NOPAIvXOCHIA. 



205 



1. Nopalxochia phyllanthoides (De Candolle). 



Cactus phyllanthoides De Candolle, Cat. Hort. Monsp. 84. 1813. 



Cactus speciosus Bonpland, Descr. PI. Rar. Malm. 8. 1813. Not Cavanilles, 1803. 



Epiphyllum speciosum Haworth, Suppl. PI. Succ. 84. 1819. 



Cactus elegans Link, Enum. 2: 25. 1822. 



Epiphyllum phyllanthoides Sweet, Hort. Brit. 172. 1826. 



Cereus phyllanthoides De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 469. 1828. 



Phyllocactus phyllanthoides Link, Handb. Gewachs. 2:11. 1831. 



Opuntia speciosa Steudel, Nom. ed. 2. 2: 222. 1841. 



Stems somewhat woody, branching, the branches terete at base, flattened and thin above, 

 sometimes 5 cm. broad, green; margin of branches coarsely crenate; flowers diurnal, the tube 2 

 cm. long; inner perianth-segments oblong, more or less spreading; filaments and style elongated, 

 slender; stigma-lobes 5 to 7. 



Type locality: Mexico. 



Distribution: Mexico or Colombia, but 

 known only from cultivated plants. 



The distribution of this species is assigned 

 to Mexico, but both Edwards and Sims state 

 definitely that it was first observed by Hum- 

 boldt and Bonpland near the village of Tur- 

 baco, which is a few leagues south of Carta- 

 gena, Colombia. From seeds collected at that 

 time, plants were grown in the garden of La 

 Malmaison ; one of these flowered in 1 8 1 1 and 

 was described and illustrated as Cactus speci- 

 osus in 1813. 



This is one of the oldest known species 

 of cacti; it was figured by Hernandez in 1651 

 and by Plukenet in 1 69 1 . It has long been in 

 cultivation, perhaps in prehistoric times. 



It is often hybridized with other species. 

 The following hybrids with it are given: 

 Phyllocactus phyllanthoides albiflorus, striatus, 

 striatus multiflorus. 



Salm-Dyck (Hort. Dyck. 65. 1834) lists 

 four varieties as follows : Cereus phyllanthoides 

 curtisii, C. phyllanthoides guillardieri, C. phyl- 

 lanthoides jenkinsonii, and C. phyllanthoides 

 vandesii. Pfeiffer (Enum. Cact. 124. 1837) 

 also mentions Cereus phyllanthoides albiflorus.. 



Epiphyllum vandesii Don (Gen. Hist. D^chl. PI. 3: 170. 1834) is a hybrid produced 

 by placing the pollen of Epiphyllum phyllanthoides on the stigmas of Heliocereus elegantis- 

 simus. 



Illustrations: Plukenet, Phyt. pi. 247, f. 5, as Phillanthos ; Loudon, Encycl. PI. 413. f. 

 6902; Curtis's Bot. Mag. 46: pi. 2092, as Cactus phyllanthoides; Schumann, Gesamtb. 

 Kakteen 217. f. 42; Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 7: 87; Wiener 111. Gart. Zeit. 28: f. 39; 

 Gartenwelt 4: 560; 5: 6 and pi. facing 6; Ann. Rep. Smiths. Inst. 1908: f. 24; MoUers 

 Deutsche Gart. Zeit. 11: 61; Goebel, Pflanz. Schild. i: f. 13, 52, 54, as Phyllocactus 

 phyllanthoides; Bonpland, Descr. PI. Rar. pi. 3; Edwards's Bot. Reg. 4: pi. 304; Herb. 

 Gener. Amat. 4: pi. 244, as Cactus speciosus; Loudon, Encycl. PI. ed. 2. 1202. f. 17367, 

 as Epiphyllum speciosum; Pfeiffer, Abbild. Beschr. Cact. 2: pi. 17, as Cereus phyllanthoides 

 var. stricta; Ann. Inst. Roy. Hort. Fromont 2: pi. i, f. E, as E. phyllanthoides; Hort. 

 Ripul. pi. 10; Van Geel, Sert. Bot. pi. iii, as Cactus alatus. 



Figure 207 is a reproduction of Bonpland's illustration as Cactus speciosus. 



Fig. 207. — Nopalxochia phyllanthoides. 



