6 
the cactaceae. 
1 . Echinocereus delaetii Giirke, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 19: 131. 1909. 
Cephalocereus delaetii Giirke, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 19: 116. 1909. 
Low, i to 2 dm. high, densely cespitose, completely hidden by the long, white, curled hairs; 
ribs indistinct; areoles closely set, bearing 15 or more white reflexed hairs 8 to 10 cm. long and a 
few stiff reddish bristles; flowers appearing near top of plant; perianth-segments pink, oblanceo- 
late, acute; stigma-lobes about 12; ovary covered with clusters of long, white, bristly spines; fruit 
not seen. 
Type locality: Not cited. 
Distribution: Known only from Sierra de la Paila, north of Parras, Mexico. 
This is the most remarkable species in the genus; in aspect it resembles small plants 
of Cephalocereus senilis, and owing to this resemblance it was first described as a Cephalo¬ 
cereus. Its flowers, however, are so different from those of that genus that as soon as 
they were seen the plant was at once transferred to Echinocereus. 
The plant is now largely imported into Europe and can be obtained from many 
dealers; it was named in honor of Frantz de Laet, a Belgian cactus dealer, who had imported 
many plants from Mexico through Dr. C. A. Purpus and other collectors. 
Illustrations: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 
19: 1 19, as Cephalocereus delaetii ; Monats¬ 
schr. Kakteenk. 22: 73; Rev. Hort. Beige 
40: after 184. 
Text-figure 1 is from a photograph of 
the plant received from M. de Eaet. 
2 . Echinocereus scheeri (Salm-Dyck) Rtimpler 
in Forster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 801. 1885. 
Cereus scheeri Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 
1849. 190. 1850. 
Cespitose; stems procumbent, prostrate or 
ascending, decidedly narrowed towards the tip, 
10 to 22 cm. long, yellowish green; ribs 8 to 10, 
rather low, not at all sinuate, somewhat spiraled; 
spines 7 to 12, acicular, white with brown or 
blackish tips; flowers 12 cm. long, rose-red to 
crimson, with an elongated tube; perianth- 
segments oblanceolate, acute; fruit not known. 
Type locality: Near Chihuahua. 
Distribution: Chihuahua, Mexico. 
The species was named for Frederick 
Scheer (1792-1868), who described the cacti 
for Seemann in the Botany of the Herald. 
Femaire used this name as early as 1868 (Fes Cactees 57), but did not formally transfer 
or describe it, and it is not published or even mentioned by Femaire in Manuel de 1 ’Amateur 
de Cactus (1845) as stated in Bliihende Kakteen under plate 14. It seems to be a distinct 
species, related to E. salm-dyckianus , but with differently colored flowers and shorter 
spines. The variety E. scheeri nigrispinus was used by Scheer in Botany of the Herald 291. 
The type of this species seems to have been lost; it was collected by John Potts, a mining 
engineer, at one time stationed in Chihuahua, Mexico. We know the species only from 
description and illustrations. 
Echinocereus scheeri vars. major and minor (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 15: 175. 1905) 
and var. robustior (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 15: 161. 1905) are only garden forms. 
Illustrations: Curtis’s Bot. Mag. 132: pi. 8096, as Cereus scheeri; Bliihende Kakteen 1: 
pi. 14; Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen f. 48. 
Text-figure 2 is from a part of the second illustration above cited. 
