Editing Eastern Prickly Pear (section)

===== Imprecise Historical Literature =====

For one, the herbarium specimens of ''O. humifusa'' are the primary pieces of evidence confirming their presence in Beacon Falls.  However, neither of these herbarium records actually state that the plants were found on Beacon Hill; they simply relate the collection location as "Beacon Falls".  Hypothetically, this could mean that the herbarium specimens were harvested anywhere within the boundaries of Beacon Falls.

The single piece of historical literature which actually pinpointed the location of ''O. humifusa'' on Beacon Hill was Prichard's book on the history of nearby Waterbury.  While Prichard may have been fairly knowledgeable on the topic of Waterbury, there is no evidence that she possessed the same depth of knowledge concerning neighboring Beacon Falls.  It may well be that when Prichard wrote that "the prickly pear is common on the summit of Beacon Hill, just south of the line of ancient Waterbury", she was simply using Beacon Hill as a general landmark with which most people of that day would be familiar.  It could well have been that the cacti never actually existed on Beacon Hill, but instead existed on some unnamed hill within the same general region.  Prichard would simply have referred to it as "Beacon Hill" for lack of a better-known landmark.  In that case, it is possible that the cacti could instead exist on or around the bald cliffs to the west (on the opposite side of Route 8).  I have yet to investigate this alternate location, but will do so as time permits.