24g CACTACE/E. Echinocactns. 



Arizona and Sononi to the Mohave region (Emory, Bigclow, Schoft), ami into Lower Californiu, 

 Oabb. Plants 1 or 2 and >vin 3 IWt high, 1 or 2 IVot tliiiik ; nil tlif si.inus viiy stout ainl 

 strongly cross rilihcd, 1.^ to :i imthcs long ; llowi-rs 3 inchea long, imriilish l.rowu outsidu ; ii.lals 

 red, with yellow margin ; sends murli like those ol' the next spciiis. 



(5. E. Wislizeni, iMi^'flm. Vt^ry Inri^o, oval, nl lust cyliinlriciil or ullvn cliil)- 

 sIuijhhI, with l!l to ."{() coiiiiirc.s.si'il crDimlu ribs: (diloiig iireohu bouring various 

 spines ; in the centre -1 stout crossribbeJ ones, the lower one Ihittened ami curved 

 or hooked; abt)ve and below G to 10 slightly ribbeil, and laterally 10 to 20 

 long slender often llexuous ones: flowers greenish yellow, 2 to 2^ inches long: 

 ovary anil I'ruit inibricatcly covered with 30 or 40 to GO or 100 roundish cordate 

 sepals ; inner sej)als spatulate, 20 to 30 : petals as many, lanceolate, crenulate : style 

 divided to the middle into 12 io 20 stigmas : yellowish berry at last hard and dry ; 

 seeds over a line long, reticulated. -- W'islizeuus Kep. 1818, note 14; Cuct. MiiX. 

 Jjound. 23, t. 2i), 2G. 



From the Kio (haiidc to the Colorado, northward into Utah and west into California ; flower- 

 ing throughout the summer anil autumn. Ol'tun 3 and even 4 feet high and 1 or 2 iu diameter, 

 with a woolly spineless top ; spines H to 24 iuehes long, grayish red, the thinner ones whitish. 

 E. Lecmitei, Engelm., seems to have heen founded on weaker plants of this, with the seeds of per- 

 haps No. 4. 



* * Scales of the ovari/ subulate, often sj)ijiesceiit, copioaslt/ woolly in their axils ; fruit 

 eiivelojK'd in wool. — Eriocar[)i. 



7. E. polycephalus, luigehn. & iJig. Middle-sized or large, globose, at last 

 cylindric, sprouting from the base; ribs 13 to 21, acute : circular areolui bearing 8 to 

 12 .stout compressed annulated curved reddish gray spines: flowers enveloped in a 

 nniss of dense white wool: i)etals about 30, lance-linear, yellow : stigiuas 8 to 11, 

 linear: dry berry full of largo angular seeds. — (Jact. of Pacif. K. Kep. iv. 31, t. 3, 

 fig. 4-G. 



Gravelly or stony soil on the Colorado and Mohave rivers, and in the Califoruian desert {Bigc- 

 low) ; flowering in Fehruary, fruiting in Mareh. Heads sometuues 20 or 30 from a single hase, 

 4 to IJ feet high, tlie larger eyliudrie ones 2 to 2.\ feet high ; spines either all radial, or « to 8 

 outer ones surrounding t sloudr central ones ; flowers 1 k inches hmg ; ahout 100 rigid dark pointed 

 sepals upon the ovary are hidden in the wool, those of the tuhe sinnlar and ahout as many ; petals 

 ahout 30, narrow, yellow, just emc-rging from the wool ; seeds 2 lines long, wrinkled and minutely 

 tulierculate. 



3. CEREUS, ilaworth. 

 Flowers about as long as wide or elongated. Scales of the ovary distinct, with 

 naked or woolly axils, or almost obsolete and the axils spiny. Ik-rry succulent, 

 covered with spines or .scales or almost naked. Seeds black, without albumen. 

 Embryo short iind straight or curved or hooked ; cotyledons usually contrary to the 

 sides of the seed. — Plants of all sizes, low or climbing or erect, sometimes enor- 

 mous ; spine-bearing areoke on vertical ribs. Flowers from the older or, at least, 

 fully formed parts of the j)lant, not from any preformed areola, but bursting through 

 tlie epidermis just idiove the ])unche8 of spines; some open only in sunliglit, otiiers 

 only at night, others again are not thus iidluenced. Fruit often edible, sometimes 

 of very largo size. 



§ 1. Lo7o and vsualli/ cespitose plants, mostly with numerous oval or cylindric heads, 

 short Jlowers, c/reen sti(/inas, and spiny fruit : seeds snbf/lubose, covered with con- 

 Jluent tubercles : embryo straight, with very short cotyledons. — ECHINOCERICUS. 



1. C. Engelmanni, Parry. Heads several from a single base, oval or cylin- 

 drical, with 11 to 13 interrupted ribs: radial spines about 13, whitish, often some- 

 what angled, straight or curved, the lateral ones the longest ; central oiu's 4, longer, 



