154 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 373. 



or small trees as the Witch Hazel, Hamarnelis arborea, and 

 if I had a large bank side which I wanted to cover with a 

 deciduous little tree that would produce a beautiful effect in 

 early spring, I would plant Cornelian Cherry in preference 

 to all others. I am not aware if it is largely grown in the 

 gardens of the United States, but I should say it is hardy 

 enough for the neighborhood of New York. It is a native 

 of many parts of Europe and northern Asia. Its fruits are 

 about the size and shape of olives, and cornelian in color. 

 The beautiful American C. florida cannot be made to flower 

 in this country. 



London. W. WalSOIl. 



New or Little-known Plants. 



Echinocactus Wislizeni and some Related Species. 



THIS fine large Cactus was first described by Dr. Engel- 

 mann in 1846. Since its discovery it has been one 

 of the favorite Echinocacti in cultivation. It is by far the 

 most abundant species of this genus in southern Arizona, 

 and probably reaches its greatest development on the Tuc- 

 son plains and adjacent foothills. So far as its distribution 

 in Arizona is concerned, it is confined to the south-eastern 

 portion of the territory, with the Tucson Mountains as its 

 western limit. Its northern limit seems to be as marked 

 as its western. Some forty miles north of Tucson it en- 

 tirely disappears, and its place there and to the west is 

 taken by E. Le Contii. It e.xtends eastward through south- 

 ern New Mexico into western Texas, and southward far 

 into Sonera. This plant has been reported from much 

 farther north than the range here given, but my observa- 

 tions for the past three years draw me to the conclusion 

 that in such cases it has been confused with other species. 



Echinocactus Le Contii was first described as a distinct 

 species, but later placed as a variety of E. Wislizeni. There 

 is no question but these plants are specifically distinct. 

 The former is the characteristic Echinocactus from the 

 mountains north and east of Phoenix to Yuma, occupying 

 the valleys of the Salt and Gila Rivers and adjacent foot- 

 hills. It differs from the latter in being usually much more 

 slender and more apt to branch ; not infrequently a dozen 

 compact, globose heads form a single plant. E. Le Contii 

 is seldom over a foot in diameter, and frequently only from 

 four to six inches. It is usually from one to three feet high. 

 A few specimens south of the Bradshaw Mountains, ob- 

 served last summer, were nearly six feet in height and 

 eighteen inches in diameter. The flowers appear during 

 June and July, and the fruit begins to mature in August. 

 The flower-buds are brownish-red and usually have an' 

 oval or obtuse apex. When fully open, the flowers are 

 yellow. The under sides of the petals are more or less col- 

 ored with brown and red. The fruit dries on the plant 

 during fall and winter and sometimes remains, held by 

 the dense tangle of spines, for several years. It is longer, 

 narrower and more scaly than in E. Wislizeni, and the 

 seeds are slightly larger. In the latter species the flower- 

 buds are acute and the petals are conspicuously streaked 

 with red. The flowers do not ajjpear until August and 

 .September, fully two months later than in the previous 

 species. The fruit ripens in November and December and 

 forms a bright yellow crown, which stands out in marked 

 contrast to the deep green stem. The somewhat flattened 

 oval fruit is frecpientl)' two inches in length and a little 

 more than half as wide. It is always crowned by the 

 withered remains of the flovvfer. It remains attached to the 

 plant vi'ithout drying throughout the winter and late into 

 spring. 



One who sees these two plants in the field would never 

 mistake them as belonging to the same species. As early 

 as April the apex of Echinocactus Le Contii is a dense tan- 

 gle of numerous red pubescent, tvvisted, nearly mature 

 spines. At this time the apex of E. 'Wislizeni is nearly 

 free, the spines of the new growth being a half-inch or less 

 in length. 



Some miles east of Phoenix, at the eastern limit of the 



range of Echinocactus Le Contii, and north of that E. Wisli- 

 zeni, is found another large species of this interesting group, 

 namely, E. Thurberi. This plant ranges from here along 

 the headwaters of the Salt and Gila Rivers into New Mexico. 

 It is much more of a mountain plant than either of the 

 above-mentioned species. 



An interesting plant grows north of Tucson, on the foot- 

 hills of the Santa Catalina Mountains. I refer to a variety 

 of Echinocactus Wislizeni* (see fig. 24, page 155). 

 The plant from which the description is drawn was col- 

 lected some three years ago, and is now growing in the 

 Cactus garden at the University. It resembles E. Wisli- 

 zeni in the season of flowering and ripening its fruit and 

 in the arrangement of the spines. Its golden-yellow flow- 

 ers and white spines against the green stem make it one 

 of the most beautiful Echinocacti with which I am familiar. 



All of these species are known indiscriminately among 

 the Mexicans as Bisnaga. Americans know them as "Nig- 

 ger-heads '' and " Barrel Cacti." They are all great, heavy 

 plants, with strong, hard spines. Echinocactus Wislizeni 

 sometimes grows to a height of seven or eight feet, and 

 reaches a diameter of more than twenty-seven inches. I 

 have observed specimens with as many as forty ribs. All 

 of these plants are very succulent and entirely without a 

 woody skeleton. The long slender roots are few and small, 

 compared to the great weight and size of the plant. In this 

 locality the large plants invariably lean to the south-west. 

 Their weight, small roots and lack of woody skeleton make 

 them very unstable, and they settle over in the direction 

 away from the prevailing wind. The whole interior of the 

 plant is a soft, spongy, white, parenchyma tissue, which is 

 so saturated with sap that it may be squeezed from it by 

 the pressure of the hand. This fact has been woven into 

 the fairy tale that the thirsty traveler lost on the desert may 

 secure, by cutting into this plant, copious draughts of a 

 cool and refreshing dnnk. 



The spongy tissue is used to some extent in making 

 candy and pickles. Its value for such purposes, however, 

 does not depend upon any special flavor or nutritive value 

 in the plant, but rather in that it serves as a body to hold 

 sugar and other materials. 



University ot Arizona. Tucson. _/• *^- 1 OUfnCy . 



Plant Notes. 



Andromeda Mariana. — A correspondent makes inquiries 

 whether this plant is worthy of cultivation. Without doubt 

 it is among the best of shrubs, and we can see tio reason 

 why it is not more generally planted, except the fact that 

 it is a native plant, and, like many other native plants, has 

 been neglected because it vi-as originally the fashion to 

 plant exotics. It is found along the Atlantic coast south- 

 waril from Rhode Island in low, wet, sandy places. It is 

 common in the Pine-barrens of New Jersey, and covers 

 large tracts in Long Island. It is from two to four feet 

 high. Its leaves are leathery, shining, oval in shape and 

 deciduous. Its flowers, which appear in clusters from the 

 axillary buds, are pure white, nodding, bell-shaped and of 

 a wax-like texture. Unlike many other Ericaceous plants, 

 it will thrive without being planted in peaty soil, although 

 it grows well in deep loam mixed with peat. It is per- 

 fectly hardy. Its leaves remain on the long wand-like 

 branches late in the season, and they often turn to at. 

 intense scarlet before they fall. 



Inga pulcherrima. — The Ingas are stove evergreens from 

 South America and belong to the natural order Leguminosas. 

 Many of them have rather unattractive flowers of light 

 pink, but the flowers of this one are a very rich shade of 

 crimson. Mr. G. W. Oliver writes that a specimen of this 

 plant, now in flower in the Washington Botanical Garden, is 

 one of the leading attractions of the collection there. The 



* Ecliinocactns Wislizeni, albispinn, var. nov. Gloljose to siibcylindrical. Nuni- 

 ijer and arrangement of the spines the same as in the species, ditferintj froni them 

 in that they are entirely white. Flowers golden-yellow, with no trace of red on the 

 under surface ot" the petals, appearini^ in July and Au^^ust. Scales of the ovary much 

 more numerous than in the species, and usually overlapping even in the mature fruit. 



