BOTANICAL REPORT. 
437 
Echinocactus Simpsoni (spec, nov .*) simplex, subglobosus seu depressus, basi 
turbinatus, mamilliferus; radieibus fasciculatis; tuberculis laxis ovatis apice oblique 
truncatis axilla nudis, junioribus leviter compressis basi deorsum productis, vetustiori- 
bus obcompressis basi dilatatis; areolis ovatis seu ovato-lanceolatis, nascentibus albo- 
villosissimis mox nudatis; aculeis exterioribus sub 20 radiantibus tenuibus rigidis rectis 
albidis, additis supra aculeis 2-5 setaceis brevibus, interioribus 8-10 robustioribus 
obscuris erecto-patulis, areola florifera sub tuberculi apice areolae aculeigerae contigua 
circulari; floribus in vertice dissitis minoribus; ovario abbreviate squamis sepaloideis 
triangulatis paucissimis (1-3) instructo; sepalis tubi brevis late infundibuliformis orbicu- 
latis seu ovatis obtusis membranaceo-marginatis crenulatis fimbriatis, sepalis superiori- 
bus 10-12 ovatis obtusis integriusculis, petalis 12-13 oblongis apice crenulatis cuspidatis 
ex virescente roseis; stigmatibus 5-7 brevibus erectis, bacca parva viridi sicca umbilico 
latissimo truncata squamis paucis subinde aculeiferis instructa flore marcescente demum 
deciduo coronata irregulariter basi seu latere dehiscente; seminibus magnis obovatis 
obliquis minute tuberculatis, hilo magno ovato subbasilari, embryone circa albumen 
parcum fere circumvoluto hamato. 
Var. fi minor : tota planta, tuberculis, acilleis, floribus seminibusque miiioribus; 
Butte Valley in the Utah Desert, and Kobe Valley farther west; fl. in April and 
May, fr. in June and July. Var. /3 comes from the mountains of Colorado. This 
and the New Mexican Echinocadus papyr acanthus,\ the Mexican Ech. horripilus, Lem., 
and perhaps the South American Ech. Odierii, Lem., and Ech. Cummingii , Salm, and 
probably one or two others, form the small group of Echinocadi , with the appearance 
of Mamillaria (Theloidei, tuberculis spiraliter dispositis distinctis , Salm, Cact. Hort. 
Dyck 1849, cult. p. 34). They constitute the closest and most imperceptible transi¬ 
tion to Mamillaria subgen. Coryphantha , Synops. Cact., p. 8, which bear the flowers 
in the axils of the nascent tubercules, the flower-bearing and the spine-bearing areolae 
being connected by a woolly groove* In M. macromeris , Engelmann, they come from 
the middle of the tubercule (Cact. Mex. Boundary* t. 15, f. 4)* and in the Theloidei 
they advance to the top of the tubercule close to the spines, thus assuming the position 
which the flowers regularly occupy in the genus Echinocadus (see Cact. Mex. Bound, t. 
20, £2; t. 21; t. 25, f. 1; t. 27, f. 1; t. 28, f. 2).f 
The ovary is also almost naked, like that of Mamillaria generally, or has only a 
few scales, like that of M. macromeris. On the other hand, the dry fruit, such as is 
often found in Echinocadus , but never in Mamillaria , the tuberculated black seeds, and 
especially the large and curved embryo, and the presence of an albumen, do not 
permit a separation from Echinocadus. 
This species is further interesting because it again strikingly proves that the 
* An extract of this description was published in the Transactions of the Saint Louis Academy of Sciences, vol* 
2, p. 197 (1863). 
t The plant I formerly described as Mamillaria papyracantka, Plant. Fendl., p. 49; Synops. Cact., p. 8, proves to 
belong to this section of Echinocactus. A closer examination of Mr. Fendler’s original specimen shows that the floral 
areola joins the spiniferous one at the apex of the small nascent tubercules. Thus far Mr. FendleFs specimen, found 
near Santa F6, has remained the only one ever obtained of this pretty species. 
% Echinocactua brevihamatus , Engelm., forms an exception. In this species, the flowers are situated exactly as in 
Coryphantha, at the base of the tubercle, and connected with the distinct spiniferous areola by a woOfly groove, (see 
Cact. Mex. Bound, t. 19, fs. 2 and 3). 
