David Griffiths (1867-1935) was a botanist employed by Bureau of Plant Industry (USDA) in the early 20th Century. An expert on cacti, he described well over one hundred Opuntia species from the USA and Mexico and took thousands of black and white photographs. Many of these photographs are stored as glass negatives at the Smithsonian Institution Archives (email) where they may be viewed by the public. Negatives may be scanned by visitors to produce positives.

We are still in the process of scanning images and are learning how best to process these old black and white photos; some negatives have exceptional quality and clarity and we present some photos here. Photo numbers reflect the Smithsonian Institution catalog numbers. Additional numbers are provided where available and are Griffiths’ accession numbers or garden numbers. Names are those of Dr. Griffiths or are those we have assigned based on modern, accepted conventions.

David Griffiths described a number of Opuntia species in the early 20th Century. Many are known today and included in this Website. However, many remain enigmatic; see the table below. We are part of ongoing efforts to understand and/or re-identify these taxa and welcome input that might help us understand these names.

References:

• Additional Species of Opuntia, Griffiths
• Einige neue Opuntioideen (Some new Opuntia), Griffiths
• Illustrated Studies of the Genus Opuntia I, Griffiths
• Illustrated Studies of the Genus Opuntia II, Griffiths
• Illustrated Studies of the Genus Opuntia III, Griffiths
• Illustrated Studies of the Genus Opuntia IV, Griffiths
• New and Old Species of Opuntia, Griffiths
• New Species of Opuntia 1, Griffiths
• New Species of Opuntia 2, Griffiths
• New Species of Opuntia 3, Griffiths
• Griffiths Glass Cactus Negatives, Funk and Tuccinardi
• David Griffiths Collection at the Smithsonian Institution Archives
• Reassembly of Glass Plate Negatives
• David Griffiths Field Books, 1897-1907
• Fruit Stamps? (Emily Hunter)
• Biography, David Griffiths

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