II. MELOCACTUS. III. ECHINOCACTUS. 



161 



on the back ; spines red, stiff, rather incurved, disposed in ap- 

 proximate fascicles, which are very woolly towards the tops of 

 the angles ; cap roundish, furnished with a few red setaceous 

 spines ; flowers red. ^ . D. S. Native of South America. 

 Cactus Lamarckii, Coll. hort. ripul. append. 3. t. 7. 

 Lamarck's Melon-thistle. PI. f foot. 



3 M. MACRACA'NTHVS (Link et Otto, diss. p. 9. t. 12.) plant 

 roundish, light green, with 14 angles; ribs straight; spines in 

 fascicles, very thick, whitish, but of a brownish red-colour at the 

 apex : outer 12 radiating, central, 4 large and straight. Jj . D. 

 S. Native of St. Domingo. Cactus macracanthos, Salm-Dyck, 

 obs. 1820. p. 1. Haw. rev. p. 69. Flowers unknown, but the 

 sp.-idix or woolly head is depressed at the top. 



Long-spined Melon-thistle. Clt. 1820. Shrub 1 foot. 



4 M. PYRAMIDA'LIS (Link et Otto, diss. p. 10. t. 25.) plant 

 conical or pyramidal, with 17 angles; ribs rather oblique, cre- 

 nated ; spines very long, in fascicles, of a brownish red co- 

 lour : outer 14 radiating in 2 series, with 2 or 3 straight and 

 very long. fj . D. S. Native of Curassoa. Cactus pyrami- 

 dalis, Salm-Dyck, obs. 1 820. p. 4. Stem when young crowded 

 with spines. Spadix or woolly head cylindrical, depressed at 

 the apex. 



Pyramidal Melon-thistle. Shrub 1 foot. 



5 M PLACENTIFORMIS (D. C. prod. 3. p. 460.) plant hemis- 

 pherical, depressed, green, with 12 or 14 angles; ribs very 

 blunt ; prickles 8-12 in a fascicle, unequal, recurved, strong. 



Jj . D. S. Native of Brazil. Cactus Melocactus, Besl. hort. 

 e^stet. 4. ord. f. 1. but not of Lin. C. placentiformis, Lehm. 

 ind. sem. hort. . hamb. (1826). Melocactus Besleri, Link et 

 Otto, diss. (1827). p. 11. t. 21. Lehman's name being older 

 than Link's has been here adopted, as being more apt; but 

 Link's figure and description are far better. Spadix or woolly 

 head nearly globose, impressed in the vertex. Flowers reddish. 

 Prickles blackish. 



Placenta-formed Melon-thistle. Shrub 1 foot. 



6 M. LANGSDO'RFII (D. C. prod. 3. p. 461.) plant oblong, 

 with 17 angles; spines slender, stiff, spreading: top of plant 

 floriferous, very villous and very spiny. Tj . D. S. Native of 

 Brazil ? Cactus Langsdorfii, Lehm. in sem. hort. hamb. (1826). 

 Flowers yellow. Stamens purple. The rest unknown. 



Langsdorf's Melon-thistle. Shrub 1 foot. 



f Species not sufficiently known. 



7 M. SELLOWII (D. C. prod. 3. p. 461.) plant globose, de- 

 pressed, glaucescent, woolly and flat in the vertex, with 10 

 arched ribs ; prickles 7 in each fascicle, recurved : the central 5 

 much the largest. ^ . D. S. Native of Monte Video. Echino- 

 cactus Sellowii, Link et Otto, diss. p. 16. t. 22. Melocactus 

 species secundum Salm-Dyck, who confirms that the plant is 

 woolly at the top, and is analogous to M. placentiformis. 

 Plant 2 inches high, and 4| inches thick. Prickles 8-10 lines 

 long, fuscescent. Flowers unknown. 



Sello's Melon-thistle. PI. -^ foot. 



8 M. POLYACA'NTHUS (D. C. prod. 3. p 461.) plant oval, 

 glaucescent, with a flat woolly apex, and with 21 blunt vertical 

 ribs ; prickles 8 in each fascicle : the upper 2 of these smaller 

 than the others. Jj . D. S. Native of Brazil in the province of 

 Rio Grande. Echinocactus polyacanthus, Link et Otto, diss. 

 p. 13. t. 16. f. 1. Stem 4 inches high, and 3 inches thick, 

 attenuated at the base, with narrow furrows ; prickles cinereous. 

 Flowers unknown. 



Many-spined Melon-thistle. Shrub -1 foot. 



9 M.? MELOCACTOIDES (D. C. prod. 3. p. 461.) plant globose, 

 with 10 angles, having the tops of the angles beset with a series 

 of woolly tubercles ; prickles 7 or 8 in a fascicle, rather recurved, 

 pale, but becoming gradually brownish towards the apex. Jj . 



VOL. III. 



D. S. Native of Brazil. Cactus melocactoides, Hoffms. verz 

 2. ? (1 826) 3. p. 24. Habit of M. communis. 



Melocactus-like Melon-thistle. PI. ^ foot. 



Cult. A grotesque and singular genus like the last, but of 

 larger growth, and beset with stronger spines, without teats. 

 The culture, propagation, and treatment of the species are the 

 same as that recommended for the last genus. 



III. ECHINOCA'CTUS (from e X ivoe, echinos, a hedgehog, 

 and /v-acT-oc, cactos, a name given by Theophrastus to the spiny 

 plant ; plants beset with spines like the hedgehog). Link et Otto, 

 diss. p. 11. Salm-Dyck, in litt. D. C. prod. 3. p. 461. Cactus 

 species of Haw. 



LIN. SYST. Icosandria, Monogynia. Sepals numerous, imbri- 

 cate, adnate to the base of the ovarium, united into a short 

 tube at the base : outer ones in the form of an involucrum : 

 inner ones petal-formed. Stamens numerous. Style filiform, 

 multifid at the apex. Berry scaly from the permanent remains 

 of the sepals. Cotyledons wanting? Simple, grotesque, fleshy, 

 ovate or globose, ribbed, leafless shrubs, with the habit of Melo- 

 cactus; ribs as if they were formed from confluent tubercles, 

 bearing on their back fascicles of prickles. The woolly head or 

 spadix, which is present in Melocactus is wanting in this genus. 

 Flowers rising from the fascicles of spines at the tops of the ribs 

 very like those of the genus Cereus, but the tube is almost 

 wanting. 



1 E. GIBBO'SUS (D. C. prod. 3. p. 461.) plant ovate or nearly 

 oblong, obtuse ; ribs interrupted by tubercles ; some of the 

 tubercles rather tomentose at the apex, and tipped with fas- 

 cicles of stiff straight needle-formed prickles ; others in the 

 outer series naked, elongated, and mammaeform, and a little com- 

 pressed. Pj . D. S. Native of Jamaica. Cactus gibbosus, 

 Haw. syn. p. 173. bot. reg. 137. Plant nearly like that of 

 Mammillaria tuberculosa, but is not lactescent? Flowers 2, 

 larger than any other of the genus, quite at the apex of the plant, 

 which is depressed. The tube of the flower is greenish, and 

 the sepals distant, with a white expanded limb : lobes obovate, 

 rather mucronate, disposed in 4 series. Genitals yellow. 



Gibbous Hedgehog-thistle. Fl. July, Aug. Clt. 1808. PI. 

 | foot. 



2 E. suBGiBBbsus (Haw. in phil. mag. Oct. 1831. p. 418.) 

 plant roundish-oblong, very spiny, with the spines interwoven ; 

 angles or ribs about 16 in number, and are, as well as the re- 

 cesses, profound and acute ; fascicles of spines distant, ?? . D. S. 

 Native near Valparaiso. Plant 5 inches high, and 3 inches 

 broad, woolly at the base of the fascicles of spines. Spines 

 straight, 12-13 in each fascicle: the lower ones of these are 

 whitish or pale, bristle-formed, nearly half an inch long, hori- 

 zontal : the 6 upper ones prickle-formed, much larger, nearly an 

 inch long, bulbous, and yellowish at the base, and rufescent at 

 the apex ; the middle spine of the ultimate fascicles compared 

 with the rest is straight. 



Sub-gibbmis Hedgehog-thistle. Clt. 1830. PI. | foot. 



3 E. NO'BIUS (Haw. in phil. mag. Feb. 1830. p. 114.) plant 

 erect, oblong : with many ribs, beset with numerous, strong, 

 straight, black fascicles of spines, f? . D. S. Native of Mexico. 

 Cactus nobilis, Haw. syn. p. 174. but not of others. Cactus 

 reductus, Link, enum. 2. p. 21. C&reus reductus, D. C. prod. 

 3. p. 463. Plant 3 feet high. Fascicles of spines interwoven, 

 imbricating. 



Noble Hedgehog-thistle. Clt. 1 796. Shrub 3 feet. 



4 E. CORNI'GERUS (D. C. diss. t. 7.) plant subglobose, very 

 obtuse ; ribs almost vertical, interrupted by tubercles, some- 

 what depressed : all prickly at the top ; prickles unequal, 

 straight, and needle-shaped : the lower one broad, thick, and a 

 little recurved at the apex, fj . D. S. Native of Mexico. 



Y 



