^{(Photogragh = Opuntia cacanapa with fingerprint)}

Introduction

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.

The Details

Web site = Griffiths Glass Cactus Negatives

Many of Griffiths’ photographs are stored as glass negatives at the Smithsonian Institution Archives. The new Web site has reproduced many as positive images. The 8 × 10 -inch format of the images provides exceptional clarity and beauty for some of the images. Even fingerprints  are clearly visible on the surfaces.

If you like photography or cacti you will enjoy this Web page.