126 OONTRIBt riONS PROM llli NATIONAL URBARIUM. 



Baoontria chiotilla Webei I; Plati \ I.I 1 1. 



tiUa \\ eber; Schumann, I let Kakta 

 Prom 4 to 7 meters high; trunk \<i\ short; branches rery numerous, forming s 

 ..r\ compact head, weak and easily broken, bright green, n<>t at all glaucous; ribs 

 9 closely set, often running together, elliptical; radial spines 10 

 t«> 15, rather short, often reflexed; centrals several, one much longer, somewhat flat- 

 tened, sometimes 7 cm. long, all light-colored; flowers borne Dear the endsof the 

 branches, small, Lnciading the ovary about .■'> cm. long; petals nearlj erect, yellow; 

 and calyx tube covered with overlapping ovate, cartilaginoufl scales l>ut with- 

 out wool, Bpines, or hair-: fruit glabrous, :i l >« n it 5 cm. in diameter, edible, scaly. 



Tin- fruit is sold in the market at Trimaran under the name of "geotilla" or 

 "chiotilla" and as *' tuna." 



\'n\ common at Tehuacan and Tomellfn. 

 Spt <■//,,, ns i jcamifn d: 



Purl. la: Near Tehuacan, Rose A Painter, August 31, 1905 (no. 9939 ; 

 Oaxaca: Near Tomellfn, Rose & Hough, June 23, 1899 (no. 1663 ; Sose vv 

 Painter, September 4, 1905 no. L0107 . 



NEW SPECIES OF OPUNTIA AND ECHINOCACTUS. 



Opxintia megarrhiza Rose, Bp. nov. 



Roots long 30 to 60 cm. ) and very thick (5 to 6 cm. In diameter ; Btems low 20 

 to 30 cm. high), much branched at base; lower joints elongated, 20 to 30 cm. long, 

 thin and pliable; lateral joints appearing along the margins of the older joints and 

 often it not generally in the Bame plane; sepals small, ovate, reddish or rose-colored, 

 acute ami even apiculate; petals about 15, pale lemon or even rose-colored, 2 cm. 

 long, obovate, mucronate-tipped; stamens short, numerous, erect; style longer than 

 the stamens; stigmas about 7. greenish; ovary clavate, •"> cm. Long, theareoles numer- 

 ous, generally spineless but very woolly; umbilicus deep and broad; mature fruit 

 not Been. 



Type r. S. National Herbarium no. 570115, collected by I>r. E. Palmer near 

 Alvarez, San Luis Potosf, May. L905 (no. 607). 



Echinocactus grandis !:•-«. Bp. nov. 



Cactus body I to 2 meters high, 60to 100 cm. in diameter; ribs numerous exact 

 number not recorded), rather high, not undulate, bearing many closely set groups 

 of spines; no distinct areole, l>ut a continuous broad groove filled with felt-like hair 

 in which are Bet the Bpines; radial Bpines 5 or 6 '1" specimens examined) , about 

 equal, •"> to 4 cm. long, straight and stiff, erect or slightly spreading; our very distinct 

 centra] spine stouter and longer (4 to 5 cm. long) than the radial ones, distinctly 

 banded as are Borne of the radial ones; all of the Bpines at first yellow, but the old 

 ones becoming reddish brown; tops of flowering plants covered with dense white 

 wool: flowers, Including ovary. 4 to 5 cm. long, yellow: sepals lanceolate, tipped 

 with a long mucro (almost Bpinescent), the margin more or less Berrulate; petals 

 Bomewhat similar but broader, obtuse at the apex and with a weaker mucro; fruit 

 r> to 'i cm. long, densely covered with long downy wool, tipped by the persist snt 

 flower, dry. many-seeded, the bracts few and. Bpinescent; seeds blackish, smooth, 

 Bhining. 



Very common on the limestone hills near Tehuacan, Puebla. 



Type I . S. National Herbarium no. 461288, collected by C. G. Pringle in 1900 

 (no. 6696). Also collected by J. N. Rose, August 2, L903 (no. 59 



It is remarkable that this specie* has not heretofore been characterized, for it 

 surely must have been frequently observed by collectors and travelers. It has 

 probably been mistaken for Borne of the other large species such as /'■ mgenx, /.'. 

 visnaga, and /•.'. grusonii, which, while they resemble it In a general way, still have 

 very distinct characters. 



