222 



run CACTACEAE. 



as thick at top as at base; limb short; outer perianth-segments linear, about lo, nearly twice as long 

 as the inner ones; inner perianth-segments narrowly oblanceolate, acute or acuminate; filaments 

 not extending beyond the inner perianth-segments ; 

 limb short; fruit 2.5 to 3.5 cm. long, spiny. 



Type locality: In the swampy woods near 



Manaos 



Very 



distributed in the swampy forests of the 



Amazon, Brazil. 



We have in our collection a part of the 



material. 

 The following account of 



very 



markable plant is from 



mann 



was pubHshed in the Gardeners' 

 Chronicle in 1901 p. 78: 



"Among the numerous novehies which the 

 last decade of the past century brought to Europe, 

 the above named is surely one of the most inter- 

 esting for both the amateur and the professional 



cultivator. 



ant 



the kindness of Mr. N. H. Witt, of Manaos, 

 Erlado do Amazonas, Brazil. He told me long 

 before he was able to send specimens that a climb- 

 ing species of a genus he was not able to determine, 

 grew in the swampy forest, or Igape, on the Amazon 

 river. Closely appressed to the stems of the trees, 

 and fixed to them by numerous roots, in the 

 region of the yearly inundation, there creeps a 

 cactus with the habit of a PhyllocactuSy but 



armed with very sharp 



V 



It is so closely 



When 



distinguish 



grows 



Fig. 302. — Strophocactus wittii. 



^ H 



It. I was not able even to indicate the genus. It could not belong to Phyllocadus, however much 

 the form of the leaf-like joints suggested that genus. Perhaps it might be a very abnormal species 

 of Rhipsahs, but the flowers or fruits being absent, the question could not be answered 



" Last autumn I was fortunate enough to get. by the aid of Mr. N. H. Witt, plentiful specimens 

 of the plant. After having carefully examined it, I found two fruits of ovoid form as large as a 

 pigeon s egg beset with very sharp prickles. This organ had all the characteristics of the genus 

 Cereus, and I could now name the species, and did so in honour of the finder, Cereus wittii. The 

 species IS very interesting, because it is the ' missing link ' between the genera Phyllocactus and 

 Cere us. ^ 1 he form of the joints is perfectly typical of the former; the characteristics of the fruits 

 and spines are those of a Cereus. . - , 



*' Some days ago I received a notice from Dr. E. Ule, a botanist, whom I had sent from Manaos 



tributary 



that he had found a peculiar 



cactus in the upper part of the swampy forest, densely appressed to the tree-stems. His further 

 descnption of the plant informed us that C. wittii is widely distributed. He told me that the older 

 joints of C. wtltn urn from green to a beautiful wine-red or purple colour, a peculiarity which I had 

 also seen on the plants we cultivate in the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin." 



Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 



Herb 



; Monatsschr. Kakteenk 

 f. 6, all as Cereus ivitti 



lo: 155; 12: 139; 15: 

 : Contr. U. S. Nat. 



Figure 302 is a copy of the plate above cited (Monatsschr 



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