rg 



Cacti.— Orcntt, 



CBREUS TRIGONUS Haw. 



West Indies. 

 CEREUS TRINITATENSIS Lem. 

 CEREUS TUBEROSUS Pos. 

 CEkEUS UNDULATUS H. Dresd. 

 (lBRBLjS VERSCHAPFELTII Hge. 

 tEi-.EUri VIRBNiS P DC. 



Subgenus LEPIDOCEREUS E. Tall 

 eyl.i.ciiicai branching piants with the ho- 

 riferous and sieril arejiae bearing s.mi- 

 ar fcpi.its; flower tube short, stigmas 

 white, embryo curved. 



Cereus bav^sus Web. 



Erect, rarely L ranching, 8-12 or more 

 siems irom the same root, 10 or more feet 

 hlgij, 4 inches in aiamete. ; libs 9, s.ighily 

 olitute wih sharply ueflned irit^ival^; 

 artolae an inch apart on ihe Ider ^tems: 

 ladial spines 15, V*-^ inch long, the lower 

 ones the longer, on the olu ,-rowi,. a i 

 .-t UL ana ab.ut V2 i ch long; cent;al 

 spines 4-6, the upper one-eighth inch 10. ,g 

 ( r n ore, the lowest citen 3 inches long, 

 ' efl xed, twisted, flattened or carlnate. 

 Flower 2 inches across, including the 

 . vai - 4 i>ifh s long; petals white, obtuse. 

 n/2 riches lon^, the 6 sii'-'n^ata, style aid 

 aiithers pale yellow, filaments white; 

 style 2 inches long. Fruit said to be red, 

 i inches long, with black seeds; immature 

 fn'it \\ ith ai out 1?0 woolly areolae with 

 capillary spines in the axils of obsolete 

 sc les or tuber les. fctate of Pueb'a, 

 ^fexico (Orcutt 26?5). Ca'led 'cardon' by 

 the Indians, perhaps erroneously. 



CEREUS CANDELABRUM Web. 



Aborescent, 25 feet high, trunk ^-'i fe^^t 

 in f'iamctfr, b'-anch nt? freelv 3-5 fee: 

 from the ground, producing often 50 erect 

 growing stems in candelabra fo:m shad- 

 ing an area greater in diameter than tlie 

 height of the tree. Branches a foot in di- 

 ameter, 9-10 obtuse ribs with areolae 1-^ 

 inch apart, vhen young, and densely 

 tomentose at the base of spines; the older 

 areolae but slightly tomentose, the bases 

 of the spines often in close contact: 

 spines ashy, bulbous at base, flattened or 

 angular. Strong; the central 2 inches 

 lorg 7-9 rariials, usually 8 laterally dis- 

 bosfed on each side and one below the ren- 

 tral aid more rarely 1-2 s'lorrer radials 

 above; spnes rrostly decid"OL-s on the 

 trunk and older branches, the persistent 

 areolae often enormously en'arged to a 

 he'ght and diameter of 1-2 inches with 

 10-2 formidable subulate spines, the 

 longest 3 inches or more long. Flower 

 white, much resembling that of C. Pring- 

 lei- fruit ripens in the m'drile of May, 

 dull red 3 irrhes 'ong, 2 and 2% in g-eater 

 and lesser diam-ter, pulp nu-plish, swe-t, 

 ed'b'e, but val-ed l-^^ss than t^e paella 

 and other cactus fruits. About 30 triangu- 

 lar pcales. beari'^g in the ax'ls d-nselv 

 Woo'lv areolae with 35 or more slender, 

 bri'!tlv stra'erbt. white spines 14-% inch 

 \nne form the armament of the fruit— 

 thp spiny areolae easi'y rjetached (or de- 

 ciduous?) at r-aturity. Fruit said to be 

 U«ed in makln? a r-leasait drink and 

 the =eeds also utilized. The erect growth 

 of the numerous branches and the brleht 

 elaucous color renders th's giant cactus 

 everywhere conspicuous. State of oax- 



aca, Mexico (Orcutt 267d)_ Known to the 

 Indians as the 'cardon'. 



CEREUS ORCUTTII K Br, 



"atems erect, oianching, bright green, 

 reachii^g a hight of o m and a oiameier 

 01 j5 cm, with nard wooay center; rios 

 ]-x-18, about 1 cm high; areolae roand, 

 about t) mm in aia meter and about haif 

 ti at distance apart, oensely covtred wit^^i 

 short, light gray wool; spines aLi siender, 

 s, reauing, yellow sh brown, irregularly 

 o-seriate; radials 12-20, about 12 mm long, 

 I eflcienc above; intermediates aLout lu,. 

 one-third to more than twice longer, less. 

 spreading, one of the upper spines of this 

 row usually stouter and darker, porrect, 

 often reaching a length o f7 cm; centrals 

 about 5. porrect-sprc ading a litt-e longer 

 than the intermeulates; iiowers greenish 

 brown, darker outside, diurnal, about 4 

 cm entile length; petals short apiculate; 

 ovary densely covered with short scales, 

 almost completely concealed by thick, 

 rounded tufts of yellowish wool, in wnich 

 are embedded dark brown bristles 4-6 

 mm Icng; stamns lining the upper hilf 

 of the tube; style ti'^ acute; fn it nor 

 known."— Katharine Brandegee, Zoe, 5:3: 

 (je liOO). 



Near Rosario, Baja California. Dense- 

 ly c vered with bright >ellowish br iwn 

 spir.es; fruit the "size of an era ge'; 

 called pitalla dulce. 



CEREUS PRINGLEI S. Watson. 



The Cardon is the giant cactus of 

 Lower California and Sonora, where it 

 forms forests, attaining a height of 20 

 to 35 feet. The ribs are usually 13, and 

 it differs from the giant cactus of Ari- 

 zona (Cereus giganteus) in that the 

 spine bearing areolae on the ribs 3,re 

 connected by wooly grooves. The trunk 

 is often 3 to 4 feet in diameter; the 

 older portions of the branches usually 

 quite thornless. The dead wood is used 

 for fuel, but otherwise this mammoth 

 production of the desert seems to be 

 without use. 



CEREUS THURBERI Engelm. 



The Pitahaya Dulce is an abundant 

 species in Sonora and portions of 

 Lower California, also said to occur in 

 southern Arizona. It grows from 5 

 to 20 feet high, many stems 6 to 10 

 inches in diameter from the same base. 

 Gearing greenish or reddish white 

 white flowers followed by large luscious 

 fruit, rather too sweet it Is said for 

 northern palates. It was named in 

 honor of George Thurber, a widely re- 

 nowned botanist. 



Subgenus PILOCEREUS E. "Tall, cyl- 

 Indric, mostly unbranched; upper tiower- 

 bearing portion with more crowded areo- 

 lae and longer, denser, thinner bristles 

 or hairy spines: flowers short: seeds as in 

 Eucereus."— E. 



f'lriy 



^^, a»'-36; ^v-iiYi^'ll 



