290 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 
long, only seen in unopened buds; stamens 11; dorsal stamens glabrous above, woolly 
below; ovary and style glabrous; ovules and seeds 3. 
This species belongs to the section Heterodon. 
Collected by C. G. Pringle, from holes in limestone ledges of mountains above 
Iguala, Guerrero, altitude 1,050 meters, October 8, 1900 (no. 8392). 
CACTACEAE. 
MISCELLANEOUS NEW SPECIES. 
Cactus maxonii Rose, Smithson. Mise. Coll. 50: 63. 1907. 
Melocactus guatemalensis Giirke & Eichlam, Monatsschr, Kakteenk. 18: 37. 1908. 
Melocactus maxonii Girke, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 18: 93. 1908. 
Plant body simple, deep green, broadly cone-shaped or short-eylindrical, 10 to 15 
em. high; cephalium rather small, consisting of a mass of white wool and brown 
bristles; ribs 11 to 15, rather broad, either mottled or plain; spines generally 9, rarely 
only §, sometimes with several smaller ones, making 11 in all, the central 1 (rarely 2) 
short, standing nearly at right angles to the rib, 1.5 to2 cm. long; radial spines spread- 
ing or even recurved, pale red or rose-colored with a whitish bloom, but when old col- 
ored amber; flowers small, rose-colored; fruit narrowly oblong or club-shaped, 
red, resembling that of Mamillaria; seeds black, shining, 
Collected in Guatemala near El Rancho by W. R. Maxon in 1905 (no. 3766) and 
near Salama, January 22, 1905 (no. 3378); also collected in Guatemala by Prof. W. A. 
Kellerman. Both collectors sent living plants to Washington, and this description is 
drawn up from this material. 
Perhaps nearest (. neryi but with more numerous ribs, with a smaller cephalium, 
and with the spines almost always 9. 
Echinocactus megarrhizus Rose, sp. nov. 
Roots large and fleshy, either solitary or in clusters of three or four; plant body 
nearly globular or a little elongated, 5 to 8 em. high, usually solitary; ribs divided 
into spirally disposed mamme; mamnue dark green, 4 to 5 mm. high: radial spines 
20 or more, pectinate, at first pale yellow, in age white; in seedlings the spines all 
pubescent; centrals usually 4, the 3 upper similar to although a little larger than the 
radial, in young areoles not easily distinguished from them, the lower radial stout 
and strongly hooked, 15 mm. long; flowers not seen; fruit green, suggesting that of 
a Mamillaria, clavate, bearing a few naked scales near the top; seeds black, smooth, 
shining. 
Collected by Dr. EF. Palmer near Victoria, Mexico (no. 107, 1907). 
Type U. 8. National Herbarium no, 572337. 
This species is near E. brevihamatus and LH. scheeri, but has differently colored 
spines, and differs in technical details. 
Echinocactus palmeri Rose, sp. nov. PLarE XNITI 
Stems 100 to 150 em. or more high, 40 to 50 em. in diameter; ribs 12, 20, 26, or 
perhaps more in large plants; central spines 4, annular, the upper one erect, 6 to 8 
em. long, stout, straight, yellow above, brownish and somewhat swollen at base, 
the 8 lower shorter, spreading, similar in color and markings but flattened: radials 
5 to 8, much smaller, lighter-colored and weaker; flowers rather small, yellow, 
about 2 cm. long; sepals and petals more or less lacerated along the margin; fruit 
about 3em. long, hidden in a dense covering of soft white wool; bracts weak and 
bristle-tipped. , 
This is the'well-known Eehinocactus saltillensis of horticultural collections, but is 
not the species first described under that name. 
Not uncommon from southern Coahuila to Zacatecas, 
