502 



THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



ECHINOFS (from echinos, hedgehog, and ops, appear- 

 ance; in reference to the spiny scales of the involucre). 

 Globe Thistle. STN. Echinanthus. ORD. Composites. A 

 rather large genus of ornamental, but somewhat coarse- 

 growing, mostly hardy biennials or perennials, with a 

 Thistle - like appearance. Inflorescence globose ; florets 

 white or blue, with an involucre of prickly scales and 

 bristles. The cluster of heads or capitules is surrounded 

 by an involucre of linear scales, thus completing the 

 appearance of a single head. They are of very easy 

 culture in common garden soil, and form excellent subjects 

 for borders, or for naturalising in shrubberies. The 

 biennials may be propagated by seed, sown in April ; the 

 perennials by division, in March. 

 E. banatlcus (Banat). iL-heads blue. Summer. I. roughish, 



pubescent above, downy beneath ; radical ones pinnate ; upper 



ones pinnatifld ; lobes oblong, acuminated, spiny, slightly 



sinuated. h. 2ft. to 3ft. Eastern Europe, 1832. Slightly branch- 



ing. Biennial. 

 E. commutatus (changed).* Jl.-heads whitish. Summer. I. 



pinnatind, rough with hairs on the upper side, downy beneath ; 



margins with small spines. A. 5ft. to 7ft. Austria, &c., 1817. 



Perennial. SYN. E. exaltatus. See Fig. 695. 

 E. cxaltatus (lofty). A synonym of E. commutatus. 

 E. Ritro (Bitro). fl. blue. Summer. I. pinnatifld, not 



spinescent, downy beneath, webbed above, h. 3ft. South 



Europe, 1570. Perennial. (B. M. 932.) 

 E. R. ruthenicus (Russian). 



nate, leathery, pinnatifld ; divi 



above, cottony beneath. Stem downy, h. 3ft. to 4ft. Eastern 



Europe and Western Asia, 1816. Perennial. 



. fl,-headt blue. Summer. I. alter- 

 isions toothed and spiny ; dull green 



FIG. 696. FLOWERING BRANCH OF ECHINOPS SPH^EROCEPHALUS. 



E. sphaerocephalus (globe-headed). fl.-heads pale blue. 

 Summer. I. sinuate-pinnatifld, spinose, green and hairy above, 

 white or grey-felted beneath. Stems erect, striated, branched. 

 A. 1ft. to 4ft. Europe, Western Asia, See Fig. 696. 



ECHINOFSIS (from echinos, hedgehog, and opsis, 

 like; referring to the spines which clothe its globose 

 stem). OBD. Cactece. A small genus of stove Cacti, 

 now generally placed as a section of Cereus. Calyz tube 

 elongate, downy ; lobes numerous ; stamens in two scries ; 

 the exterior adnate to the calyx tube ; inner free. Fruit 



Echinopsls continued. 



scaly. Stem depressed, ribbed, globose, or cylindrical. 



There are about two dozen species in cultivation, many 



very rare, and of which the following selection will be 



found a representative one. For culture, see Cactus. 



E. campylacantha (curved-spined). JL about 6in. long, from the 



areohe near the centre of the plant ; calyx tube funnel-shaped, 



olive-green ; segments of the limb gradually passing into the 



spreading, acute, pale rose-coloured petals. Plant about 1ft. 



high, between ovate and globose; areolze approximate, large, 



spines. 

 (B. M. 



, 



oval, woolly, bearing from eight to ten rather slender spines. 

 Andes, 1851. A handsome and well-marked species. 



4567.) 



E. cristata (crested).* This plant closely corresponds with the 

 variety described below, but has a larger and different-coloured 

 flower ; the petals are broader in proportion to their length, a 

 creamy-white gradually passing into the greenish-purple of the 

 outer sepals ; the spines in the present form are more slender, 

 less curved, of a paler colour, but tipped with a darker brown. 

 It flowers in July. Bolivia, 1846. (B. M. 4687.) 



E. o. purpnrea (purple), fl. very large, two to four from a plant, 

 arising from near the summit and from one of the pulvilli, 

 funnel-shaped ; tube 6m. long, green, bearing numerous acu- 

 minated scales, fringed with rather copious woolly black hair; 

 uppermost scales longer, gradually passing into sepals ; petals 

 rose-coloured, numerous, oolong, spreading, serrated and mucro- 

 nate at point. July. Plant globose, but depressed and rather 

 deeply umbilicated at top, full green (not glaucous), somewhat 

 glossy, deeply furrowed. Bibs about seventeen or eighteen, 

 nearly straight, much compressed, notched at nearly equal in- 

 tervals, and thus divided into a number of very obtuse rounded 

 lobes. Pulvinuli in the notches, from which also rise. ten to 

 twelve strong, large, slightly-curved unequal spines, the upper- 

 most one the longest and strongest, h. 1ft. Bolivia, 1844. 

 A very handsome plant, remarkable for the large size of its 

 flowers and for the deeply-lobed ribs of the stem. (B. M. 452.) 



FIG. 697. ECHINOPSIS DECAISNEANUS. 



E. Decaisneanus (Decaisne's). /. white. Summer. Stem 

 globular when young, sub-columnar when old, light glaucous 

 green, with about fourteen compressed acute ribs ; areo_lse 

 crowded, with white tomentum ; spines short, greyish ; interior 

 ones very small, h. 6in. to 15in. Native country unknown. See 

 Fig. 697. 



XL Eyriesil (Eyries').* /. large, in proportion to the size of 

 the plant, deliriously fragrant, breaking forth from one of the 

 angles, ascending ; tube 9in. long, funnel-shaped, greyish-green, 

 woolly, and marked with numerous tufts of oblong brown hairs ; 

 within green ; petals numerous, lanceolate, very acuminate, white, 

 patent, often reflexed ; stamens numerous, rising a little above 

 the tube of the flower, most numerous on one side; anthers 

 yellow. January. Plant sub-globose, depressed, and even um- 

 bilicated at the top, about as large as a middling-sized orange, 

 marked with several twelve to fourteen sharp and prominent 

 angles, upon which are several white, rounded, woolly tubercles, 

 mixed with several short, and not very conspicuous, spines. 

 Mexico, 1835. (B. M. 3411, under name of Echinocactus Eyrienii.) 



E. E. glaucua (glaucous), fl. sweet-scented. July. This 

 plant is very similar to the type, from which it differs in having 

 the angles much more acute and less wavy ; the spines longer, 

 more slender, and rather browner, and the tube of the flower is 

 shorter, green, and free from the long, coarse, ash-coloured 



