Some cacti
are planted for hedges, the fruit of others furnishes a
refreshing drink in tropical climates, the juices are used as a
water color, and to dye candies - in short, this genus Opuntia
and allied clans have great commercial value.
The WESTERN PRICKLY PEAR (0. humifusa; O. Rafnesquii of Gray) - a
variable species ranging from Minnesota to Texas, is similar to
the preceding, but bears a larger flower, and longer, more
rounded, deeper green joints, beset with not numerous spines,
scattered chiefly near their margins. A few deflexed spines in a
cluster leave the surface where a tiny awl-shaped leaf and a tuft
of reddish brown hairs are likewise usually found.
EVENING-PRIMROSE; NIGHT WILLOW-HERB
(Onagra biennis; Qenothera biennis of Gray) Evening-primrose
family
Flowers - Yellow, fragrant, opening at evening, 1 to 2 in.
across, borne in terminal leafy-bracted spikes. Calyx tube
slender, elongated, gradually enlarged at throat, the 4-pointed
lobes bent backward; corolla of 4 spreading petals; 8 stamens; 1
pistil; the stigma 4-cleft.
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