178 CACTACEH OF THE BOUNDARY. 
each fruit, comparatively large, 0.7 line long, 0.5 in diameter, with a very large umbilicus; testa hard and brittle, 
though thin. 
Var. Greggii is larger and coarser in all its parts. The specimens before me are 1-2 inches in diameter; 
tubercles 1-1} line long ; exterior spines 13-2 lines, interior stouter ones }-1 line long. The 6-9 upper elongated 
spines on the younger tubercles are 3-4 lines wi thicker at base, very slender in the middle, and thickened [5] 
again toward the very acute point. Fruit about 9 lines long. Seed smaller than in the more northern form, 
0.6 line in length, and more distinctly tuberculated. 
Mamillaria microthele, Mublenpf., seems to be closely allied to our plant, but is distinguished (to judge from the 
descriptions) by its cespitose growth, and its distinct 1 or 2 central spines. No allusion is made in the descriptions to 
the remarkable vertical tuft, though the small ats rose-colored flowers are mentioned. The name, M. micromeris, 
refers to the smallness of all the on of this specie: 
2. M. LASIACANTHA, sp. nov.: parvula, ‘Sein globosa seu ovato-globosa ; tuberculis cylindricis lete 
viridibus ; axillis nudis ; areolis PIES albido-lanatis ; aculeis 40-80 pluriseriatis omnibus radiantibus maxime 
inzequalibus brevibus setiformibus albis rectis seu paullo SSE ciliato-pilosulis vel denudatis ; floribus lateralibus 
parvis ; sepalis 13 — exterioribus mucronatis ; petalis 13 fere uniseriatis oblongis obtusis emarginatisve ; stylo 
stamina brevia longe superante; stigmatibus 4-5 ovatis Meu. erectis echt gegen bacca elongata clavata 
coccinea ; seminibus numerosis obovato-subglobosia scrobiculatis nigricantibus, hilo basi ovali. 
Var. a. MINOR: caule minore ovato; aculeis paucioribus brevioribus dives iii “(Tab, ITI.) 
Var. 8. DENUDATA : caule majore globoso ; aculeis plurimis longioribus subnudis. (Tab. IV 
About Leon Spring and Camanche Spring, west of the Pecos, on low limestone hills, among herbage; C. Wright. 
Flowers April and May. — A pretty little sae paige with and almost entirely hidden under the petra 
soft, more -or less pubescent spines. The smaller form is 9-12 lines high and 6-9 lines in diameter; tubercles 
8 or 13 spiral rows, 2 lines long and nearly , line in any ; areolz 14 line distant from one another; spines 0-06 
1}~2 lines long, the upper exterior ones a little longer than the rest, the innermost ones often not half as long as the 
others. The larger form, var. B., is 1-14 inch high, and of almost the same diameter; tubercles 2}-3 lines long, in 
13 or 21 spiral rows; spines 50-80, almost or the old ones entirely naked, 14-2} lines long, the innermost usually 
much shorter. The flower.is half an inch long, and when fully open of the same diameter; petals white, with a red 
streak in the centre, which at base forms a red circle around the yellow stamens; style yellowish, with 4 or 5 yellowish- 
green stigmata, which form together a short globose head. Fresh fruit 6-10 lines long, without the remains of the 
flower, somewhat persistent and finally asivelied up, greyish, obovate-clavate, deeply imbedded and hid between the 
tubercles. Seeds 10-25 in each fruit, smaller than in the last species, and altogether different in shape and surface, 
about 0.5 line long, very ioe pitted, hard and brittle. I have named this species M. lasiacantha, from the 
usually very soft pubescence of the spines. It is evidently closely allied to M. Schiedeana, Ehrenb.; but this is a 
much larger plant, with wees tubercles, very woolly axils, and its spines ee a silky brush. Both this and the 
last species belong to Prince Salm’s § 3, Polyacanthe * * aculeis patentissimis adpressis. The position of the flower, 
however, seems to Suan that they are widely separated from each peat ied the external appearance of the 
plants is very much 
3. M. PuUSsILLA, ti var. TEXANA : ovato-globosa, prolifera, caespitosa ; tuberculis teretibus versus apicem 
conicis, axilla longe-lanatis setosisque ; — pluriseriatis, extimis numerosissimis (30-50) capillaceis elongatis 
flexuosis vel crispatis albis, interioribus 10-12 sensim rigidio oribus brevioribus rectiusculis puberulis _— [6] 
intimis 5-8 longioribus rigidis rectis as basi bathasis infra albidis sursum rufis fuscisve inzequa 
florum iatiais ovario subemerso ; sepalis 9~12 oblongo-linearibus obtusiusculis tenuiter fimbriatis ; ule 13-16 
fere uniseriatis idiaes Hareaies obtusis vel emarginatis sepe mucronatis ; stigmat tibus 5 flavidis longe supra stamina 
exsertis; bacca elongata clavata s. sub-cylindrica coccinea floris rudimentis involutis coronata ; seminibus plurimis 
stance scrobiculatis nigris lucidis, hilo basilari linea 
From Eagle Pass to Santa Rosa, Dr. Bige rus we) acco welts ng to Dr. Poselger, common on the Rio Grande 
below. Flowers March to May. — Heads 1-14 inch in diameter, 1-24 inches high, usually covered below with young 
branches, and finally densely cespitose; tubercles 34-43 lines long, dark-green ; axilla quite woolly, with several 
coarse twisted bristles mixed with the wool. Exterior hair-like spines covering the whole plant as with a coarse wool, 
often 6-8 a long when straightened ; interior spines slender, but stiff and pointed, 3-4 lines long, in young or 
weakly imens whitish, with dark tips, in robust ones yellow at base, brown upwards, and almost black at tip. 
Flowers 740 lines long; petals dirty yellowish-white, with a reddish streak in the middle. Fruit about 9 lines aye 
Seeds 0.6 line long, hard and brittle, very similar to the seed of the last-mentioned species, only a little larger an 
with pnt! hilum. 1 
M. pusilla, from the West Indies, is so near our plant that this one must necessarily be referred to it, The only 
difference seems to consist in the smaller num mber of radial spines (12-20) in M. pusilla, and in the greyish- -green color 
of its tubercles. 
i 
