a height of ten or twelve feet, appear from May to July, 
and are succeeded by pear-shaped fruits three inches long, 
which burst open by three or four valves, exposing a bright 
red pulpy edible core full of seeds ; this core falls to the 
ground, the valves being retained on the tree and reflexed, 
when they resemble the petals of a scarlet flower. The 
ulp is sweet, somewhat resembling a fig, and is greedily 
eaten by the Indians, both raw and made into a kind of 
molasses and conserve. The flesh of the plant itself is 
bitter, in this respect differing from that of most Cacti, of 
which the flesh is acidulous. The Indian name of the 
plant is Suwarrow or Saguara, and the Mexican Pitajaya. 
For the above information I am indebted to the notes 
and observations of Drs. Engelman and Parry, scattered 
through the various Reports and papers cited above. 
The stem of the Kew plant is fourteen feet high and 
four and a half in girth, at the thickest part ; on its arrival 
it weighed twelve hundred weight and had no roots. It 
was purchased from Messrs. A. Blane and Co., Nursery- 
men, of Philadelphia, who own a piece of land in Mexico 
where this species grow. On arrival in 1890 it was potted 
and placed in the south end of the Palm House, where it 
flowered in July, 1891.—J. D. H. 
Fig. 1, Apex of lower sepal; 2, inner sepal; 3, stigmas :—all enlarged. 
