CACTACE^ OF MEXICO SAFFORD. 529 



indigenous to this localit}^ as well as Echinocactus longihamatus^ 

 which bears the acid limas de viznaga, used in cooking as a substitute 

 for lemons (pi. 9, fig. 4). Echinocactus heguinii^ covered with spines 

 so thickly as to resemble a gray sea urchin, had been brought from 

 the Villa de Mina, 25 miles distant from Icamole, and Echinocactus 

 macdowelli^ resembling a white sea urchin, from the Canon de Santa 

 Catalina, a short distance southwest of Monterey. Echinocactus tex- 

 ensis, locally known as " mancacaballo," or " horse-crippler," has 

 beautifully fringed, feathery, rose-colored petals, while those of the 

 somewhat similar E. horizonthalonius are nearly entire, and the 

 bright-red fruit of E. texensis usually bears tufts of wool (pi. 2, 

 fig. 1), while that of E. horizonthalonius is quite surrounded by wool. 

 Several specimens of Mamillaria leona (pi. 2, fig. 3) were in bloom, 

 bearing a few brick-red flowers near the crest of the plant. This color 

 is rare in the Cactacese, many of them having rose-colored or crimson 

 flowers, like those of M. conoidea (pi. 14, fig. 1), or Avhite, tinged 

 with pink or flesh color, or some shade of yellow, as in M. hocasana 

 (pi. 4, fig. 4). 



Don Jose Maria kindly offered to take us to a locality famous for 

 the great numbers of Echinocactus multicostatus growing there. He 

 obtained animals and a guide, and we were soon on our w^ay to a 

 mountain range about nine miles farther to the westward. Along the 

 road were thickets of red-fruited tasajillo {Opuntia leptocaulis) al- 

 ternating with the creosote bush {Covillea tridentata), and the 

 stouter Opuntia infibricata with candelabra-like whorls of tubercled 

 branches and lemon-j^ellow fruit. This species is locall}^ known as 

 " coyonostli " (" coyote prickly pear "). Afterwards I saw it grow- 

 ing near Durango, where it was called " cardenche." A flat-jointed 

 Opuntia, called " cuija," was also common as well as a low pubescent 

 species i^O. microdasys) without spines, but with tufts of little glochi- 

 dia, or barbed bristles, which are easily detached and are apt to get 

 into the ej^es of animals, often causing serious inflammation and even 

 blindness. For this reason the plant is called " nopalillo cegador," 

 or "blinding little nopal" (pi. 10, fig. 4). Clumps of long-spined 

 Echinocereus conglomeratus were frequent. Very different in ap- 

 pearance from these was the dainty little lace cactus, Echinocereus 

 ccpspitosus (pi. 4, fig. 6), a low, cylindrical plant covered with ap- 

 pressed pectinate white spines so soft that the plants could be handled 

 with impunity. The flowers of this little plant are so large that Don 

 Manuel Fraile, an enthusiastic cactus lover, has christened them 

 " merry widows," a name applied to the large, spreading hats re- 

 cently in vogue among the ladies of the United States. Reaching 

 our destination, we bivouacked for the night under a cloudless sky. 

 Our camp was at the head of the Canon de las Barretas, so named 



