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TRICHOCURCUS. 



145 



ooo ana q.ooo 



PUBLISHED SPECIES, PERHAPS REFERABLE TO TRICHOCEREUS. . ' ' 



CerEUS arEQUIPEnsis Meyen, Allg. Gartenz. 1:211. 1833. 



This may be a Trichocercus ; we give a translation of Meyen's account of it: 



"The number of cacti here, as well as in the southern provinces of Peru, is unusually larijc, and 

 only a few of them are known in our greenhouses, also it is very difficult to transport tlu in to us, 

 as many of theni die in the trip around Cape Horn. Cactus candclaris, which we first found in tlie 

 Cordilleras of Tacna, appears here also, in isolated examples, and its distribution appears to be 



feet altitude. However, close upon its heels comes another 

 Cereus which surpasses it in beauty; it is 8-angled and reaches a height of 20 to 35 feet; upon its ribs 

 appear at regular distances hairy areoles, from which protrude the spine clusters and the long 

 white flowers. There is no more beautiful plant in this remarkable family, and we name it Cereus 

 arequipensis." — Meyen, Reise 2: 41. 1835. 



Cereus atacamensis Philippi, Fl. Atac. 23. i860. 



4 



Usually simple and columnar, 6 meters high or more, 5 to 7 dm. in diameter, containing 

 a thick woody cylinder; ribs numerous, very spiny; areoles 1.2 cm. in diameter, filled with brown 

 wool; spines numerous, sometimes 30 to 40, often very .slender, 10 cm. long. 



f- 



Type locality: Mines of ''San Bartolo.'' 1 ~ 



Distribution: Province of Atacama, Chile. 



The original specimen came from the desert of northern Chile, not far from the Bolivian 

 line; it is not unlikely that the plant extends into Bolivia and northern Argentina. Indeed, 

 Dr. Rose found a large woody section in the Museo Nacional del Santiago bearing this name 

 and coming from Argentina. This material, supplemented by the illustration by Reiche 

 from Chile and by Fries (Nov. Act. Soc. Sci. Upsal. IV. i: pi. 4, 5. 1905) from Argentina, 

 suggests the probability of Trichocercus pasacana belonging here. 



In the Museo Nacional del Santiago are two very interesting wood sections of this 

 species. One from Atacama is 1.55 meters long and 41 cm. in diameter, while the other, 

 from Argentina, is 3 meters long and 44 cm. in diameter, with a hollow center 22 cm. in 

 diameter. All that is left of the type material in the Phihppi herbarium are two clusters of 

 spines, these very long, slender, numerous, and brown. 



Illustration: Kngler and Drude, Veg. Erde 8: pi. 9, as Cereus atacamensis. 



Mus 



1891. 



Stems large, erect, simple below, with small branches above, 5 to 6 cm. in diameter, the upper 

 part densely covered with white curly hairs; ribs 27 to 29; areoles very close together, 14 mm. in 

 diameter, with grayish tomentum intermixed with straight spines 1 1 cm. long, grading into stiff 

 bristles 4 cm. long; expanded flowers unknown; ovary 22 mm. in diameter, densely covered with 



white hairs. 



Typ, 



000 feet (3,700 meters) 



Distribution: Province of Tarapaca, Chile. 



We know the plant only from description and from fragments of the type specimen. 



Cereus mai,i,etianus Cels in Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 120. 1897. 



"Stem upright, cyhndric, somewhat crooked, slightly constricted above, hardly sunken in at 

 the crown, exceeded by a brownish yellow thick tuft of spines which can not be seen under the 

 wr>r.i „^ 4.^ . _.,, •_ j: i__ t-i..:„u ^- ^;kc t^ cpnnratpfl hv sharD shallow lurrows. liarcllv 



4 mm. high, rounded and lightly sinuate, disappearing at the base; areoles 6 to 8 mm apart, circular, 

 3 to 3.5 mm. in diameter, covered with short yellow wool, later turning gray, which gradua ly dis- 

 appears; radial spines about 30, radiating horizontally, the inner spreading, needle-like, so thickly 

 intertwined that they surround the entire body, the inner pair the longest, rneasunng 10 mm.; 

 central spines 4, in an upright cross, sometimes more, since they are not sharply distinguishable from 

 the radial spines, the lowermost, sometimes, however, the uppermost, the longest, measuring up to 



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