4 



particularity of influorescense is entirely special). I have nevertheless, never seen it in any 

 other Cereus or Cactus. J 



What do you think of this flower and its characteristics? Do vou think it should be placed 

 within the group of the Echinocereusl Or must it unite itself to its comrades from 

 Montevideo, the Pfeiffera circiformis, vvhich I belive has been erroneously united with the 

 Mijpsahs diproupatus. To help you in the comparisons I am sending you a flower of the 

 Pfeiffera. 



Since the beginning of this year I studied and anaiysed all the flowers of the Cereus that I 

 was able to procure, I benefited from learning the manner in which the stamen are usually 

 inserted. I wanted to know if the Separation of the stamen in 2 series ( one inserted in the 

 depth of the tube and the other attached circularly to the throat in the form of a crown) 

 could furmsh a most constant character, or what were the groups of species in which one 

 type of Insertion is common. Well! I found that there are all types of imaginable transitions 

 1 noticed that very close species had completely different staminal distributions. 



The Cereus grandifloris has a very distinct staminal crown separated by the rest of the 

 stamina by a distance of 3 cms. While two close species, very close ones considering all 

 Points of view, the Cereus nostratus Lens and the Cereus Macdonaldi-Hook whose huge 

 flowers have the greatest resemblance with the Cereus grandifloris. Both have their 

 stamina inserted gradually, the upper ones not being separated by a space from the lower 

 ones. 



In the Phyollocactus we find the same differences. I lately analyzed the flowers of the 

 Phyllocactus phyllanthoides ( Cactus allatus of which there are 60 to 90) and of the 

 Phyllanthoides Hookeri. I was quite astonished when I saw that in these two species all 

 the stamina are inserted at the highest point of the tube, that is to say on the neck 

 Consequently there is no Separation between the inferior and superior stamen Stamina 

 omniafance adrata in the Phylocactus grandis Lern (Phylocactus guvanensis Brongan) 

 that I found m Onzaba and that according to me is synonymous with the Phvllocact 

 oxypetalus D.C 



On the contrary we found a very distinct Separation between the staminal corona united 

 with the neck and the inferior staminal bundles arising from the tube at the spot where it 

 begins to widen. Both these bundles in this species are separated by a 9 cms. free space. 



With the large flowered Echynopsis that I had the opportunity to examine, I always found 

 very distinct staminal crowns. Among the short tubes Echinopsis I found the Echinopsis 



