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MELOCACTUS

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Originally appearing in Volume V04, Page 925 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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MELOCACTUS , the genus of See also:

MELON (Late Lat. melo, shortened form of Gr. p XoaEawv, a kind of gourd; µijXov, apple, and a- brow, ripe)

melon-See also:

THISTLE

thistle or Turk's-cap cactuses, contains, according to a See also:

RECENT

recent estimate, about 90 See also:

SPECIES

species, which inhabit chiefly the See also:

West Indies, See also:

Mexico and See also:

Brazil, a few extending into New See also:

Granada. The typical species, M. communis, forms a succulent See also:

mass of roundish or ovate See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form, from t ft. to 2 ft. high, the See also:

SURFACE

surface divided into numerous furrows like the ribs of a melon, with projecting angles, which are set with a See also:

REGULAR

regular See also:

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of stellated spines—each bundle consisting of about five larger spines, accompanied by smaller but See also:

sharp bristles—and the tip of the plant being surmounted by a cylindrical See also:

CROWN

crown 3 to 5 in. high, composed of reddish-See also:

brown, See also:

NEEDLE (O. Eng. ncedl; the word appears in various forms in Teutonic languages, Ger. Nadel, Dutch naal, the root being ne-, to sew, cf. Ger. nahen, and probably Lat. nere, to spin, Gr. vi)ats, spinning)

needle-like bristles, closely packed with cottony See also:

WOOL, WORSTED AND WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES

wool. At the See also:

SUMMIT

summit of this crown the small rosy-See also:

PINK

pink See also:

FLOWERS, ARTIFICIAL

flowers are produced, See also:

HALF

half protruding from the mass of wool, and these are succeeded by small red berries. These See also:

STRANGE, SIR ROBERT (1721-1792)

strange See also:

PLANTS

plants usually grow in rocky places with little or no See also:

earth to support them; and it is said that in times of drought the See also:

CATTLE (Norman Fr. catel, from Late Lat. capitale, wealth or property, a word applied in the feudal system to movable property and particularly to live stock, and surviving in its wider meaning as " chattel " or " chattle ")

cattle resort to them to allay their thirst, first ripping them up with their horns and tearing off the See also:

OUTER

outer skin, and then devouring the moist succulent parts. The See also:

FRUIT (through the French from the Lat. fructus; frui, to enjoy)

fruit, which has an agreeably See also:

ACID (from the Lat. root ac-, sharp; acere, to be sour)

acid flavour, is frequently eaten in the West Indies. The Melocacti are distinguished by the distinct cephalium or crown which bears the flowers.

End of Article: MELOCACTUS

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