenish; style white; stigma-lobes cream-colored; fruit small, 2 to cm. long, red, a little spiny, with a depressed umbilicus; seeds small, 3 mm. in diameter. Type locality: In Mexico. Distribution: Northern Mexico to Gua- temala. This species was sent to the Exposition Universelle at Paris by the Mexican Govern- ment in 1889, and was there seen and de- scribed by Dr. Weber as 0. leptarthra. A part of this material finally went to the Hanbury Garden at La Mortola, Italy, whence we obtained specimens in 1913 which prove to be identical with specimens obtained by Dr. Rose and others in Mexico and Guatemala in 1905 to 1909. This is an insignificant species and hence has generally been overlooked in the region where so many more striking species are found. It is widely distributed, extending from the State of Tamaulipas, in Mexico, to Guate- mala, a much greater range than that of most species. Its wide distribution is doubtless due to the fact that the joints, which are cov- ered with barbed spines and are easily detached, fasten themselves to various animals and are scattered like burs over the country; each little joint thus set free starts a new center of distribution. This is a difficult plant to grow in greenhouses, for the spreading or hanging branches soon become entangled with other plants and break off in attempts to free or move them; partly for this reason, doubtless, it rarely flowers in cultivation. Opuntia angusta Meinshausen (Wochenschr. Gartn. Pfla
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