120 CACTEX OF PLANTA LINDHEIMERIANZ. 
following. ‘The ovary is covered with very short and (for the greater part) adnate sepals; the adnate part forms a 
oe (tubercle) ; the free part is mostly very small, often only a minute deciduous scale. In the axil of the 
scale we find the areola, covered with a short tomentuma, long wool, and almost always with bristles or spines. All 
this Deets forms the pulvillus of pie Next in sid follow those sepals which form the tube of the flower. 
The lower of these are entirely similar to the sepals on the ov In the upper or interior sepals the tip, or free part, 
becomes larger and larger, more herbaceous, and finally more or ‘ine petaloid ; the wool and bristles become scarcer, 
but the latter longer, and are produced from an areola which is almost always situated in the axil of the sepal, where 
its free part separates from the common tube. Now, in C. cespitosus the free upper part of these sepals.of the tube is 
more and more elongated, somewhat terete, not foliaceous, and bears the areola with its wool and bristles just below 
the subulate or (in the innermost sepals) somewhat foliaceous tip, reminding us almost of the tubercles of a Mamil- 
laria. The descriptions given in Plant. Lindh, and in Wisliz. Rep. have to be corrected accordingly. 
C. PROCUMBENS, n. sp.: humilis ; cs subtereti s. ey oi aaa ramosissimo ; tuberculis aculeiferis 
distinctis 4-5-fariis ; areolis parvis orbiculatis, junioribus breviter albo-tomentosis; aculeis brevibus tenuibus [204] 
albidis apice fuscis, 5-6 radiantibus, pene singulo erecto nh longiore ; ects diurnis; ovario tuboque 
brevi pulvillis sub-40 albido-villosis setas spinescentes breviores fuscas 6-9 gerentibus stipato; sepalis interioribus 
sub-15 lineari-lanceolatis acuminatis ; petalis 18-20 oblongo-linearibus acutis mucronatis subintegris (violaceis) ; 
stigmate viridi infundibuliformi 10-partito stamina (pallide seiboitate ne ee — On the lower Rio Grande, 
below Matamoras, collected by the St. Louis Volunteers in 1846, — Plant spreading, 3-5 inches high. Joints or 
branches 14-2 inches long, } inch in diameter, much icant) at the oa: Tubercles 4 or 5 lines distant from one 
another, — often in 4 rows, whence the plant derives a distinctly quadrangular appearance ; or in 5, when it is more 
cylindrical. Radial spines 6, or mostly only 5, the uppermost being frequently abortive, 1-14 lines long ; central 
spine 1}~2} lines as long, stouter, directed upwards. Flower 3 inches long, and as wide when fully expanded, of a 
delicate purple color ; petals 4 lines wide, often, in a bright noonday sunshine, recurved. Bristles on the tube about 
twice as long as the ered, below 13-2, above 24-3 lines long. — We have in gardens in St. Louis a similar species in 
cultivation under the name of C. Deppii, but, as Prince Salm informs me, widely different from the true C. Deppii. It 
is not known whence it was obtained. It is distinguished from C. procumbens by the larger, thicker, more cylindric 
limbs. Tubercles elevated, very distinct, in 5 or 6 rows ; spines weaker and longer ; 6-8 radial spines 5-6 lines long ; 
ventral spine from 5 to 14 lines long; flower with a shorter tube, fewer pulvilli, with aaa wool but longer and 
weaker bristles. 
C. R@MERI, n. sp.: ovatus, e basi ramosus; costis sub-8 (7-9) tuberculatis interruptis ; areolis orbiculatis, 
junioribus breviter tomentosis ; aculeis albidis s. flavidulis demum cinereis teretibus, radialibus sub-8, centrali singulo 
robustiori — meas diu noctuque apertis infundibuliformibus, limbo pies sag ; sepalis ovarii et 
tubi 17 squamosis in axillis ex tomento albo brevissimo setas spinescentes albidas 3-5 gerentibus ; — [205] 
interioribus 8 ovato- sews carinatis obtusis mucronatis; petalis 10 obovato-spathulatis obtusis integris con 
cavis chartaceis (coccineis); stylo longe supra stamina numerosissima exserto; stigmatibus 7 eal retedicn eet 
viridibus. — Granitic region about the Liano; flowers (in St. Louis) in May. — Na amed after my friend Dr. F. Roemer, 
of the University of Bins, who was the first to explore the geology of western Texas, and brought the pase specimens 
of this species. Sent also in numerous specimens by Lindheimer. Heads 3-4 inches high, 1-2} inches in diameter, 
single, or mostly 3-5 or even 10 from the same base; ribs interrupted ; areola 4-8 lines distant from one another; 
radial spines 5-12 lines long ; lateral spines longest; upper ones usually shortest ; central spine 10-15 lines long. 
Flower open by day and night for four or five, and in cool cloudy weather as much as six or seven days, 2 inches long 
and 1 wide; petals 8-9 lines long, 5 lines wide, stiff ; bristles on the tube 2-3 lines long. — The stiff and almost per- 
gamentaceous petals are uninfluenced by sunshine or darkness like those of most other Cactacer. Several other 
northern species most probably agree in this particular, as especially C. coccineus and C. triglochidiatus of New Mexico, 
while other nearly related species have certainly diurnal flowers. — C. coccineus differs by the more numerous ribs, 
more humerous spines, larger and more crowded areole, etc. C. polyacanthus, Engelm. in Wisliz. Rep., has more 
numerous spines, and 10 ribs; C. enneacanthus, Engelm. 1. c., is larger, with the tubercles less distinct ; 10 ribs ; spines 
larger, angular. 
C. VARIABILIS, Pfeiff., with its beautiful white nocturnal flowers, delighted our volunteers in their camps on 
the lower Rio Grande. Young plants are procumbent, with terete or paler elavaie beseliens ; adult plants several 
(3-10) feet high, mostly triangular, with very long and stout, or sometimes quite short spines. Fruit large, luscious, 
with red pulp; seeds large, smooth, shining. 
