NOTE
Proliferation in Opuntia dillenii
While making some observations on the prickly pear of this place (Opuntia dillenii) I came across an abnormality in the flower-bearing joint of the plant which consists of a young fruit bearing two smaller fruits one en either side developing from the areolae near the scar of the perianth leaves.
This abnormality which is a case of proliferation has been recorded by Britton and Rose[1] for some other species of Opuntia e.g., O. arbuscula, O. fulgida, O. decumbens, O. vulgaris, etc. and in Pereskia sacharosa. Several bushes of O. dillenii were examined by me for more instances of this malformation and as none were found it appears to be a rare phenomenon in this species.
I kept the specimen under observation in expectation of its becoming more prolific but unfortunately after one month the bush was cut by some one as it was on the road side and in a state of over- growth and I could content myself only with the broken joints.
The abnormality is here recorded as being part of a wide phenomenon characteristic of the Cactaceae and the frequency with which it occurs in certain species more than in others will probably be of interest when the physiological causes underlying proliferation are considered.
Agricultural Research Institute, Coimbatore,
- 17th October, 1921.
- ↑ The Cactaceae by N. L. Britton and J. N. Rose; Cam. Inst. Washington. Pub. Mo. 248, Vol. I, 1919. Also see Year Books of the same Institution 1912 to 1915, Fruit development in the Cactaceae by D. S. Johnson.
