AND OTHER CALIFORNIAN CACTACE. 123 
elevated, circular, an inch distant from each other. Radiate spines 4-} inch long ; central spines stouter and longer ; 
the lowest deflexed, 1-2} inches long, the two next lateral, the three upper ones pointing upwards and outwards, 
and shorter. 
Dr. Parry was informed’ that the flowers were produced in May and June, from the summit of stem and 
branches ; they are said to be white, with a red centre, and 3 inches in diameter. The fruit matures in August, and 
is set with small spines; it is obovate, 1} inches in diameter, red, pulpy, of sweet taste. The seeds obtained by 
Colonel Emory and by Dr. LeConte have already been noticed in Emory’s Report; they are 0.7 lines long, obovate, 
obliquely truncate at base, black, smooth, shining. Embryo hooked, without an albumen; cotyledons foliaceous, 
unequal, incumbent. 
My opinion that our plant is a true Cereus, and not a Pilocereus, which was based on the structure of the seeds 
(the foliaceous, not globose cotyledons), appears to be further confirmed by the fact that this Cactus bears no hair-like 
spines, and no cephalium, or distinct woolly head, and that the fruits are (as is said) spinulose and not scaly. It is by 
far the largest Cereus known, and only some Piloceret approach it in size. 
The only Cactacee thus far known to grow in California were those vaguely noticed by Hum- 
boldt (the “ Organos del Tunal” and some Opuntiz) ; the Echinocactus viridescens and Cereus Cali- 
JSornicus discovered by Nuttall in 1834; the Cacti found on the Gila by Colonel Emory in the fall 
of 1846, and mentioned in his report; Mamuillaria Goodrichii — lately described by Scheer — of 
Kew; and Eechinocactus Californicus of Monville. 
Dr. Parry has, in the years 1849 and 1850, when he was also attached to Colonel Emory’s corps 
in the survey of the Mexican boundary, examined and described ten or eleven distinct species of 
Cactacez, all found along the southern boundary of California, from the sea-coast to the mouth of 
the Gila. He, as well as Dr. LeConte, states that much farther to the north no species of this 
family are found except an Opuntia, cultivated and now naturalized about the missions. 
subjoin here a short memorandum of Dr. Parry’s Californian Cactacez, reserving a fuller 
description for a more extended memoir. 
1. MAMILLARIA TETRANCISTRA, n. subglobosa ; aculeis radialibus brevibus albis num 
centralibus 4 longioribus cruciatis uncinatis ; anes centralibus parvulis flavido-rubellis ; eapuaiiben 2 re [338 (4)] 
bacea coccinea pyriformi; seminibus nigris hilo spongioso fusco auctis. 
m San Diego to the junction of the Gila with the Colorado.— M. Goodrichii, Scheer, obtained on the 
island - Cons, on the coast of California, is distinguished by the lower central spine only being hooked, by much 
smaller tubercles, et 
2. eerie VIRIDESCENS, Nutt.: depressed; berry subglobose green, coated with lunate mem branaceous 
scales. On dry hills and ridges near San Diego. 
3. E. VIRIDESCENS, 8.? CYLINDRACEDS, is distinguished by its ae or cylindrical shape, larger size, longer spines. 
Found near San Felipe, on the eastern slope of the California Mountain 
Note. —E. Catirornicus, Monv., is the name of young plants pie from seed in Europe. I am informed that 
neither the ee nor the native country of these seedlings is satisfactorily known. 
4, Cereus Emory, n. sp.: caule prostrato; ramis erectis cylindraceis 15-costatis; aculeis radialibus 40-50, 
centrali deaiia Sains porrecto ; bacca globosa spinulosa. 
n thick patches, on dry hills near the sea-shore, about the boundary line. Erect branches 6-9 inches high. 
5. C. EnceLMAnnt, Parry in litt.: caulibus pluribus pedalibus ; costis 13 tuberculatis ; aculeis 4 centralibus 
ineequalibus radiales tenuiores superantibus; bacca ovali aculeata pu 
Mountains about San Felipe, on the eastern declivity of the Cordilleras. 
ote. —C.? Cattrornicus, Nutt. in Torr. and Gray’s Flora, is most probably a cylindraceous Opuntia, with 
“small yellow flowers,” which I cannot now identify. 
OpuntTIA ENGELMANNI, Salm. San Diego, on dry hillsides, in patches, 4 to 6 feet high. Originally dis- 
covered about Chihuahua, this species appears to extend westward to the Pacific. 
7. O. Tuna, Mill., is cultivated for fences, and naturalized about the missions; called “'Tuifia.” It is 10-15 feet 
high ; the fruit large and edible. 
. O. PROLIFERA, n.sp.: caule erecto ligneo; ramulis cylindricis tuberculatis divaricatis ; aculeis fuscis 
vaginatis ; bacca spinulosa. 
