2 _ Dr. Engelmann on the Cereus giganteus of California . 
Cereus giganteus, Eng elm. in Emory's Rep., p. 158.— 
Erect us, elatus, simplex, saspius parce ramosus; ramis erectis 
caule cylindrico versus apicem sensim attenuate brevioribus ; 
vertice parum depresso lanato; costis ad basin 12 versus apicem 
18-20 rectis compressis obtusiusculis (versus basin obtusissimis) 
subrepandis; sinubus profundis angustis; areolis prominentibus 
orbiculatis albido-tomentosis; aculeis rectis, radialibus 11-17 bre¬ 
vioribus setaceis aibis, centralibus 6 robustioribus longioribus 
(quorum imus robustissimus deflexus) tenuiter sulcatis albidis 
basi bulbosa nigris apice rubellis; floribus_bacca... seminibus 
oblique obovatis nigris laevibus'lucidis. 
Dr. Parry found this splendid species, which the Indians name 
“ Suwarrow,” in rocky crevices and on gravelly table lands, from 
Tueson, north to the Rio Gila; he learned that it also occurs in 
Central Sonora, near the heads of streams which empty into the 
Gulf of California. Col. Emory observed it in 1846, from the 
middle towards the lower Gila; and Dr. LeConte, who explored 
California in 1850, informs me that he found it “common along 
the Gila to within thirty miles of its mouth, where it suddenly 
disappears.” It is no doubt the same plant of which Humboldt 
makes mention in his work on New Spain, (II, p. 225,) where 
he says that the Spanish missionaries found at the foot of the 
Californian mountains nothing but sand or rocks, on which grew 
a cylindrical Cactus (Organos del Tunal) of extraordinary height. 
Stems 25 to 60 feet high and 1 to 2 feet in diameter, notabso- 
solutely cylindrical, but thickest about the lower third, where 
generally the few (mostly 2-3) alternate or sometimes opposite 
branches start, and from thence slightly tapering toward the 
summit. Stems and branches marked by superficial transverse 
furrows, indicating, as it seems, the annual periods of growth, 
forming rings of 4 to 8 inches in height. .Branches unequal, and 
always of less height than the main stem, mostly 5-10 feet Ions, 
with 12-18 ribs. 
The stem consists of an exterior fleshy substance, 3-6 inches 
in thickness; this encloses a circle of bundles of ligneous fibres, 
corresponding with the intervals between the ribs; these bundles 
are of a loose texture, but tough and elastic, and form continuous 
columns or sticks of one-half to three inches in diameter, fre¬ 
quently anastomosing, increasing in thickness towards the base, 
and swelling into irregular, knotted, horizontally spreading roots. 
This frame-work remains after the decomposition of the fleshy 
parts. The exterior fleshy tissue passes between the bundles 
and forms in the centre of the stems the pith, of 4-6 inches di¬ 
ameter. 
The ribs are mostly vertical, at the base about 12 in number, 
broad, rounded, 4 inches or more wide, with broad and shallow 
intervals, (also 4 or 5 inches wide,) worn, and destitute of spines. 
•ip 
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