520 



ECHINOCYSTIS 



true Echinocystis, because its juicy fruit bursts irregu- 

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

 tish seeds. 



lob&ta, Torr. & Gray. Lvs. wider than long, deeply 

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

 branched; staminate fls. small, in many-fld. panicles 

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

 sparsely covered with prickles. Saskatchewan to Win- 

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

 161. R.H. 189.5, p. 9. G.C. III., 22:271. Sometimes be- 

 comes a weed. ^_ jj^ 



ECHlNOPS (Greek, like a hedgehog; alluding to the 

 spiny in volucral scales). Compdsitce. 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-fid., crowded into head- 

 like glomes." More or less white-woolly herbs: lvs. 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 Helianthiis rigidum or Selianthus 

 ■multiflorus. The best species is U. Bnthenicus. A few 

 scattered individuals of each species are not nearly so 

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

 Butheniinis 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 h.as con- 

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

 times used abroad for perpetual bouquets. 



A. Leaves not pubescent nor setulose above. 



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

 lobed lvs., 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. \'ar. tenuifdliuB, DC. 

 (A'. Ruthinicus, Hort. ) has the lower leaves more nar- 

 rowly out, 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. Leai'es pubescent or setulose above. 



Bann&ticua, Rochel. Lvs. hairy-pubescent above, 

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

 deeply pinnatelv parted, the upper pinnatifid, spinv: 

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



exaltatus, Scbrad. Tall hionnial, the stem nearly 

 simple and glamliilosipil. ,.<,■, the lvs. pinnatifid, 

 scarcely spiny: lis. l.hic. liusvia. B.M. 2457 as E. 

 strictus, Fisch. Di.stini.'iiisli,,l l,v its simple, erect stem. 

 The garden E. commutatus uiu.y be the same as this. 



sphaerociphalus, Linn. Tall ( 5-7 ft. ) perennial : lvs. 

 pinnatifid, 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. B. 



ECHINOPSIS (Greek, 7je(f!;«7iO,7-ra-c). Caciitcem. Sea- 

 urchin Cactus. Stems spherical to ellipsoidal or rarely 

 columnar : ribs pnimiiicnt and usually sharp-angled : 

 fls. usually long tnnn|., i ■■],:,,'■ •]- Mv:iry and tube covered 

 with linear-lani-.-.ii,, luiiets which become 



longer toward th ;- <■ i 'tube, where they pass 



gradually into th. -.■ - i i- ,,i-, m their axils bearing 

 long, sUky, wavy hau., ami usually a few rather rigid 

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

 authors combined with Cereus, confined entirely to 

 South America. Culture as for Cereus. 

 A. Bibs of stem divided into more or less evident 

 tubercles. 



F6ntlandii, Salm-Dyck. Stem simple, later branch- 

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



ECHINOPSIS 



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

 pressed tubercles : radial spines 9-12, spreading, 

 straight or slightly curved, yellowish brown, the upper 

 the longest and strongest, reaching yi-VA in. ; central 

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

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

 orange, pink to scarlet-red : fr. spherical, green, "/i in. 

 in diam. Peru. B.M. 4124. 



AA, Bibs 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, subulate, 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 13^ 

 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. 



oxj^gona, Zucc. Stems at first simple, nearly spheri- 

 cal or rarely clavate, becoming short columnar, reaching 

 IK 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 Ye 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. 



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

 riesii and oxygona, with pink double flowers. 

 BB. Flotcers white. 



EyriSsii, 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. Echmopsis 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, 



