COCHEMIEA. 21 
7 Y) 5. COCHEMIEA (K. Brandegee) Walton, Cact. Journ. 2: 50. 1899. 
Plant-body cylindric, often much elongated, the surface covered with spirally arranged tuber- 
cles, these not milky; tubercles not grooved above; spines both central and radial; flowers borne 
from axils of upper old tubercles, narrowly tubular, curved and bilabiate: perianth-segments in 2 
series; stamens and style red, exserted; ovary naked; fruit indehiscent, globular, red, naked, bearing 
a large scar at top; seeds black, reticulated. 
Type species: Mammillaria halei Brandegee. 
The genus was named for an Indian tribe which once inhabited Lower California. Mrs. 
Brandegee, who first separated these species as a subgenus, describes the flowers as “scarlet, 
tubular, slender, somewhat curved, and oblique, with spreading unequal petaloid sepals, 
so making the flower apparently double as in Cereus flagelliformis.” 
Four species are known, all inhabiting Lower California. 
Fic. 22.—Cochemiea halei. Fic. 23.—Cochemiea poselgeri. 
The fact that Cochemiea had been raised to generic rank, to which four species had 
been transferred, has been overlooked by all our botanical indexes. Walton’s remarks in 
this connection are interesting: 
“The plants so classed have flowers very elongated, tubular, with sepals placed as a second 
ring, removed some distance below the petals; they are oblique like Epiphyllum truncatum and 
Cereus flagelliformis and in fact more resemble those flowers than they do those of any Mammillaria, 
so much so that I think it would be best to drop the generic name of Mammillaria and simply adopt 
Mrs. Brandegee’s name of Cochemiea as a generic name.” 
Mrs. Brandegee suggested (Erythea 5: 117), ‘‘It is possible that some of the elongated 
species of Mexico proper will be found to belong to this section when the flowers are better 
known.”’ But we have seen no plants from the mainland of Mexico which suggest this 
relationship. 
KEY TO SPECIES. 
Spines all straight... 0.0... 0... cece cece eee e ees eeeeeeeeneeebeeenees 1. C. halet 
Some or all of central spines hooked. 
Central spine normally solitary... 2.00.0... cece eee cece ee eee 2. C. poselgeri 
Central spines normally 2 to 11 (sometimes only 1 in C. setispina). 
Central spines 1 tO 4.0.0.0... cee ccc cece cc cece cece nee ecannceeannces 3. C. setispina 
Central spines 8 to 11.2... ce cece eect reneeeeeees 4. C. pond 
