19 



Cacti. — Orcntt. 



CBREUS TRIGONUS Haw. 



West Indies. 

 CEREUS TRiNITATENSIS Lem. 

 CEREUS TUBEROSUS Pos. 

 CEr.EUS LNDULATUS H. Dresd, 

 LERELS \ERSCHAFFELTII Hge. 

 LEl^EUS VIRENiS P DC. 



Subgenus LEPIDOCEREUS E. Tall 

 cyl...uiivai blanching plants with the tto- 

 piterous and sieril arejiae beaiing s,nii- 

 ar tpi.its: flower tube short, stigmas 

 white, embryo curved. 



Cereus bav.:sus Web. 



Erect, rarely t ranching, S-12 or more 

 siems irom the same root, 10 or more feet 

 higii, i inches in Oiamete. ; libs 9, s i^hily 

 o)itu=e wi h sharply uetined ii/t;ival.- ; 

 artolae an inch apart on ^he Ider .- terns ; 

 ladial spines 15, V4-^/^ inch long, the lower 

 ones the longer, on the olu -rowc. a i 

 ^t Ul ana abjUt 1/2 ii eh long; central 

 spines 4-6, the upper onr-eighth inch 10. .g 

 .. r nore, the lowest c^ten o inches long, 

 ■ efl xed, twisted, flattened or carinate. 

 Flower 2 inches across, including the 

 ijvai> 4 i.ifhiS jong; petals white, obtuse. 

 IV? nches lon^, the 6 sUL'rrata, style a id 

 anthers pale yellow, filaments white; 

 style 2 inches long. Fruit said to be red, 

 4 inr hes 'ong, with black seeds; immature 

 fri'it V ith ai out 1--0 woollv areolae with 

 capillary spines in the axils of obsolete 

 sc les or tubtr les. fctate of '^ueb'a, 

 ^Texico (Orcutt 26?5). Called 'cardon' by 

 the Indians, perhaps erroneously. 



CEREUS CANDELABRUM Web. 



Ab'Trescent, 2o feet high, trunk 1-? fe-^-t 

 in riamstr, b'anch na: freelv 3-5 fee: 

 from the ground, producing often .50 erect 

 growing stems in candelabra f0:m shad- 

 ing an area greater in diameter than tt^e 

 height of the tiee. Branches a foot in di- 

 ameter. 9-10 obtuse ribs with areolae IVs 

 inch apart, v hen young, and densely 

 romentose at the base of spines; the older 

 areolae but slightly tomentose. the bases 

 of the spines often in close contact: 

 spines ashy, bulbous at base, tlattfned or 

 anpu ar. strong; the central 2 inches 

 'o'^g 7-9 rafiials, usually y laterally dis- 

 posed on each side and one below the f^en- 

 tral. a-d more rare'y 1-2 s'Tor^er radlals 

 above; spnes mostly decid"ovs on the 

 trunk and older branches, the persistent 

 areolae often enormously enlarged to a 

 he'ght and diameter of 1-2 irch'='s with 

 10-2 formidable subulate spines, the 

 longest 3 inches or more long. Flower 

 white, much resembling that of C. Pring- 

 lei: fruit ripens in the m'drile of May, 

 dull red ?< irohes 'ong, 2 and' 2% in g-ea*^er 

 and lesser diameter, pulp nu-plish, swe^t, 

 edib'e. but val'ed l^ss than tbe rrtilla 

 and other cactus fruits. About 30 triangu- 

 lar scales. v>earirg in the ax'ls d'^rselv 

 woo'lv areolae with 3o or more slenier, 

 bristlv stra'arbt. white spines Vi-V^ inoh 

 l-^ng, form the armament of the fruit— 

 tbf spiny areolae easi'y --Tetached (or fle- 

 o'duous?) at rraturity. Fruit said to be 

 Used iry makin'? a nleasa•^t drink and 

 the =eedg also ut'Mzed. The erect growth 

 of the numerous branches and the brisht 

 e-laucoUs color renders th"s giant cactus 

 everywhere conspicuous. State of Oax- 



aca, Mexico (Orcutt 267:l)_ Known to the 

 Indians as the 'cardon'. 



CEREUS ORCUTTII K Br. 



"cttms erect, oianchmg, bright green, 

 reaching a bight of .> m and a aiameter 

 Oi j5 cm, with nard wooay center; rios 

 Ji-lS, about 1 cm high; aiejjae rojnd. 

 about b mm in aia meter and about hait 

 that distance apart, aensely covtred witii 

 short, light gray wool; spines aLi slender, 

 s^ reaoing, yellow sh brown, irregularly 

 o-seriate; radials 12-20, about 12 mm lung, 

 c eficien: above; mttrmediates aLou-t lu.. 

 one-third to more than twice longer, less. 

 spreading, one of the upper spines of this 

 row usually stouter and darker, poriect, 

 often reaching a length o f7 cm; centrals 

 about 5. porrect-sprcading a little longer 

 than tne intermeuiates; iiowers greenish 

 brown, darker outside diurnal, about i 

 cm entile length; petals short apiculate; 

 ovary densely covered with short scales, 

 almost completely concealed by thick 

 rounded tufts of yellowish wool, in wnich 

 are embedded dark blown bristles 4-6 

 n-.m Icng; ttamns lining the upper half 

 of the tube; style ti s acute; f ri it not- 

 known."— Katharine Brandegee, Zoe o'S: 

 (je 1^00). 



Near Rosario, Baja California. Dense- 

 ly c vered with bright \ ellowish br iwn 

 spines; fruit the "size of an era ge'- 

 called pitalla dulce. 



CEREUS PRINGLEI S. Watson. 



The Cardron is the giant cactus of 

 Lower California and Sonora, where it 

 forms forests, attaining a height of 20 

 to 35 feet. The ribs are usually 13, and 

 it differs from the giant cactus of Ari- 

 zona (Cereus giganteus) in that the 

 spine bearing areolae on the ribs are 

 connected by Avooly grooves. The trunk 

 is often 3 to 4 feet in diameter; the 

 older portions of the branches usually 

 quite thornless. The dead wood is used 

 for fuel, but otherwise this mammoth 

 production of the desert seems to be 

 without use. 



CEREUS THURBERI Engelm. 



The Pitahaya Dulce is an abundant 

 species in Sonora and portions of 

 Lower California, also said to occur in 

 southern Arizona. It grows from 5 

 to 20 feet high, many stems 6 to 10 

 Inches in diameter from the same base, 

 oearing greenish or reddish white 

 white flowers followed bj' large luscious 

 fruit, rather too sweet it is said for 

 northern palates. It was named in 

 honor of George Thurber, a widely re- 

 nowned botanist. 



Subgenus PILOCEREUS E. "Tall, cyl- 

 indric, mostly unbranched; upper tlower- 

 bearing portion with more crowded areo- 

 lae and longer, denser, thinner bristles 

 or hairy spines: flowers short: seeds as in 

 Eucereus."— E. 



