520 



ECHIXOCYSTIS 



true Echinocystis, because its juicy fruit bursts irregu- 

 larly at the top, and contains 2 cells, each with 2 flat- 

 tish seeds. 



lobata, Torr. & Gray. Lvs. wider than long, deeply 

 5-lobed, slightly emarginate at the base : tendrils 3-4- 

 branched: starainate fls. small, in many-fld. panicles 

 longer than the Ivs. ; calyx glabrous : fr. egg-shaped, 

 sparsely covered with prickles. Saskatchewan to v\ m- 

 nepeg, south to Va. and Ky., west to Colo. A.G. 14: 

 161. R.H. 1895, p. 9. G.C. III., 22:271. Sometimes be- 



comes a weed. 



W. M. 



ECHlNOPS (Greek, like a hedgehog; alluding to the 

 spiny involucral scales). Cotnpdsitce. GLOBE THISTLE. 

 A large genus of thistle-like plants, with blue or whit- 

 ish flowers in globose masses. The structure of one of 

 these globes is very curious. Each flower in the globe 

 has a little involucre of its own, and the whole globe 

 has one all-embracing involucre. Another way of say- 

 ing the same thing is "heads 1-fld., crowded into head- 

 like glomes." More or less white-woolly herbs: Ivs. al- 

 ternate, pinnate-dentate or twice or thrice pinnatisect, 

 the lobes and teeth prickly. 



Globe Thistles are coarse-growing plants of the easi- 

 est culture, and are suitable for naturalizing in wild 

 gardens and shrubberies. An English gardener with 

 an eye for the picturesque (W. Goldring) recommends 

 massing them against a background of Bocconia cor- 

 data, or with such boldly contrasting yellow- or white- 

 flowered plants as Helianthus rigidum or ffelianthus 

 rnulti floras. The best species is E. Ruthenicus. A few 

 scattered individuals of each species are not nearly so 

 effective as a condensed mass or group of one kind. E. 

 Ruthenicus flowers in midsummer and for several 

 weeks thereafter. The silvery white stems and hand- 

 somely cut prickly foliage of Globe Thistles are interest- 

 ing features. They make excellent companions for the 

 blue-stemmed Eryngiums. All these plants are attrac- 

 tive to bees, especially E. exaltatus, which has con- 

 siderable fame as a bee-plant. Globe Thistles are some- 

 times used abroad for perpetual bouquets. 



A. Leaves not pubescent nor setulose above. 



Ritro, Linn. Tall, thistle-like plant, with pinnate- 

 lobed Ivs., which (like the stems) are tomentose be- 

 neath, the lobes lanceolate or linear and cut, but not 

 spiny: involucre scales setiform, the inner ones much 

 shorter: fls. blue, very variable. Var. tenuifdlius, DC. 

 (E. Ruthenicus, Hort.) has the lower leaves more nar- 

 rowly cut, more or less spine-tipped. Gn. 45:951. Per- 

 ennials of S. Eu., growing 2-3 ft. high. They bloom all 

 summer. Lvs. sometimes loosely webby above. 

 AA. Leaves pubescent or setulose above. 



Bannaticus, Rochel. Lvs. hairy-pubescent above, 

 tomentose beneath (as also the stems), the lower ones 

 deeply pinnately parted, the upper pinnatifld, spiny: 

 fls. blue. Hungary. R.H. 1858, p. 519. 



exaltatus, Schrad. Tall biennial, the stem nearly 

 simple and glandulose-pilose, the Ivs. pinnatifid, 

 scarcely spiny: fls. blue. Russia. B.M. 2457 as E. 

 strictus, Fisch. Distinguished by its simple, erect stem. 

 The garden E. commutatus may be the same as this. 



gphaerocSphalus, Linn. Tall (5-7 ft.) perennial: Ivs. 

 pinnatifld, viscose-pubescent above, tomentose below, 

 the teeth of the broad lobes yellow-spined : fls. white or 



bluish. S. Eu. B.R. 5:356. 



L H 



ECHIN6PSIS( Greek, hedgehog-like). Cactacece. SEA- 

 URCHIN CACTUS. Stems spherical to ellipsoidal or rarely 

 columnar : ribs prominent and usually sharp-angled : 



s. usually long trumpet-shaped, ovary and tube covered 

 with linear-lanceolate, cuspidate bracts which become 

 longer toward the outer end of the tube, where they pass 

 gradually into the outer petals, in their axils bearing 

 long, silky, wavy hairs and usually a few rather rigid 

 bristles. This is a well marked genus, though by some 

 authors combined with Cereus, confined entirely to 

 bouth America. Culture as for Cereus. 



A. Ribs of stem divided into more or less evident 



tubercles. 



m Pentlandii, Salm-Dyck. Stem simple, later branch- 

 ing, spherical or ellipsoidal, reaching 6 in. in diam. : 



ECHINOPS1S 



ribs 12-15, divided between the areolse into oblique com- 

 pressed tubercles : radial spines 9-12, spreading, 

 straight or slightly curved, yellowish brown, the upper 

 the longest and strongest, reaching %-lM in. ; central 

 solitary, or seldom in pairs, porrect, curved, 1-1% in., 

 rarely 3 in. long : fls. lateral, 2-2% in. long, yellow, 

 orange, pink to scarlet- red : fr. spherical, green, % in. 

 in diam. Peru. B.M. 4124. 



AA. Ribs of stem not divided. 

 B. Flowers red or pink. 



multiplex, Zucc. Stems at first rather clavate, later 

 globose to ellipsoidal, abundantly branching, 6-12 in. in 

 diam. and the same in height, or rarely taller, light 

 green to yellowish: ribs 12-14, straight, scarcely undu- 

 late: radial spines about 10, suDulate, straight, yellow 

 to yellowish brown, with darker tips, reaching % in. in 

 length, very unequal, horizontally spreading; centrals 

 mostly 4, of these the lowest is the longest, reaching 1% 

 in., somewhat porrect at first, later curved and deflexed, 

 darker colored than the others: fls. rare, lateral, 11-15 

 in., rose-red. S. Braz. B.M. 3789. 



Var. cristata, Hort. Stems flat and spreading in 

 growth, like an open fan or the flower stalk of the com- 

 mon garden cockscomb, spines reduced to fine, stiff 

 bristles. This is merely a montrosity of the species. 



oxygona, Zucc. Stems at first simple, nearly spheri- 

 cal or rarely clavate, becoming short columnar, reaching 

 1% ft. in height and 1 ft. in diam., gray-green, darker 

 above : ribs 13-15, straight or wavy at the base : radial 

 spines 5-15, horizontally spreading, very unequal, reach- 

 ing Ys in., subulate, obliquely upright ; centrals 2-5, 

 somewhat longer, straight, porrect or deflexed, dark 

 horn-colored, with black tips : fls. commonly many to- 

 gether, lateral, reaching 13 in. in length, pink to car- 

 mine-red, the inner petals lighter than the outer ones. 

 S. Braz. 



triumphans, Jacobi. This is a hybrid between E. Ey- 

 riesii and oxygona, with pink double flowers. 



BB. Flowers white. 



Eyriesii, Zucc. Stem simple, commonly branching 

 later, at first somewhat depressed, later short to rather 

 tall columnar, reaching a height of 2 ft. and a diam. of 



749. Echinopsis eemmata. 



4-6 in., dark green: ribs 11-18, straight, undulate, with 

 sharp-angled margins : radial spines about 10, scarcely 

 more than % in. long, rigid, straight, slender conical, 

 pointed, dark brown to black; centrals 4-8, but very lit- 

 tle different from the radials: fls. lateral, 10-15 in. long, 



