900 COiSTTKIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBAEIUM. 



8. Lemaireocereus queretaroensis (Weber) Safford, Ann. Rept. Smiths. Inst. 



1908: pi. 6, f. 2. 1909. , 



Cereus queretaroensis Weber ; Mathsson, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 1 : 27. 1891. 



Guanajuato, Queretaro, and Jalisco; type from Quer^taro. 



Plant 3 to 5 meters high, with a short woody trunk, much branched above; 

 ribs 6 to 8, prominent, obtuse; areoles about 1 cm. apart, large, brown-woolly, 

 very glandular; spines 6 to 10, at first red, becoming grayish in age, acicular, 

 rather unequal, sometimes only 15 mm. long, at other times 5 cm. long; 

 flowers 7 to 8 cm. long; ovary with many woolly areoles subtended by ovate 

 scales 2 mm. long or less; fruit spiny, edible. " Pitahaya." 



9. Lemaireocereus montanus Britt. & Rose, Cactaceae 2: 97. 1920. 

 TjT)e from Alamos, Sonora. 



Treelike, 6 to 7 meters high, with a definite smooth trunk 1 meter long 

 or more, with few branches, at first spreading, then nearly erect ; ribs usually 

 8, prominent ; areoles 1 to 1.5 cm. apart, large, filled with short brown wool ; 

 spines 6 or less, pale, rather stout, one of them longer, sometimes 3 cm. long; 

 flowers 6 to 7 cm. long, opening during the day; outer perianth segments 

 purplish ; scales on ovary ovate, 4 to 6 mm. long, imbricate, acuminate,- with 

 erose margins. 



10. Lemaireocereus thurberi (Engelm.) Britt. & Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. 

 Herb. 12: 426. 1909. 



Cereus thurberi Engelm. Amer. Journ. Sci. 17: 234. 1854. 



Sonora and Baja California; type collected in a canyon near the mountain 

 pass of Bachuachi, Sonora. Arizona. 



Usually without a definite trunk, sending up from the base 5 to 20, or even 

 more, erect or ascending branches 3 to 7 meters high, 15 to 20 cm. in di- 

 ameter, the basal ones usually simple but occasionally with lateral branches; 

 ribs 12 to IT, rather low, sometimes 2 cm. high, rounded, separated by narrow 

 intervals ; areoles 10 to 15 or rarely 30 mm. apart, sometimes becoming 1 

 cm. in diameter, circular, brown-felted, more or less glandular, the whole 

 areole becoming a waxlike mass ; spines numerous, acicular to subulate, 

 unequal, brownish to black, becoming gray in age, the longest sometimes 5 

 cm. long ; flowers mostly borne near the top of the stem but sometimes 30 

 cm. below the top, 6 to 7.5 cm. long; outer perianth segments broad, reddish, 

 imbricate, gradually passing into the scales on the tube ; inner perianth seg- 

 ments light purple with nearly white margins, widely spreading or even turned 

 back at apex, broad, obtuse; ovary tuberculate, bearing small ovate acute 

 scales, these with white and brown hairs in their axils ; fruit globular, 4 to 7.5 

 cm. in diameter, edible, very spiny, but in age naked, olive without, crimson 

 within ; seeds black, shining, 1.8 to 2 mm. long. " Pitahaya," " pitahaya 

 dulce." 



The dried stems are often used for fuel. The agreeably flavored fruit is 

 gathered in large quantities, and sweetmeats are sometimes made from it. 

 For an illustration of the plant see Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 16: j)l. 125, A. 



It is doubtless this species of which Clavigero (Historia de la California, 

 17S9) writes as follows: "Nowhere is the pitaliayo so luxuriant as in Cali- 

 fornia * * * Underneath the bark there is about a finger's breadth of 

 green and very juicy pulp, and within that a woody tube full of whitish pith 

 which, when dry, burns well and is used for torches for giving light. Toward 

 the ends of the branches spring forth beautiful white flowers, spotted with 

 bright red, but without odor, and these are followed by the fruits, called 

 pitaliayas by the Spaniards, and tammid or dammid by the CochimI of Call- 



