Me loc act us

(měl-o-kāk'tūs.) (Bot.) A gen. of plants, 0. Cactaceæ, characterized by the flowers being produced in a hemispherical or cylindrical head at the top of the plant, consisting of a dense ma of bristly wool and slender spines, from among which the small ephemeral flowers scarcely emerge. The plants themselves consist of simple fleshy stems of a somewhat globular or conical form, with numerous prominent ribs armed with fascicles of stiff spines placed at regular distances. [s. 590]