Prir.ce Salm May 1, 18^8 



Mr. Scheer sent ne a piece of a (Zi^ge ??), and I nentioned 



to hira your naming. I expect with impatien.ee the announced printed 

 material from Philadelphia» .My most difficult labor is the correct 

 presentat Ion of the synonymst We have, unf ortunately, a number of 

 rash cactus amateurs (fof whorr is also Mr.Muhlenpf ordt in Hannover)^ 

 who cause ne rauch work and corrections ! Without a collection as nu- 

 merous as raine, in which there are so nany definitive and firm points 

 of reference, not much good can be produced» . These points of reference 

 are fundamental, and once one knows the large majority of species with 

 unshakable certainty, and. keeps them berfore one's eyes, only then 

 will it be possible to make a judgenent. The presentat Ion of the tribus 

 has also becone different, and suffered a complete reversal' (verbatimi: 

 turn-aroundi'ii.D. ) Because the genus Halacarpus had to stand first, the 

 genus Echinocactus had to be taken backward s. The sections suffered 

 also some c hangest and stabd now in the following orden 1 # . Cepholoidei 

 2 » Macrog-onl' - 3» ■ Uncinatr ' (* cornigeri,** hamati) 4. Asteroidei 5. Steno - 

 ^or\l 6. Microgonl • ?• Stylogoni 8,. Gymnocalycinl 9. Theloidel . To the 

 ^ 3 uncinatr belong first (* corniireri ) E. sriralis , nacrodi scus . te- 

 xen.sis , recurvus <&fi^ and cor^lgerus : further (**Hamatl) E . Wisli - 

 zenii t longlhamatus, uncinatus . a^d setispimxs. - 



The 3rd tribus contains the genera Ecbinopsis . Pilooereus. and 

 Cej-eus; o^ the first I have already spokerr, and the question is only f , 

 if all species, which are being grown in cur Wardens, which are put into 

 this genus, do really belong there T Several, however, have in the 

 meantirae already flowered, and remained true to the character.. One 

 could have put the pectinati there, but I had seen the flower and al- 

 ready convinced. myself t that it did not belong there. This is just fine 

 with m e , because they bothered ne in the ordering of the genus, which, 

 at present, amounts to over 20 species.,. The genus Pltocereus has 

 also been increased by a new, beautifull species ( Piloc . chrysomallus ) 



