512 



ECHINACEA 



ECHINOCACTUS 



in ordinary soils, aiitl may be used to help cover unusu- 

 ally dry and exposed spots. They respond well to rich 

 soil, especially sandy loam, and prefer warm and sunny 

 sites. They are perennials of easy culture. Prop, by 

 division, though not too frequently ; sometimes by seeds. 

 The roots are black, pungent-tasted, and are said to be 

 used in popular medicine under the name of Black 

 Sampson. Bentham & Hooker refer Echinacea to 

 Rudbeckia. 



purpilirea, Moench. Commonly not hairy, typically 

 taller than E. angustifolia, 2 ft. or more high : Ivs. 

 ovate-lanceolate, or the lower ones broadly ovate, often 

 5-nerved, commonly denticulate or sharply serrate, most 

 of them abruptly contracted into a margined petiole: 

 rays at first an inch long and broadish, later often 2 in. 

 long or more, with the same color range as E. angusti- 

 folia, but rarely almost white. Rich or deep soil. Va. 

 and Ohio to 111. and La. 



Var. ser6tina, Nutt. {E. intermedia, Lindl. ). The 

 varietal namt' means late-tiowering, but the chief point 

 is the liairy 'T Inistly character of the plant. L.B.C. 

 16:1539. P.M. 1J;7;>.— J. B. Keller says "this is, perhaps, 

 the best form of the genus for garden purposes, the 

 rays being much brighter colored, broader and not roll- 

 ing at the edges." 



angnstifdlia, DC. Bristly, either sparsely or densely: 

 Ivs. narrower than in E. purpurea, from broadly lan- 

 ceolate to nearly linear, entire, 3-uerved, all narrowed 

 gradually to the base, the lower into slender petioles: 

 flower-heads nearly as large as in E. purpurea, but 

 sometimes much smaller. Prairies and barrens, Saskat- 

 chewan and Neb. to Tex., east to 111., Tenn. and Ala. 

 B.M. 5281. G.W.P. 25. — This species hasseveral forms, 

 which approach and run into £. purpurea, l jj 3 



ECHINOCACTUS (Greek, spine and cactus). Cac- 

 tctceic. A v< ry larire genus of globular, strongly ribbed, 

 and stron^'ly si'iny furms. Sometimes they become very 

 short-cylindrical ; occasionally the ribs are broken up 

 into tubercles which resemble those of Mammillaria; 

 and rarely spines are entirely wanting. The flowers 

 usually appear just above the young spine-bearingareas, 

 but sometimes they are further removed, and occasion- 

 ally they are in the axil of a tubercle. The ovary bears 

 scales which are naked or woolly in the axils, and the 

 fruit is either succulent or dry. The genus is well 

 developed within the United States, about forty species 

 having been recognized, but its extreme northern limit 

 is the southern borders of Colorado, Utah, and Nevada, 

 apparently having spread from the great arid plateau 

 regions of Mexico proper and Lower California. The 

 genus extends throughout Mexico and Central America, 

 and is well represented in the drier regions of South 

 America. The genera Astrnjdiytum and Lophophora 

 are here included, although th'-y seem to be very difl'er- 

 ent from the typical forms of Erhinocactus. It is im- 

 possible to identify with certainty all of the specific 

 names found in trade catalogues, but the following 

 synopsis contains the great majority of them. In all 

 cases the original descriptions have been consulted, and 

 in some cases it is certain that a name originally applied 

 to one form has been sliifted to another. The following 

 synopsis may be useful, therefore, in checking up the 

 proper application of names, but it may thus leave some 

 of the common species of the trade unaccounted for. 

 No attempt is made to group the species according to 

 relationships, but a more easily handled artificial ar- 

 rangement, based chiefly upon spine characters, is used 

 It must be remembered that the species are exceedingly 

 variable, especially under cultivation, and large allow- 

 ance must be made for the characters given in the key 

 and in the specific descriptions. 



Echinocactus Poselgerianus, A. Dietr., proves to he 

 MammiUaria Scheeril. The following horticultural 

 names have not been identified: E.chrysanthus {chrys- 

 ■jcanthus ?), Drcegeanus trifurcatus, 



John M. Coulter. 



When starting with newly collected plants of Echino- 

 cactus the mutilated roots should be well cut back to 

 within an inch or two of the base of the plants. If the 

 plants are procured in early summer, the best way to 

 get new roots on them is to place the plants on a bench 



of a greenhouse with a southern exposure, in a mound 

 of fine gravel about eight or ten inches deep. Insert 

 the base of the plants in the gravel and syringe them 

 overhead once a day on bright days. The gravel gets 

 very hot with the sun, and in this they root freely in 

 three or four weeks. When well rooted they can be 

 placed in pots. A good compost consists of six parts 

 of good fibrous loam, one part sand and one part brick 

 rubble. Pots should be just large enough to hold the 

 plants and should be drained about one-fifth of their 

 depth. From March to May is a good time to pot estab- 

 lished plants, but if the soil is good and the drainage 

 all right they can remain in the same pots for two or 

 three years. 



The plants should receive all the sunlight possible at 

 all times of the year. During the winter they should 

 be watered very sparingly, but in spring and summer 

 they can be watered freely and syringed overhead on 

 bright days. In winter Echinocactus require a night 

 temperature of from 45° to 50° Fahr., and the atmos- 

 phere should be perfectly dry. Propagation is effected 

 by seeds, cuttings and grafting. Robert Cameron. 



The diversity of form exhibited in the genus Echino- 

 cactus since the genera Astrophytum and Lophophora 

 are now included, makes this one of the most interest- 

 ing of the whole Cactus family. Unlike most globular 

 forms of Cacti, they do not readily produce offsets; 

 consequently they must be propagated by seeds if one 

 wishes to increase these plants in quantity. Seeds of 

 Echinocactus, and, in fact, most cactaceous plants, will 

 germinate as freely as seeds of other plants, provided 

 they have been allowed to ripen properly before gather- 

 ing and carefully dried afterwards. From the experi- 

 ence of the writer, who has raised some hundreds of 

 seedling Cacti and sown them every month in the year, 

 he has found the months of May and June to be by far 

 the most favorable for germination. Seeds of Echino- 

 cactus will then germinate in five or six days, while 

 during the winter months it takes almost as many weeks. 

 Opuntias will germinate in even less than six days. 

 They germinate most readily of all the Cactacefe, and 

 grow the fastest afterwards, while Mammillarias are the 

 slowest to germinate and grow tlie slowest afterwards. 

 The seeds should be sown in well-drained 4-inch pots 

 in a finely sifted mixture of one part leaf-mold, one 

 part loam and one part charcoal dust and silver sand. 

 The surface should be made very smooth, and the seeds 

 pressed lightly into the soil with the bottom of a flower- 

 pot and then covered with about three-eighths of an inch 

 of fine silver sand. This allows the seedlings to push 

 through readily and prevents the soil from crusting on 

 the surface of the pots, as they usually havf t«i stay in 

 their seedling pots at least one year. The i'<>ts f^honld 

 be placed in a greenhouse where they will receive plenty 

 of light but not the direct sunlight, for, although Cacti 

 are natives of desert regions, the writer has found from 

 experience that the seedlings will simply roast if ex- 

 posed to full .sunlight under glass. For the first winter, 

 at least, the seedlings should be kept in a temperature 

 of not less than G0° and carefully looked over every day 

 to ascertain the condition of the soil, for, although they 

 should be kept on the dry side, they must never be ai 

 lowed to become quite dry during the seedling stage. 

 When about a year old they may be transplanted to 

 shallow pans not more than 6 inches in diameter, and 

 prepared with the same mixture as for seedling pots. 

 These pans will be found better than small pots, be- 

 cause the soil may be kept more evenly moist and the 

 seedlings do better in consequence. 



When grown from 2 to 3 inches in diameter, seedling 

 Echinocactus may be transferred to pots, using sizes 

 only just large enough to accommodate them, as they 

 make but few roots. Pot them in a mixture of two 

 parts fibrous loam, one part leaf-mold and one part 

 pounded brick and silver sand. During the spring and 

 summer months, established plants may be given a lib- 

 eral supply of water, but must be studiously watered 

 during the fall and winter months. During the winter 

 they should be given a light position in a dry green- 

 house, with a night temperature of 45° to 50°, and a 

 rise of 10° by day. For the summer, they may be either 

 kept in an airy greenhouse or placed in some conve- 

 nient position outside, plunging the pots in the soil or 



