B R IT TON A ND ROSE, VOL. II
A group of plants of Cephalocereus macrocephalus on a forest-covered hillside near
Tehuacán, Mexico.
P L ATE I
THE CACTACEAE
DESCRIPTIONS AND ILLUSTRATIONS OF
PLANTS OF THE CACTUS FAMILY
BY
N. L. BRITTON and J. N. ROSE
Volume II
The Carnegie Institution of Washington
Washington, 1920
CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON
Publication No. 248 Volume II
press of gibson brothers
washington
CONTENTS.
Tribe Cereeae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Key to Subtribes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Subtribe Cereanae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Key to Genera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Cereus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Monvillea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Cephalocereus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Espostoa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Browningia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Stetsonia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Escontria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Corryocactus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pachycereus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Leptocereus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Eulychnia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Lemaireocereus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Erdisia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Bergerocactus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Leocereus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Wilcoxia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Peniocereus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Dendrocereus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Machaerocereus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Nyctocereus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Brachycereus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Acanthocereus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Heliocereus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Trichocereus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
page.
1
1
1
1
3
21
25
60
63
64
65
66
68
77
82
85
104
107
108
110
112
113
114
117
120
121
127
130
page.
Tribe Cereeae—continued.
Subtribe Cereanae —continued.
Jasminocereus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Harrisia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Borzicactus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Carnegiea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Binghamia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Rathbunia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Arrojadoa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Oreocereus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Facheiroa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Cleistocactus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Zehntnerella . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Lophocereus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Myrtillocactus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Neoraimondia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Subtribe Hylocereanae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Hylocereus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Wilmattea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Selenicereus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Mediocactus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Deamia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Weberocereus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Werckleocereus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Aporocactus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Strophocactus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
111
ILLUSTRATIONS.
facing
page
Group of plants of Cephalocereus macrocephalus on hillside near Tehuacán . . . . . . . . . . . . Frontispiece.
(1) Top of flowering stem of Cereus alacriportanus. (2) Top of stem of Cereus peruvianus.
(3) Flower of Cereus peruvianus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6
(1) Top of stem of Cereus validus. (2) Top of flowering stem of Cereus validus (3) Top of flowering branch of Monvillea cavendishii. (4) Top of branch of M. cavendishii with fruit
22
(1) Flowering stem of Cephalocereus pentaedrophorus. (2) Top of stem of Cephalocereus gounellei. (3) Top of stem of Cephalocereus bahamensis, with flower. (4) Fruit of Cephalocereus deeringii.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
32
A clump of plants of Cephalocereus deeringii on Lower Matecumbe Key, Florida . . . . . . . . . . . . .
38
(1) Top of flowering stem of Cephalocereus arrabidae. (2) Top of flowering stem of Cephalocereus nobilis. (3) Top of flowering stem of Cephalocereus barbadensis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
42
(1) Plants of Cephalocereus polygonus. (2) Large plant of Cephalocereus chrysacanthus . . . . . . . . .
48
(1) Top of flowering stem of Cephalocereus brooksianus. (2) Top of stem of Cephalocereus catingicola. (3) Top of stem of Cephalocereus phaeacanthus. (4) Flowering branch of
Leptocereus assurgens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
56
A large plant of Stetsonia coryne in the desert of northern Argentina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
64
A plant of Escontria chiotilla, near Tehuacán, Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
66
Top of flowering plant of Pachycereus chrysomallus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
72
A mountain side along Tomellin Canyon, Mexico, covered with Pachycereus columna-trajani . . . . .
76
(1) Top of flowering branch of Leptocereus arboreus. (2) Top of stem of Lemaireocereus griseus.
(3) Fruiting branch of Mediocactus coccineus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
80
(1) Part of branch of Dendrocereus nudiflorus. (2) Flowering branch of Dendrocereus nudiflorus.
(3) Flowering branch of Nyctocereus guatemalensis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
(1) Top of branch of Eulychnia iquiquensis. (2) Top of stem of Lemaireocereus dumortieri.
(3) Part of flowering stem of Nyctocereus serpentinus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
(1) Top of flowering branch of Acanthocereus pentagonus. (2) Top of flowering branch of Acanthocereus subinermis. (3) Top of a fruiting branch of Acanthocereus subinermis . . . . . . . . . 124
(1) End of flowering branch of Heliocereus elegantissimus. (2) End of flowering branch of Heliocereus speciosus. (3) A tip of a fruiting branch of Harrisia portoricensis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
(1) Tip of a flowering branch of Harrisia eriophora. (2) Fruiting branch of Harrisia eriophora . . . . 148
(1) Top of flowering branch of Harrisia fragrans. (2) Top of fruiting joint of Harrisia fragrans.
(3) Fruiting branch of Harrisia martinii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
(1) Part of fruiting branch of Harrisia gracilis. (2) Top of flowering branch of Harrisia martinii 152
(1) Flowering branch of Harrisia tortuosa. (2) Fruiting branch of Harrisia tortuosa. . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Top of flowering plant of Carnegiea gigantea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
The giant cactus, Carnegiea gigantea, near Tucson, Arizona. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
(1) Top of flowering branch of Harrisia fernowi. (2) Flowering branch of Harrisia bonplandii.
(3) Top of branch of Binghamia melanostele
168
(1) Flowering branch of Rathhunia alamosensis. (2) Flowering branch of Rathbunia alamosensis.
(3) Top of flowering branch of Borzicactus acanthurus. (4) Top of stem of Arrojadoa
rhodantha
170
(1) Myrtillocactus geometrizans, Tehuacán, Mexico. (2) Myrtillocactus schenckii, near Mitla,
Mexico. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
(1) End of fruiting branch of Arrojadoa rhodantha. (2) Top of plant of Cleistocactus baumannii.
(3) Flower on branch of Hylocereus stenopterus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Flower on end of branch of Hylocereus ocamponis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Flower on end of branch of Hylocereus monacanthus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Flower near end of branch of Hylocereus undatus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Flower on short branch of Hylocereus lemairei . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
(1) Fruit of Hylocereus undatus. (2) Flowering branch of Wilmattea minutiflora. (3) Longitudinal section of fruit of Selenicereus grandiflorus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
(1) Flowering branch of Selenicereus grandiflorus. (2) Tip of branch of Selenicereus grandiflorus. (3) Fruit of Selenicereus grandiflorus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Flowering branch of Selenicereus urbanianus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Flower on branch of Selenicereus coniflorus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
(1) Fruit of Hylocereus trigonus. (2) Flower of Selenicereus boeckmannii. (3) Fruit of Selenicereus boeckmannii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Flower of Mediocactus coccineus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
(1) Fruiting branch of Selenicereus pteranthus. (2) Flowering branch of Selenicereus spinulosus.
(3) Flowering branch of Weberocereus panamensis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
(1) Flowering branch of Weberocereus tunilla. (2) Flowering branch of Weberocereus biolleyi.
(3) Flowering branch of Werckleocereus tonduzii. (4) Flower of Werckleocereus glaber 216
(1) Flowering plant of Aporocactus leptophis. (2) Flowering plant of A. flagelliformis . . . . . . . . . . 218
iv
PLATES
Plate 1.
Plate 2.
Plate 3.
Plate 4.
Plate 5.
Plate 6.
Plate 7.
Plate 8.
Plate 9.
Plate 10.
Plate 11.
Plate 12.
Plate 13
Plate 14.
Plate 15.
Plate 16.
Plate 17.
Plate 18.
Plate 19.
Plate 20.
Plate 21.
Plate 22.
Plate 23.
Plate 24.
Plate 25.
Plate 26.
Plate 27.
Plate 28.
Plate 29.
Plate 30.
Plate 31.
Plate 32.
Plate 33.
Plate 34.
Plate 35.
Plate 36.
Plate 37.
Plate 38.
Plate 39.
Plate 40.
V
THE CACTACEAE.
TEXT-FIGURES.
Fig.
1. Plant of Cereus hexagonus in garden . .
2. Flower of Cereus hexagonus . . . . . . . . .
3. Longitudinal section of flower of Cereus
hexagonus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4. Fruit of Cereus hexagonus . . . . . . . . . .
5. Cultivated plants of Cereus hildmannianus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6. Cultivated plants of Cereus hildmannianus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7. Potted plant of Cereus validus . . . . . . .
8. Potted plant of Cereus tetragonus. . . . .
9. Plant of Cereus jamacaru . . . . . . . . . . .
10. Hedge of Cereus stenogonus . . . . . . . .
11. Plant of Cereus dayamii . . . . . . . . . . . .
12. Cultivated specimen of Cereus argentinensis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
13. Fruit of Cereus peruvianus . . . . . . . . . .
14. Plant of Cereus pernambucensis . . . . . .
15. Potted plant of Cereus obtusus . . . . . . .
16. Plant of Cereus aethiops . . . . . . . . . . . .
17. Fruiting branch of Cereus aethiops. . . .
18. Fruit of Cereus repandus. . . . . . . . . . . .
19. Plant of Cereus repandus . . . . . . . . . . .
20. Plant of Monvillea cavendishii . . . . . . .
21. Flower of Monvillea insularis . . . . . . . .
22. Potted plant, of Monvillea spegazzinii .
23. Flower of Monvillea diffusa . . . . . . . . .
24. Potted plant of Cephalocereus senilis . .
25. Potted plant of Cephalocereus purpureus
26. Fruit of Cephalocereus fluminensis. . . .
27. Flower of Cephalocereus purpureus . . .
28. Cluster of spines of Cephalocereus purpureus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
29. Plants of Cephalocereus fluminensis. . .
30. Thicket of Cephalocereus dybowskii . . .
31. Plant of Cephalocereus pentaedrophorus
32. Fruit of Cephalocereus pentaedrophorus
33. Flower of Cephalocereus pentaedrophorus
34. Top of plant of Cephalocereus polylophus
35. Potted plant of Cephalocereus euphorbioides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
36. Flower of Cephalocereus russelianus . .
37. Fruit of Cephalocereus russelianus . . . .
38. Plants of Cephalocereus russelianus . . .
39. End of branch of Cephalocereus russelianus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
40. Plant of Cephalocereus gounellei . . . . .
41. Flower of Cephalocereus zehntneri . . .
42. Potted plant of Cephalocereus leucostele
43. Potted plant of Cephalocereus smithianus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
44. Flower of Cephalocereus leucostele . . .
45. Fruit of Cephalocereus leucostele . . . . .
46. Flower of Cephalocereus smithianus . .
47. Fruit of Cephalocereus smithianus . . . .
48. Plant of Cephalocereus bahamensis . . .
49. Plant of Cephalocereus bahamensis . . .
50. Flower of Cephalocereus deeringii . . . .
51. Fruit of Cephalocereus deeringii . . . . . .
52. Flower of Cephalocereus robinii . . . . . .
53. Fruit of Cephalocereus robinii . . . . . . .
54. Plant of Cephalocereus robinii . . . . . . .
55. Plant of Cephalocereus keyensis . . . . . .
56. Flower of Cephalocereus keyensis . . . .
page.
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Fig. 57.
58.
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116.
Fruit of Cephalocereus keyensis . . . . . .
Flower of Cephalocereus monoclonos .
Flower of Cephalocereus moritzianus. .
Fruit of Cephalocereus moritzianus . . .
Plants of Cephalocereus moritzianus . .
Fruit of Cephalocereus arrabidae . . . . .
Plant of Cephalocereus arrabidae . . . . .
Plant of Cephalocereus nobilis . . . . . . .
Potted plant of Cephalocereus barbadensis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Plant of Cephalocereus barbadensis . . .
Plant of Cephalocereus millspaughii. . .
Fruit of Cephalocereus millspaughii . . .
Flower of Cephalocereus royenii. . . . . .
Plant of Cephalocereus swartzii . . . . . .
Plant of Cephalocereus maxonii . . . . . .
Plant of Cephalocereus piauhyensis . . .
Plant of Cephalocereus lanuginosus . . .
Plant of Cephalocereus royenii . . . . . . .
Potted plant of Cephalocereus robustus
Potted plant of Cephalocereus cometes
Plant of Cephalocereus leucocephalus .
Plant of Cephalocereus tweedyanus . . .
Plant of Cephalocereus tweedyanus . . .
Flower of Cephalocereus tweedyanus . .
Fruit of Cephalocereus tweedyanus . . .
Plant of Cephalocereus colombianus . .
Stem, flower, and flower bud of Cephalocereus colombianus . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Plant of Cephalocereus brasiliensis . . . .
Flower of Cephalocereus phaeacanthus
Fruit of Cephalocereus phaeacanthus . .
Plant of Espostoa lanata . . . . . . . . . . . .
Plant of Espostoa lanata . . . . . . . . . . . .
Flower of Espostoa lanata . . . . . . . . . . .
Fruit of Espostoa lanata . . . . . . . . . . . .
Potted plant of Espostoa lanata . . . . . .
Flower of Browningia candelaris . . . . .
Young fruit of Browningia candelaris.. .
Plant of Browningia candelaris . . . . . . .
Flower of Stetsonia coryne . . . . . . . . . .
Ends of branches of Stetsonia coryne . .
Flower of Escontria chiotilla. . . . . . . . .
Fruit of Escontria chiotilla . . . . . . . . . .
Plant of Corryocactus brevistylus . . . . .
Plant of Corryocactus brachypetalus. . .
Flower of Corryocactus brevistylus . . . .
Flower of Corryocactus brachypetalus .
Fruit of Corryocactus brachypetalus . . .
Plant of Pachycereus pringlei . . . . . . . .
Plant of Pachycereus pecten aboriginum
Fruit of Pachycereus pecten aboriginum
Plant of Pachycereus chrysomallus . . . .
Flower of Pachycereus chrysomallus . . .
Longitudinal section of Pachycereus
chrysomallus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Flower of Pachycereus marginatus . . . .
Hedge of Pachycereus marginatus . . . .
Part of branch of Leptocereus weingartianus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Plant of Leptocereus leonii . . . . . . . . . .
Plant of Leptocereus assurgens . . . . . . .
Branch of Leptocereus maxonii . . . . . .
Fruit of Leptocereus arboreus . . . . . . . .
page.
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VI
THE CACTACEAE.
TEXT-FIGURES—continued.
Fig. 117.
118.
119.
120.
121.
122.
123.
124.
125.
126.
127.
128.
129.
130.
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132.
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163.
164.
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169.
170.
171.
172.
Fruit of Leptocereus sylvestris . . . . . . .
Top of branch of Leptocereus sylvestris
Plant of Leptocereus quadricostatus . . .
Fruit of Leptocereus quadricostatus . . .
Flower of Leptocereus quadricostatus .
Potted plant of Eulychnia spinibarbis . .
Flower of Eulychnia acida . . . . . . . . . .
Flower of Eulychnia castanea . . . . . . . .
Hedge of Lemaireocereus hollianus . . .
Plants of Lemaireocereus hystrix . . . . .
Flower of Lemaireocereus hystrix . . . . .
Fruit of Lemaireocereus hystrix . . . . . .
Plants of Lemaireocereus griseus . . . . .
Fruit of Lemaireocereus pruinosus . . . .
Potted plant of Lemaireocereus longispinus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Potted plant of Lemaireocereus eichlamii.
Plants of Lemaireocereus chende . . . . .
Plant of Lemaireocereus godingianus . .
Plants of Lemaireocereus aragonii . . . .
Plants of Lemaireocereus stellatus. . . . .
Plants of Lemaireocereus treleasei . . . .
Plant of Lemaireocereus deficiens . . . .
Plant of Lemaireocereus weberi . . . . . .
Cluster of spines of Lemaireocereus weberi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Fruit of Lemaireocereus weberi . . . . . .
Part of rib, showing spine clusters of
Lemaireocereus queretaroensis . . . .
Plant of Lemaireocereus thurberi . . . .
a. Flower of Lemaireocereus thurberi . .
b. Fruit of Lemaireocereus thurberi . . .
Plant of Lemaireocereus laetus . . . . . . .
Plant of Lemaireocereus laetus . . . . . . .
Flower of Lemaireocereus laetus. . . . . .
Fruit of Lemaireocereus laetus . . . . . . .
Plants of Lemaireocereus humilis . . . . .
Flowering branch of Lemaireocereus humilis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Cross section of stem, longitudinal section of rib, spine cluster, flower,
and fruit of Lemaireocereus humilis
Fruit of Lemaireocereus dumortieri . . .
Plant of Lemaireocereus dumortieri . . .
Plant of Erdisia squarrosa . . . . . . . . . . .
Flower, fruit, and stem of Erdisia squarrosa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Branch of Erdisia meyenii . . . . . . . . . .
Plant of Erdisia spiniflora . . . . . . . . . . .
Group of plants of Bergerocactus
emoryi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Flower of Bergerocactus emoryi . . . . . .
Potted plant of Leocereus bahiensis . . .
Flower of Leocereus bahiensis . . . . . . .
Flower of Leocereus melanurus . . . . . .
Sections of stem of Wilcoxia viperina . .
Potted plant of Wilcoxia poselgeri . . . .
Cluster of tuberous roots of Wilcoxia
poselgeri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Group of plants of Peniocereus greggii .
Flower of Peniocereus greggii . . . . . . . .
Fruit of Peniocereus greggii . . . . . . . . .
Plant of Dendrocereus nudiflorus . . . . .
Fruit of Dendrocereus nudiflorus . . . . .
Plants of Machaerocereus eruca . . . . . .
Joint of Machaerocereus eruca . . . . . . .
page.
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Fig. 173. Potted plant of Machaerocereus gummosus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
174. Plant of Machaerocereus gummosus . .
175. Flower of Machaerocereus gummosus .
176. Fruit of Nyctocereus serpentinus . . . . .
177. Flower of Nyctocereus serpentinus . . . .
178. Part of flowering plant of Nyctocereus
guatemalensis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
179. Flower of Brachycereus thouarsii . . . . .
180. Fruit of Brachycereus thouarsii . . . . . . .
181. Top of joint of Acanthocereus horridus
182. Plant of Acanthocereus pentagonus . . .
183. Fruit and withering perianth of Acanthocereus pentagonus . . . . . . . . . . . .
184. Plants of Acanthocereus pentagonus in
cactus plantation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
185. End of joint of Acanthocereus occidentalis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
186. Plant of Acanthocereus brasiliensis. . . .
187. Plant of Acanthocereus albicaulis . . . . .
188. Plant of Trichocereus thelegonus . . . . .
189. Plant of Trichocereus thelegonus . . . . .
190. Potted plant of Trichocereus spachianus
191. Plants of Trichocereus pasacana . . . . . .
192. Ends of flowering plants of Trichocereus
lamprochlorus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
193. Flower of Trichocereus pasacana. . . . . .
194. Fruit of Trichocereus pasacana . . . . . . .
195. Flower of Trichocereus candicans . . . . .
196. Plants of Trichocereus pachanoi . . . . . .
197. Plant of Trichocereus peruvianus . . . . .
198. Plants of Trichocereus chiloensis . . . . .
199. Potted plant of Trichocereus chiloensis.
200. Flower of Trichocereus chiloensis . . . . .
201. Potted plant of Trichocereus coquimbanus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
202. Plant of Trichocereus coquimbanus . . .
203. a, flower of Trichocereus terscheckii . . .
b, fruit of Trichocereus terscheckii . . . .
204. Plant of Trichocereus terscheckii . . . . .
205. Plant of Trichocereus fascicularis . . . . .
206. Flower of Trichocereus fascicularis . . . .
207. Fruit of Trichocereus fascicularis. . . . . .
208. Flower of Trichocereus huascha . . . . . .
209. Fruit of Trichocereus huascha . . . . . . . .
210. Plant of Trichocereus huascha . . . . . . .
211. Plants of Trichocereus strigosus . . . . . .
212. Plants of Jasminocereus galapagensis . .
213. Flower of Jasminocereus galapagensis. .
214. Flower of Jasminocereus galapagensis. .
215. Plant of Harrisia eriophora . . . . . . . . . .
216. Plantation of Harrisia fragrans . . . . . . .
217. Plant of Harrisia portoricensis . . . . . . .
218. Plant of Harrisia nashii . . . . . . . . . . . . .
219. Fruit of Harrisia brookii . . . . . . . . . . . .
220. Flower bud of Harrisia brookii . . . . . . .
221. Plant of Harrisia gracilis . . . . . . . . . . . .
222. Flower of Harrisia gracilis. . . . . . . . . . .
223. Plant of Harrisia simpsonii . . . . . . . . . .
224. Plant of Harrisia taylori . . . . . . . . . . . .
225. Part of plant of Harrisia pomanensis . .
226. Plant of Harrisia adscendens . . . . . . . .
227. Plant of Harrisia bonplandii . . . . . . . . .
228. Potted plant of Harrisia guelichii . . . . .
229. Top of plant of Borzicactus sepium. . . .
230. Top of plant of Borzicactus morleyanus
page.
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161
VII
THE CACTACEAE.
TEXT-FIGURES—continued.
Fig. 231. Clump of plants of Borzicactus morleyanus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
232. Plant of Borzicactus decumbens . . . . . .
233. Flower of Borzicactus decumbens . . . .
234. Plant of Carnegiea gigantea . . . . . . . . .
235. Fruit of Carnegiea gigantea . . . . . . . . .
236. Plants of Binghamia melanostele . . . . .
237. Plants of Binghamia acrantha . . . . . . . .
238. Fruit of Binghamia melanostele . . . . . .
239. Flower of Binghamia acrantha . . . . . . .
240. Fruit of Binghamia acrantha . . . . . . . . .
241. Flower of Rathbunia alamosensis . . . . .
242. Flower, cut open, of Rathbunia alamosensis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
243. Plant of Arrojadoa penicillata . . . . . . . .
244. Plants of Oreocereus celsianus . . . . . . .
245. Potted plant of Oreocereus celsianus . .
246. Flower of Oreocereus celsianus . . . . . . .
247. Fruit of Oreocereus celsianus . . . . . . . .
248. Potted plant of Cleistocactus smaragdiflorus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
249. Plant of Zehntnerella squamulosa . . . .
250. Flower of Zehntnerella squamulosa . . .
251. Plants of Lophocereus schottii . . . . . . .
252. Cross section of stem of Lophocereus
schottii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
253. Flower of Lophocereus schottii . . . . . .
254. Section of rib of Myrtillocactus geometrizans with fruit at areoles . . . . .
255. Flower of Myrtillocactus geometrizans.
256. Flower and fruits of Myrtillocactus
eichlamii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
257. Plant of Neoraimondia macrostibas . . .
258. Flower of Neoraimondia macrostibas . .
259. Cluster of spines of Neoraimondia macrostibas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
260. Potted plant of Neoraimondia macrostibas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
261. Tip of joint of Hylocereus guatemalensis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
262. Ovary of Hylocereus costaricensis, transformed into a branch . . . . . . . . . . . .
263. Plant of Hylocereus undatus . . . . . . . .
264. Hedge of Hylocereus undatus . . . . . . . .
265. Part of branch of Hylocereus cubensis .
266. Stigma lobes of Hylocereus lemairei.
267. Flowering branch of Hylocereus stenopterus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
268. Plant of Hylocereus trigonus . . . . . . . .
page.
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Fig. 269.
270.
271.
272.
273.
274.
275.
276.
277.
278.
279.
280.
281.
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284.
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297.
298.
299.
300.
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302.
303.
304.
305.
Joint of Hylocereus triangularis . . . . . .
Plant of Hylocereus antiguensis . . . . . .
Joint of Hylocereus calcaratus . . . . . . . .
Flowering branch of Wilmattea minutiflora . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Joint of Selenicereus coniflorus . . . . . . .
Fruit of Selenicereus coniflorus . . . . . . .
Tip of branch of Selenicereus hondurensis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Part of branch of Selenicereus donkelaarii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Part of branch of Selenicereus kunthianus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tip of branch of Selenicereus brevispinus
Tip of branch of Selenicereus macdonaldiae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Flower of Selenicereus macdonaldiae . .
Fruit of Selenicereus macdonaldiae. . . .
Flower of Selenicereus hamatus . . . . . .
Part of branch of Selenicereus hamatus
Flower of Selenicereus vagans. . . . . . . .
a and b, branches of Selenicereus vagans
c and d, branches of Selenicereus murrillii .
Top of branch of Selenicereus spinulosus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Top of branch of Selenicereus inermis .
Branches of Selenicereus wercklei. . . . .
Flowering plant of Selenicereus wercklei
Plant of Mediocactus coccineus . . . . . .
Fruiting branch, cross section, and
spines of Mediocactus coccineus . . .
Plant of Mediocactus megalanthus . . . .
Plant of Deamia testudo . . . . . . . . . . . .
Branches of Deamia testudo . . . . . . . . .
Fruiting branch of Weberocereus panamensis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Flowering plant of Werckleocereus tonduzii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Flower of Aporocactus leptophis . . . . .
Flower of Aporocactus flagriformis . . .
Parts of plant of Aporocactus conzattii .
Flower of Aporocactus conzattii . . . . . .
Flower of Aporocactus martianus . . . . .
Parts of plant of Strophocactus wittii . .
Plant of Cereus grenadensis . . . . . . . . .
Section of flowering branch of Cereus
grenadensis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Flower of Selenicereus vagans (without
legend) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
page.
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239
THE CACTACEAE
Descriptions and Illustrations of Plants of the Cactus
Family
DESCRIPTIONS AND ILLUSTRATIONS OF PLANTS OF THE
CACTUS FAMILY.
Tribe 3. CEREEAE.
Plants more or less fleshy, terrestrial or epiphytic, simple and 1-jointed or much branched
and many-jointed, the joints globular, oblong, cylindric, columnar or flattened, and winged or
leaf-like, often strongly ribbed, angled, or tubercled; leaves* usually wanting on the joints (in a
few cases developing as scales) but usually developing as scales on the ovary or perianth-tube; areoles never producing glochids. spines usually present (rare or wanting in most epiphytic genera and
in a few species of other genera), various in color, structure, arrangement, and size, never sheathed;
flowers sessile, mostly with a definite tube, various in size and shape in different genera, usually
solitary at areoles, opening at various times of the day; perianth campanulate, funnelform or rotate;
fruit usually a fleshy berry, but sometimes dry and dehiscing by a basal pore (in 1 species by an
operculum). seeds usually small, brown or black, with a thin, more or less brittle testa; cotyledons
usually minute knobs.
This tribe contains most of the genera and three-fourths or more of the species of
Cactaceae. It has a wider range in structure of stems and flowers than is exhibited by the
other tribes, the species being grouped in many genera. The first two subtribes are
treated in this volume.
Key to Subtribes.
Perianth funnelform, salverform, tubular, or campanulate; segments several or many.
Areoles mostly spine-bearing; joints ribbed, angled, or tubercled, very rarely flat; mostly
terrestrial cacti.
Flowers and spines borne at the same areoles.
Several-jointed to many-jointed cacti, the joints long.
Erect, bushy, arching, or diffuse cacti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.
Vine-like cacti, with aerial roots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.
One-jointed or few-jointed cacti, the joints usually short, sometimes clustered, ribbed,
or rarely tubercled.
Flowers at lateral areoles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.
Flowers at central areoles (See Gymnocalycium) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.
Flowers and spines borne at different areoles; short, one-jointed cacti.
Flowering areoles forming a central terminal cephalium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.
Flowering areoles at the bases or on the sides of the tubercles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.
Areoles mostly spineless; joints many, long, flat; perianth mostly funnelform; epiphytic cacti . . . 7.
Perianth rotate, or nearly so; segments few; mostly spineless, epiphytic, slender, many-jointed cacti . 8.
Cereanae
Hylocereanae
Echinocereanae
Echinocactanae
Cactanae
Coryphanthanae
Epiphyllanae
Rhipsalidanae
Subtribe I. CEREANAE.
Erect, bushy or sometimes diffuse, stout or slender cacti, the stems and branches severaljointed to many-jointed, usually very spiny, none epiphytic but species of 2 or 3 genera giving off a
few roots when the branches touch the ground; flowers 1 or rarely several from the upper part
of old areoles. in some genera the flowering areoles and their spines greatly modified; flowers
either diurnal or nocturnal, various in size, color, and shape; stamens numerous, borne on the
flower-tube; fruit smooth or spiny, usually fleshy, often edible; seeds various.
We group the species known to us in 38 genera.
Key to Genera.
A. Flowers solitary at the areoles, mostly large.
B. Perianth funnelform, salverform, pyriform, or campanulate. limb relatively large.
C. Ovary naked, or rarely bearing a few scales, which sometimes subtend tufts
of short hairs.
Perianth funnelform, elongated.
Columnar cacti, or with columnar branches; perianth falling away by
abscission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1. Cereus (p. 3)
Slender, elongated cacti; perianth withering-persistent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2. Monvillea (p. 21)
Perianth short-campanulate or short-funnelform to pyriform. columnar
cacti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3. Cephalocereus (p. 25)
*Plants of the tribe Cereeae are usually said to be without leaves. Ganong, however, reports leaves in Cactus,
Echinocactus, and Cereus, but we have never seen leaves on any plants of Cereus proper. However, they are
easily obser ved on young growth of various species of Harrisia, Acanthocereus, Nyctocereus, Selenicereus, Hylocereus,
and some other genera.
2
THE CACTACEAE.
Key to Genera—continued.
CC. Ovary squamiferous, often also laniferous, setiferous, or spiniferous.
Flowers in a large lateral pseudocephalium; columnar cacti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4.
Plants without a pseudocephalium.
Ovary squamiferous only; columnar cacti.
Scales of the ovary fleshy.
Flower short-funnelform. scales of ovary and flower-tube acute . . . . . 5 .
Flower long-funnelform; scales of ovary and flower-tube broad,
abruptly cuspidate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6.
Scales of the ovary papery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7.
Ovary squamiferous and also laniferous, felted, or spiniferous.
Perianth short-campanulate or short-funnel form, its tube short or thick.
Plants mostly stout, columnar, and erect, ribbed or angled; a few
species spreading or prostrate; rootstocks not tuberous.
Corolla short-campanulate.
Corolla falling away by abscission, yellow; columnar cacti . . . . . . .8.
Corolla withering-persistent. flowers not yellow.
Fruit dry; columnar cacti. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9.
Fruit a fleshy berry.
Tree-like, or bushy cacti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.
Columnar cacti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.
Corolla short-funnelform: f ruit fleshy.
Mostly columnar cacti with stout stems, the white to pink
flowers not widely expanded . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.
Slender or low cacti, with bright red, scarlet, or yellow, widely
expanded flowers.
Branches slender, few to several-ribbed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.
Branches stout, closely many-ribbed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.
Stems very slender, nearly terete or with many low ribs.
Inner perianth-segments much shorter than tube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.
Inner perianth-segments as long as tube; rootstocks tuberous . . . . . 16.
Perianth funnelform, funnelform-campanulate, or salverform.
Areoles of the ovary spinuliferous or setiferous (see Harrisia).
Slender cacti, with an enormous fleshy root; flower salverform . . . . 17.
Stout or slender cacti, without a large fleshy root; flower funnelform.
Tree-like cacti; f ruit with a thick woody rind; ovary few-spined . 18.
Prostrate or bushy or vine-like cacti; f ruit fleshy.
Stout, bushy or prostrate cacti, the spines dagger-like, flat . . . . 19.
Slender or weak cacti, the spines acicular or subulate.
Perianth-tube as long as the limb or longer; elongated
cacti with white flowers.
Joints ribbed.
Perianth-segments and filaments elongated . . . . . . . . . . 20.
Perianth-segments and filaments short . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.
Joints angled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.
Perianth-tube mostly shorter than the limb; bushy cacti
usually with scarlet flowers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23.
Areoles of the ovary laniferous or felted (also setiferous in some
species of Harrisia).
Perianth-limb regular.
Perianth funnelform or salverform; tube mostly longer than
limb.
Stout, upright cacti, columnar or with columnar branches.
Perianth-tube bearing areoles to top; perianth-segments
broad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.
Perianth-tube slender, with few areoles or none; perianthsegments narrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.
Slender, arching, vine-like or bushy cacti.
Arching or vine-like cacti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.
Low, bushy cacti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.
Perianth funnelform-campanulate, the tube stout.
Gigantic, columnar cacti; scales of flower broad . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.
Stout, bushy cacti; scales of flower narrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29.
Perianth-limb oblique; erect or bushy cacti with scarlet flowers . . . . 30.
BB. Perianth subcylindric, the limb short or none.
Scales when present on the ovary and flower-tube naked in their axils . . . . . . . . . 31.
Scales on the ovary and flower-tube laniferous in their axils.
Flowers borne f rom a lateral pseudocephalium.
Flower-tube elongated; f ruit dry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32.
Flower-tube very short; f ruit not dry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33.
Flowers not borne f rom a lateral pseudocephalium.
Perianth-tube elongated, slender; stamens exserted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34.
Perianth-tube very short; stamens included . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35.
Espostoa (p. 60)
Browningia (p. 63)
Stetsonia (p. 64)
Escontria (p. 65)
Corryocactus (p. 66)
Pachycereus (p. 68)
Leptocereus (p. 77)
Eulychnia (p. 82)
Lemaireocereus (p. 85)
Erdisia (p. 104)
Bergerocactus (p. 107)
Leocereus (p. 108)
Wilcoxia (p. 110)
Peniocereus (p. 112)
Dendrocereus (p. 113)
Machaerocereus (p. 114)
Nyctocereus (p. 117)
Brachycereus (p. 120)
Acanthocereus (p. 121)
Heliocereus (p. 127)
Trichocereus (p. 130)
Jasminocereus (p. 146)
Harrisia (p. 147)
Borzicactus (p. 159)
Carnegiea (p. 164)
Binghamia (p. 167)
Rathbunia (p. 169)
Arrojadoa (p. 170)
Oreocereus (p. 171)
Facheiroa (p. 173)
Cleistocactus (p. 173)
Zehntnerella (p. 176)
3
CEREUS
Key to Genera—continued.
AA. Flowers 2 to several at an areole; columnar cacti, or with columnar
flowers small.
Flowers without wool; areoles small.
Flowering areoles bearing many long bristles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Flowering areoles without bristles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Flowers densely woolly; flowering areoles enormously developed . . . . . . .
branches;
. . . . . . . . 36. Lophocereus (p. 177)
. . . . . . . . 37. Myrtillocactus (p. 178)
. . . . . . . . 38. Neoraimondia (p. 181)
1. CEREUS (Hermann) Miller,* Gard. Dict. Abridg. ed. 4.
1754.
Piptanthocereus Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 225. 1909.
Stems mostly upright and tall, but sometimes low and spreading or even prostrate, generally
much branched, the branches strongly angled or ribbed; areoles spiny, more or less short-woolly but
never producing long silky hairs; flowers nocturnal, elongated, funnelform, the upper part, except
the style, falling away from the ovary by abscission soon after anthesis; tube of flower cylindric,
expanding above into the swollen throat, nearly naked without; outer perianth-segments obtuse,
thick, green or dull colored, the inner thin, petaloid, so far as known white, except in one species
and in that red; stamens numerous, varying greatly in length, slender and weak, included; style
slender, elongated but often included; stigma-lobes linear; ovary bearing a few scales naked in their
axils. fruit fleshy, red, rarely yellow, naked, splitting down one side when mature, often edible;
seeds black.
Type species: Cactus hexagonus Linnaeus, this being the first species cited by Miller
in his Gardeners’ Dictionary, 8th edition, 1768, where he described 12 species of Cereus (in
the 4th edition, abridged, 1754, he described 14 species), which we now know belong to
several genera.
The genus Cereus has been understood by authors at one time or another since Philip
Miller’s time as containing species of nearly all the genera of cacti, including even Rhipsalis
and Opuntia. Schumann, in his monograph, recognized 104 species, to which he afterward
added 36 in his supplement. His treatment of the genus is artificial and complex; Berger’s
treatment (Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 16: 57 to 86. 1905) is much more natural but more
inclusive, for he added Echinopsis, Pilocereus, Cephalocereus, and Echinocereus, and even
suggested the possible transfer here of Phyllocactus; he divided the genus into 18 subgenera,
most of which we believe require generic recognition (Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 413 to
437. 1909), as also indicated by Riccobono (Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 215 to 266.
1909). From some of Berger’s conclusions we differ, but chiefly in cases where he knew
the plants only from herbarium specimens or from literature. In his treatment of Cereus
Berger referred the species which we include in it to his series Piptanthocereus, while he
took up for the Eucereus a different series, but he indicated no type species. Our treatment includes all the species of Schumann’s series Compresso-costati, Formosi, and Coerulescentes, and the two species, C. tetragonus and C. hankeanus of Oligogoni. It corresponds
to Berger’s subgenus Piptanthocereus, but is not so inclusive. We recognize 24 species,
which have similar flowers, fruit, spines, and branches; these extend from the southern
West Indies through eastern South America to Argentina. The fruits of several species
are edible.
The number of published Cereus binomials involved is about 900, exceeded in this
family only by Mammillaria and perhaps by Opuntia.
The name Cereus is from the Greek, also from the Latin, signifying a torch, with reference
to the candelabrum-like branching of the first species known. It was used by Tabernaemontanus on page 386 of the second part of his Kreuterbuch, published in 1625, a plant called
Cereus peruvianus being there illustrated; this figure represents a tall, columnar, branching
species, perhaps the same as the one to which the name peruvianus has been applied by
modern authors.
*Philip Miller credits the genus Cereus to P. Hermann (Par. Botavus 112. 1698) although the name Cereus had
then been in use more than seventy years.
4
THE CACTACEAE.
Key to Species.
A. Flowers large, 10 to 20 cm. long.
B. Species tall, columnar (except C. pachyrhizus), the joints very thick.
Ribs 4 to 6, very high, flat or nearly so (Series 1. Hexagonae).
Young joints glaucous, blue or bluish green.
Spines of young joints short or none.
Ribs usually 4; young joints light blue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ribs usually 6; young joints dark blue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
All joints manifestly spiny.
Young spines bright yellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Young spines not yellow.
Flowers red without . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Flowers green without . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Young joints not glaucous, green, or sometimes glaucous in No. 7.
Inner perianth-segments red . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Inner perianth-segments white (unknown in C. xanthocarpus).
Outer perianth-segments red.
Spines 1 to 3, short or wanting or elongated in No. 7. seeds dull.
Berry red or orange, unpleasant to the taste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Berry yellow, edible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Spines 8 to 13, up to 4 cm. long; seeds shining.
Tree-like, 6 to 8 meters high, not densely spiny . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Lower, 1 to 3 meters high, densely spiny . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Outer perianth-segments green or brownish.
Spines few, short or wanting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Spines 6 to 10, up to 10 cm. long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ribs 6 to 9, rarely 4, thicker and lower; outer perianth-segments brownish
(Series 2. Peruvianae) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
BB. Species lower, prostrate, or bushy, the joints mostly not as stout (C. chalybaeus tall).
Joints green (Series 3. Obtusae).
Ribs only 4 to 6 mm. high; plants shining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ribs much higher; plants dull.
Spines subulate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Flower 20 to 24 cm. long.
Flower 12 to 16 cm. long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Spines acicular.
Radial spines 5 to 7; central spine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Radial spines 8 to 10; central spines 4 to 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Joints glaucous blue; species slender (Series 4. Azureae).
Ribs strongly sinuate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ribs not strongly sinuate.
Tree-like; areoles distant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Bush-like; areoles close together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
AA. Flowers small, 8 cm. long or less; plants columnar (Series 5. Repandae).
Flowers 7 to 8 cm. long; spines straight, acicular.
Spines up to 5 cm. long, acicular; flowers green; branches constricted . . . . . . . . . .
Spines 2 cm. long or less; flowers purple; branches continuous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Flowers 5 to 6 cm. long; spines curved, subulate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1. Cereus hexagonus (Linnaeus) Miller, Gard. Dict. ed. 8. No. 1.
. . . . . 1. C. hexagonus
. . . . . 2. C. hildmannianus
. . . . . 3. C. alacriportanus
. . . . . 4. C. validus
. . . . . 5. C. jamacaru
. . . . . 6. C. tetragonus
. . . . . 7. C. stenogonus
. . . . . 8. C. xanthocarpus
. . . . . 9. C. lamprospermus
. . . . 10. C. pachyrhizus
. . . . 11. C. dayamii
. . . . 12. C. argentinensis
. . . . 13. C. peruvianus
. . . . 14. C. perlucens
. . . . 15. C. variabilis
. . . . 16. C. pernambucensis
. . . . 17. C. obtusus
. . . . 18. C. caesius
. . . . 19. C. azureus
. . . . 20. C. chalybaeus
. . . . 21. C. aethiops
. . . . 22. C. repandus
. . . . 23. C. grenadensis
. . . . 24. C. margaritensis
1768.
Cactus hexagonus Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 466. 1753.
Cactus octogonus Page in Steudel, Nom. ed. 2. 1: 246. 1840.
Cereus northumberlandianus* Lambert in Loudon, Gard. Mag. 17: 91. 1841 (February).
Cereus perrottetianus Lemaire, Icon. Cact. pl. 8. 1841 to 1847.
Cereus lepidotus Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 207. 1850.
Plant up to 15 meters high, usually branching near the base, with a trunk dm. in diameter;
branches usually strict and erect, but in old plants more spreading, made up of short joints 12 cm.
in diameter or more, glaucescent or light green, usually 6-angled but sometimes only 4 or 5-angled,
occasionally 7; ribs thin, 3 to 5 cm. high, the margins undulate; areoles about 2 cm. apart, small,
felted; spines on young branches wanting or few, very short (2 to 3 mm. long), but on old branches
often 8 to 10 or perhaps more in a cluster, very unequal, the longest ones 5 to 6 cm. long, when
young brown, but lighter in age; flower 20 to 25 cm. long, its tube slender, 10 cm. long; uppermost
scales green, short; outer perianth-segments lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 6 to 7 cm. long, shortapiculate, tinged with purple; inner perianth-segments much thinner than the outer ones, white,
*The name was published in Loudon’s Gardener’s Magazine first as Cereus northumberlandia with a suggestion
by the editor that Cereus northumberlandianus was the preferred spelling but later in the same year (Hort. Univ. 2:
358. 1841) Cereus northumberlandianus was adopted. A re-examination of the description of Linnaeus’s Cactus
hexagonus, which came f rom Surinam, leads us to believe that it is the same species and as the name is older than
either C. northumberlandianus or C. lepidotus we here use it.
CEREUS
5
oblong-lanceolate, 7 to 8 cm. long; stamens very numerous; style green; fruit ovoid, 5.5 to 13 cm.
long, somewhat oblique, truncate or a little depressed at apex, pale red, a little glaucous, bearing
small scattered areoles; rind thick; pulp white or pinkish, edible; seeds black.
Type locality: Surinam.
Distribution: Southern West Indies and northern South America. Often cultivated
in the West Indies and South America. Reported from Brazil, but doubtless in error.
Also cultivated in the Philippines.
This cactus is a great favorite in the West Indies, where it is much cultivated in yards
and parks, and blooms abundantly, the flowers appearing all along the side of the stem.
It is sometimes confused with Cereus jamacaru, and has long passed under the name of
Cereus lepidotus. The plant was introduced into England from Tobago Island about 1840
by M. Nightingale, and was then supposed to be the largest cactus ever brought into Europe.
Recently Mr. W. E. Broadway has sent us both living and herbarium specimens from
Tobago which are identical with the so-called Cereus lepidotus. The original specimens of
Cereus lepidotus came from La Guayra, Venezuela, a
floral region similar to Tobago, while the Cactus
hexagonus type locality was Surinam.
Fig. 1.—Cereus hexagonus.
Cereus hexagonus.—Fig. 2, Flower; Fig. 3, Longitudinal section
of flower; Fig. 4, Fruit. All × 0.4.
It was introduced into England, according to Salm-Dyck, as Cereus karstenii.
In our earlier treatment of this species we combined it with C. peruvianus which we
now believe was an error. Cereus hexagonus is confined to northern South America and
the West Indies while C. peruvianus is restricted to southeastern South America.
We have seen no Colombian specimens of this species unless we should refer here
flowers collected by Dr. Francis W. Pennell from the Sabana of Bolivar (No. 4782).
Cereus horridus Otto (Pfeiffer, Allg. Gartenz. 5: 370. 1837) and C. thalassinus Otto
and Dietrich (Allg. Gartenz. 6: 34. 1838), referred to C. jamacaru by Schumann, probably
belong here. Both are f rom La Guayra, Venezuela. Cereus thalassinus quadrangularis
(Förster, Handb. Cact. 399. 1846) was used as a synonym of C. thalassinus.
6
THE CACTACEAE.
Illustrations: Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: pl. 61, as Cereus jamacaru; Lemaire, Ic.
Cact. pl. 8*, as Cereus perrottetianus; Maza and Roig, Fl. Cuba pl. 23, as Cereus lepidotus.
Text-figure 1 is from a photograph of the plant taken by Marshall A. Howe at Santurce, Porto Rico; text-figure 2 shows a flower and text-figure 3 a longitudinal section of
the same drawn by Miss H. A. Wood at Hope Gardens, Jamaica; text-figure 4 shows a
fruit collected by Dr. Rose near Carácas, Venezuela, in 1916.
2. Cereus hildmannianus Schumann in Martius, Fl. Bras. 4 2: 202. 1890.
Plant tall, up to 5 meters high, often much branched; ribs 5 or 6, high, thin, rounded, green
or often with large yellow patches along the sides; areoles distant, large, at first without spines,
afterward a few developing; flower elongated, funnelform, 20 to 23 cm. long; inner perianth-segments
white, broad and obtuse ovary naked, 2.5 to 3 cm. long.
Type locality: State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Distribution: Eastern Brazil.
Fig. 5.—Cereus hildmannianus.
Fig. 6.—Cereus hildmannianus.
Although this species seems to be a common yard and park plant in Bahia and Rio de
Janeiro, it has never been well understood. It there forms bushy plants and is usually
without spines. It is probably quite distinct from Cereus jamacaru, to which it has been
referred by some authors; it grows in moister regions.
Illustrations: Martius, Fl. Bras. 42: pl. 41, f. 1; Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 2: 57.
Text-figure 5 is from a photograph taken by Paul G. Russell near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
in 1915; text-figure 6 is from a photograph taken by Dr. J. N. Mills at Rio de Janeiro in 1916.
3. Cereus alacriportanus Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 87.
1837.
Cereus peruvianus alacriportanus Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 115. 1897.
Cereus paraguayensis Schumann in Chodat and Hassler, Bull. Herb. Boiss. II. 3: 249. 1903.
Stems up to 2 meters high; ribs mostly 5, strongly compressed, 3 cm. high, separated by deep
sharp intervals, rounded on the edge; areoles 2 to 2.5 cm. apart, when young filled with white wool;
spines 6 to 9, all spreading, when young golden yellow, but gray when older, red at the bases, subulate, 2.5 cm. long; flowers 21 to 22 cm. long, 10 cm. broad at mouth; outer perianth-segments
narrow, 1 cm. wide or less; inner perianth-segments spatulate, obtuse to acute, fringed or entire,
white with a rosy tinge; stigma-lobes 13, yellowish green; ovary cylindric, naked.
Type locality: Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Distribution: Southern Brazil and Paraguay.
* Lemaire’s plates are not numbered and there is more or less uncertainty as to their order. We have followed Schumann in referring this species to plate 8. In the only copy which we have examined it is plate 11.
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
M. E. Eaton del.
PLATE II
1. Top of flowering stem of Cereus alacriportanus.
2. Top of stem of Cereus peruvianus.
3. Flower of the same plant.
(Natural size.)
A HOEN & CO
7
CEREUS
This species has long been in cultivation in the New York Botanical Garden under the
name of Cereus alacriportanus, where it has frequently flowered. It differs somewhat from
the description of C. paraguayensis by Schumann in the color of the spines and closeness
of the areoles.
Cereus bonariensis is referred here by Förster (Handb. Cact. 388. 1846) as a synonym. Sweet also used the name (Hort. Brit. ed. 3. 283. 1839) but does not associate it
with this species.
Illustrations: Chodat, Veg. Paraguay 1: f. 90, as C. paraguayensis; Karsten, Deutsche
Fl. f. 501, No. 7.
Plate ii, figure 1, shows the plant in the New York Botanical Garden above referred
to, which flowered in April 1 1915.
Fig. 7.—Cereus validus.
4. Cereus validus Haworth, Phil. Mag. 10: 420.
Fig. 8.—Cereus tetragonus.
1831.
Cereus forbesii Otto in Förster, Handb. Cact. 398. 1846.*
Cereus hankeanus Weber in Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 88. 1897.
Piptanthocereus forbesii Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 228. 1909.
Piptanthocereus hankeanus Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 229. 1909.
Piptanthocereus labouretianus Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 231. 1909.
Piptanthocereus validus Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 234. 1909.
Shrubby, 2 meters high or more, somewhat branched, the branches 5 to 8 cm. thick, glaucous
when young; ribs 4 to 8, compressed, obtuse; radial spines 5, short, stout, 1 to 2 cm long, mostly
*The date of publication of this name is usually given as 1845; this reference, however, is only to the use of the
name, without a description, in a publication of that date.
8
THE CACTACEAE.
from the lower part of the areole; central spine single or rarely 2 or 3, stouter than the radials,
sometimes 16 cm. long; flowers funnelform; outer perianth-segments reddish, obtuse, the inner
white or reddish; style green below; stigma-lobes about 16.
Type locality: Not cited.
Distribution: Provinces of Córdoba, Catamarca, and Tucuman, Argentina.
Cereus labouretianus Martius and C. haematuricus Weber, mentioned by Schumann, are
only catalogue names and should not go into the published synonymy of this species.
Illustration: Blühende Kakteen 2: pl. 114, as C. hankeanus.
Plate iii, figure 1, shows the top of a plant in the New York Botanical Garden, received
from Kew in 1911; figure 2 shows a joint and a flower of a plant received from La Mortola
as Cereus hankeanus. Text-figure 7 is from a photograph of a plant in the same collection, received from the Missouri Botanical Garden in 1904.
5. Cereus jamacaru De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 467.
1828.
Cereus glaucus Salm-Dyck, Hort. Dyck. 35. 1834.
Cereus laetevirens Salm-Dyck, Hort. Dyck. 336. 1834.
Cereus lividus Pfeiffer, Allg. Gartenz. 3: 380. 1835.
Cactus jamacaru Kosteletzky, Allg. Med. Pharm. Fl. 4: 1393. 1835.
Cereus horribarbis Otto in Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 205. 1850.
Cereus cauchinii Rebut in Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 113. 1897.
Piptanthocereus jamacaru Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 229. 1909.
Piptanthocereus jamacaru cyaneus Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 230. 1909.
Piptanthocereus jamacaru glaucus Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 231. 1909.
Plant up to 10 meters high, with a short,
thick, woody trunk, very much branched,
the branches usually erect, numerous, often
forming a compact top, when young often
quite blue, with few (4 to 6) ribs; ribs of
young branches thin, high, more or less
undulate; areoles large, 2 to 3 cm. apart;
spines various, on old stems and branches
numerous, at first yellow, often very long,
20 to 30 cm. long; flowers nocturnal, large, 30
cm. long, white; ovary purplish, bearing a
few minute brown scales; stigma-lobes numerous, 2 cm. long; fruit large, sometimes 12
cm. long by 8 cm. in diameter, bright red,
splitting down on one side showing the
white edible pulp; seeds 3 mm. long, dull,
roughened with blunt tubercles.
Type locality: Brazil.
Distribution: Brazil. Planted in the
West Indies; perhaps naturalized on
some islands.
Cereus jamacaru is one of the
commonest cacti in Bahia and is found
in all kinds of situations f rom the coast
to the inland desert. It is always large,
10 meters tall or more, usually much
branched. When living in dense forests it has a simple stem or only a few
branches, growing tall and erect, the
branches have few ribs, but these are
high and at first very blue, covered with
formidable spines said to be 30 cm. long
at times, although we have seen none
Fig. 9.—Cereus jamacaru.
9
CEREUS
which measured more than 19 cm. in length. The flowers are large and white, opening at night; the perianth cuts off early f rom the ovary, leaving the style, which is
persistent. The woody trunk may be 6 dm. in diameter, and boards suitable for boxes,
picture f rames, etc., are sawed f rom it. In most of the smaller houses in the country the
cross pieces upon which the tile roofing is laid are f rom this cactus, which is called mandacaru and mandacaru de boi. The specific name jamacaru, said by some writers to be the
vulgar name of the plant in Brazil, is doubtless a corruption of mandacaru. It is sometimes planted about country houses, often as a kind of hedge. In times of great drought
the farmers cut off the young branches f rom these cacti to feed to their cattle.
Cereus horridus Otto (Pfeiffer, Allg. Gartenz. 5: 370. 1837) and C. thalassinus Otto
and Dietrich (Allg. Gartenz. 6: 34. 1838), referred to C. jamacaru by Schumann, belong
elsewhere; both are from La Guayra, Venezuela.
Cereus lividus was based upon a Brazilian species. Two years after it was described,
Pfeiffer redescribed it, referring to it as a synonym C. perotetti (Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 98),
and giving the distribution as Brazil and La Guayra, Venezuela. The plant from La
Guayra is doubtless C. hexagonus.
Cereus lividus glaucus (Labouret, Monogr. Cact. 359. 1853), given as a synonym of
C. lividus, may belong here.
Cereus jamacaru glaucus (Ladenberg, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 3: 70. 1893) is only a name.
Illustrations: Karsten, Deutsche Fl. f. 501, No. 8; Pison, Hist. Nat. Bras. 100. f. 1;
Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen f. 25; Curtis’s Bot. Mag. 95: pl. 5775, this last as Cereus
lividus.
Figure 9 is f rom a photograph taken by Mr. P. H. Dorsett near Joazeiro, Bahia,
Brazil, in 1914.
6. Cereus tetragonus (Linnaeus) Miller, Gard. Dict. ed 8. No. 2
1768.
Cactus tetragonus Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 466. 1753.
Plant upright, 1 to 2 meters high, freely branching; branches green, erect, forming a narrow
compact top; ribs mostly 4, rarely 5, at first high, separated by acute intervals, compressed, obtuse;
areoles close together, white-felted; spines brown to nearly black, usually acicular to subulate;
radial spines 5 or 6, 6 to 8 mm. long; central spines solitary or several, a little stouter than the
radials; flower funnelform, 13 cm. long; all the perianth-segments reddish; ovary bearing small scales,
glabrous.
Type locality: Curacao, according to Linnaeus, but not known there now.
Distribution: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, according to Schumann.
Our description is drawn partly from living specimens in the New York Botanical
Garden.
Cereus tetragonus ramosior Link and Otto (Verh. Ver. Beförd. Gartenb. 6: 432. 1830)
is given by name only; C. tetragonus major Salm-Dyck (Walpers, Repert. Bot. 2: 277. 1843)
is given as a synonym for C. tetragonus.
Illustration: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 12: 158.
Figure 8 is from a photograph of a plant in the New York Botanical Garden, received
from Mr. Frank Weinberg in 1901.
7. Cereus stenogonus Schumann, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 9: 165. 1899.
Tree-like, up to 6 to 8 meters high, much branched or nearly simple, bluish green to yellowish
green; ribs 4 or 5, very narrow, high; spines 2 or 3, short, conic, the longest 6 to 7 mm. long or subulate and the longer up to 4.5 cm. long; flowers large, 20 to 22 cm. long, funnelform, the tube long and
slender; outer perianth-segments narrow, 7 to 8 cm. long, mucronate, rose-colored or with rose-colored
margins; fruit large, 10 cm. long or less, red or orange without, with white or carmine flesh; seeds dull.
Type locality: Paso la Cruz, Paraguay.
Distribution: Paraguay and northeastern Argentina.
10
THE CACTACEAE.
We know the species only from
from the region of the type locality,
Shafer at Posadas, Argentina. It is
Italy.
Figure 10 is from a photograph
description, from a flower collected by Dr. E. Hassler
and from living plants and specimens collected by Dr.
now grown in the Hanbury Garden at La Mortola,
taken by Dr. Shafer at Posadas, Argentina, in 1917.
8. Cereus xanthocarpus Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen Nachtr. 32. 1903.
Tall, tree-like, up to 6 meters high, somewhat branched, very spiny at apex; ribs of branches
4 to 6, high, very narrow; areoles 3 to 4 cm. apart, white-woolly; spines 3 or 4, short, conic, dark
brown; flowers opening at night; flower-tube 12.5 cm. long, yellowish green below, whitish green
above; outer perianth-segments oblong to lanceolate, to 12 cm. long, whitish green; inner perianthsegments white; fruit yellow, oblong, 6.5 to 7 cm.
long, the flesh white; seeds 2 mm. long, kidneyshaped.
Type locality: Calle Manora, Paraguay.
Distribution: Paraguay.
We have not seen this species; in its
yellow fruit it differs from most other known
members of this genus.
All we know about Cereus coracare Gosselin is that Hirscht (Monatsschr. Kakteenk.
9: 159. 1899) states that Mr. Roland-Gosselin
is to be thanked for a splendid fruit of
Cereus coracare, which in form and size resembles an apple, is of a beautiful color and of
excellent taste to eat, and a note of Graebener
(Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 12: 174. 1902) that
Cereus coracare was from Paraguay and was
then 19 cm. high. It may belong here.
The status of this and the following two
species, all from Paraguay, can be determined
only by further observations in that region.
Fig. 10.—Cereus stenogonus.
9. Cereus lamprospermus Schumann, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 9: 166.
1899.
Tree-like, 6 to 8 meters high, very much branched; branches green, soon erect; ribs 6 to 8,
thickish and obtuse, separated by rounded intervals; spines 8 to 11, hardly, distinguished as radials
and centrals; areoles 2 to 2.5 cm. apart, subulate; flower 15 to 16 cm. long; outer perianth-segments green with reddish tips; stigma-lobes 13; ovary nearly naked; seeds black, shining.
Type locality: Fuerte Olympo, Paraguay.
Distribution: Paraguay.
10. Cereus pachyrhizus Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen Nachtr. 33. 1903.
Plant upright, 1, or at the most, 3 meters high, with swollen tuberous roots; branches or stem
up to 10 cm. thick, rounded at the apex, terminated by large and numerous spines; older joints
yellowish brown, younger ones yellowish green, subglaucous; ribs 6, very strongly compressed
laterally, up to 1 cm. thick and 5 cm. high, separated by sharp, deep furrows, subsinuate; areoles
2.5 to 3 cm. apart, circular, 5 to 6 mm. in diameter; with short felt, which is not curly even when
young; spines 10 to 13, poorly differentiated into radial and central ones, one of the latter being
longest and up to 3 cm. long; all spines subulate and very sharp; fruit ellipsoid, 5 cm. long, 3 to 4
cm. in diameter, naked, smooth; seeds 2.5 mm. long, subcompressed, shining.
Type locality: Cerro Noaga, Paraguay.
Distribution: Paraguay.
This species is unknown to us, except from the original description. It is recorded as
growing on bare, granitic rocks at 350 meters altitude.
11
CEREUS
11. Cereus dayamii Spegazzini, Anal. Mus. Nac. Buenos Aires III. 4: 480.
1905.
Tree-like, 10 to 25 meters high, with a cylindric trunk; branches 5-ribbed or 6-ribbed; ribs 3
cm. high, pale green; areoles orbicular, large, to 6 mm. in diameter; spines few or wanting, when
present 4 to 12 mm. long, brown with a yellowish base; flowers funnelform, large, glabrous, up to
25 cm. long; inner perianth-segments white; fruit oblong, glabrous, red without, 6 to 8 cm. long;
pulp white, edible; seeds black.
Type locality: Near Colony of Resistencia, Chaco, Argentina.
Distribution: Southern Chaco, Argentina.
Figure 11 is from a photograph given to Dr. Rose by Dr. Spegazzini.
12. Cereus argentinensis nom. nov.
Cereus platygonus Spegazzini, Anal. Mus. Nac. Buenos Aires III. 4: 481. 1905. Not Otto. 1850.
Erect, 8 to 12 meters high, with a definite trunk; branches numerous, stout, curved at base but
soon erect, 10 to 15 cm. in diameter; ribs 4 or 5, 4 to 5 cm. high, thin in section, separated by
wide intervals; radial spines 5 to 8, brownish, 3 to 5 cm. long; central spines 1 or 2, 10 cm. long;
flowers funnelform, large, 17 to 22 cm. long,
inodorous; outer perianth-segments green or
reddish at tips; inner perianth-segments
white; fruit glabrous, smooth.
Type locality: Central Chaco, Argentina.
Distribution: Territory of the Chaco,
Argentina.
This species must be close to C.
stenogonus, as suggested by Berger,
although Spegazzini says it is distinct;
it must also be closely related to C.
dayamii.
Figure 12 is from a photograph of
a plant of C. platygonus Spegazzini, in
Dr. Spegazzini’s garden at La Plata,
Argentina.
13. Cereus peruvianus (Linnaeus) Miller,
Gard. Dict. ed. 8. No. 4. 1768.
Cactus peruvianus Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 467. 1753.
?Cereus calvescens De Candolle, Mém. Mus.
Hist. Nat. Paris 17: 116. 1828.
?Cereus spinosissimus Förster, Hamb. Gartenz.
17: 16. 1861.
Usually tall, said to reach 16 meters
in height, tree-like, with a large much
branched top; branches 10 to 20 cm. in
diameter, usually green, sometimes glaucous,
with 6 to 9 ribs, sometimes as few as 4;
spines acicular, to 10, brown to black, 1 to
Fig. 11.—Cereus dayamii.
3 cm. long; flower rather large, about 15
cm. long, with a thick tube; upper scales and outer perianth-segments obtuse, red or brownish;
inner perianth-segments oblong, white; f ruit subglobose, orange-yellow, somewhat glaucous, about
4 cm. in diameter; seeds black, 2 mm. broad, rough.
Type locality: Uncertain. Linnaeus says it is from Jamaica and the arid coast of
Peru. No native Cereus is known either from Jamaica or Peru. It was called Cereus
peruvianus by Bauhin in 1623 but no station was given. Our description applies to the
plant from the southeastern coast of South America for which the name Cereus peruvianus
has been used by most recent authors.
12
THE CACTACEAE.
Distribution: Southeastern South America; widely planted in tropical America.
Cereus peruvianus tortuosus (Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1844. 30. 1845) and
C. peruvianus tortus (Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 46. 1850) are names only.
Cereus peruvianus monstrosus is a common garden form first described as a variety
by De Candolle (Prodr. 3: 464. 1828). It is similar to the typical form except that the
ribs are often broken into irregular tubercles or are unevenly sulcate. This has also been
Fig. 12.—A cultivated specimen of Cereus argentinensis.
taken up as Cereus monstrosus (Steudel, Nom. ed. 2. 1: 334. 1840), as Cereus monstrosus
minor (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 1: 163. 1891) and as C. monstruosus Schumann (Engler and
Prantl, Pflanzenfam. 3 6a: 178. 1894). It seems to be the same as Cactus abnormis Willdenow (Enum. Pl. Suppl. 31. 1813).* Cereus peruvianus monstruosus nanus is a somewhat
similar form mentioned by Schumann (Gesamtb. Kakteen 115. 1897) perhaps intend*Taken up later as Cereus abnormis by Sweet (Hort. Brit. 171. 1826). Another abnormal form is C. peruvianus
cristatus (Graebener, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 11: 29. 1901).
13
CEREUS
ed for C. peruvianus monstrosus minor (Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 46. 1850).
C. peruvianus brasiliensis (Förster, Handb. Cact. 390. 1846) probably does not apply to
this species.
Cereus surinamensis Trew (Ephem. Nat. Cur. 3: 394. pl. 7, 8, 1733) is referred here
by Förster, but to C. monoclonos by Pfeiffer. The illustrations, though poor, indicate that
it is a Cereus and not a Cephalocereus. From the name we should expect it to be referable
to Cereus hexagonus.
Förster (Handb. Cact. 389. 1846) states that Pfeiffer has called this plant Cereus
decandollii, but Förster doubts the correctness of this.
This species has long been known under the name of Cereus peruvianus, and is probably the most widely cultivated Cereus. In conservatories it is rarely found more than 2
meters in height.
Illustrations: Anal. Mus. Nac. Montevideo 5: pl. 1, 28 to 31;
Blühende Kakteen 3: pl. 131; Cact. Journ. 2: March; Hist. Acad.
Paris 1741: pl. 4, 5; Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 10: 7; Pfeiffer, Abbild.
Beschr. Cact. 2: pl. 5; Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 5: pl. opp. 12; Stand.
Cycl. Hort. Bailey 2: f. 884, all as Cereus peruvianus; Cact. Journ.
1: 79; October; Gard. Chron. 1873: f. 31; III. 24: f. 46; Home Farm.
Gard. III. 60: 145; Mém. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 17: pl. 11, all as
Cereus peruvianus monstrosus; Gerarde, Herball ed. 1. 1015; ed. 2
and 3, 1179, all as Cereus peruvianus spinosus; Bradley, Hist. Fig. 13.—C. peruvianus.
× 0.8.
Succ. Pl. ed. 2. pl. 1, as Cereus erectus maximus etc.; DeTussac,
Fl. Antill. 2: pl. 33; Loudon, Encycl. Pl. 410. f. 6855, as Cactus peruvianus.
Plate ii, figure 2, represents the top of a plant in the collection of the New York
Botanical Garden; figure 3 shows the flower of the same plant. Figure 13 shows a fruit of
a plant in the same collection.
14. Cereus perlucens Schumann, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 10: 173.
1900.
Columnar, erect, not very high; ribs 6 or 7, thin but obtuse, 4 to 6 mm. high, bright green or
more or less bluish green or even violet when young, somewhat pruinose; areoles about 1 cm. apart,
circular, bearing curly woolly hairs; radial spines 8 to 10, chestnut-brown, spreading, acicular,
1 cm. long; central spine solitary, stouter than the radials.
Type locality: Along the Amazon, Manaos, Brazil.
Distribution: Brazil.
We know this species only from a cutting received from the Berlin Botanical Garden;
Dr. Schumann referred it to his series Formosi, between his C. pitajaya (C. obtusus) and
C. caesius; he did not know the flower, however, and was not certain but that it might
not belong to his genus Pilocereus; the cutting appears to us to represent a Cereus.
15. Cereus variabilis Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 105. 1837.
Creeping over rocks or clambering into trees, up to 4 meters high; stem made up of short thick
joints, 18 to 30 cm. long by 6 to 9 cm. in diameter; ribs 3 to 5, stout, when old strongly crenate,
obtuse, with strong indentations on the sides extending from the areoles with a broad upward bend
to the bottoms of the ribs; spines about 8, yellowish, the longest about 5.5 cm. long; flower 20 to
27 cm. long, with a very slender, green, and somewhat angled tube; scales of the ovary and lower
part of the flower-tube ovate, acute; outer perianth-segments green or yellowish green, linear, acute;
inner perianth-segments white.
Type locality: Not definitely cited.
Distribution: Coast of central Brazil.
The plant collected by Dr. Rose on Ilha Grande, near Rio de Janeiro, flowered in the
New York Botanical Garden, August 9, 1916, the flower being unusually large. We feel
convinced that this is the plant illustrated as below cited. Here, too, is perhaps to be
14
THE CACTACEAE.
referred plate 4084 of Curtis’s Botanical Magazine with the name Cereus pitajaya, although
its flowers are smaller and the inner perianth-segments are more serrate.
While this species is somewhat similar to the common low Cereus pernambucensis of
the Brazilian coast, it is stouter, often reaching a height of 4 meters, and has much larger
flowers.
Cereus glaucus speciosus (Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 106. 1837) is referred to Cereus variabilis by both Pfeiffer and Rümpler. C. brandii (Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 49.
1850) and C. colvillii (Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 736. 1885) of English gardens are also referred here.
C. variabilis glaucescens Salm-Dyck, var. laetevirens Salm-Dyck, var. micracanthus SalmDyck, var. salm-dyckianus, and var. obtusus are all given by Walpers (Repert. Bot. 2:
277. 1843) as synonyms of this species. The last name probably should be referred to
Cereus obtusus. The varieties gracilior and ramosior (Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849.
49. 1850) are only names. Of this relationship is Cereus grandis Haworth (Suppl. Pl.
Succ. 76. 1819) and its two varieties gracilior Salm-Dyck and ramosior Salm-Dyck (Labouret, Monogr. Cact. 376. 1853).
Cereus prismatiformis, C. hexangularis, and C. aff inis (Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 106. 1837)
were all given as synonyms of Cereus variabilis.
Illustrations: Pfeiffer, Abbild. Beschr. Cact. 2: pl. 15, as Cereus variabilis; Vellozo,
Fl. Flum. 5: pl. 23, as Cactus tetragonus.
Fig. 14.—Cereus pernambucensis.
16. Cereus pernambucensis* Lemaire, Cact. Gen. Nov. Sp. 58.
1839.
?Cereus tetragonus minor Salm-Dyck, Hort. Dyck. 337. 1834.
Cereus formosus Förster, Handb. Cact. 404. 1846.
Plant various in habit, often growing in clumps and then sometimes 4 to 5 meters broad, creep ing and sprawling, usually 2 to 4 dm. high, perhaps much higher; branches usually short, with 3,
4, or 5 ribs, pale green, sometimes nearly white; ribs prominent, often strongly crenate and very
thick; areoles large, 1.5 to 2 cm. apart, at first brown-woolly, afterwards with short white wool;
intervals between ribs of young shoots acute, deep, but on old shoots broad and shallow; spines 4
*Originally, but erroneously, spelled Cereus fernambucensis.
15
CEREUS
to 10, acicular, yellowish brown to bright yellow, the longest ones 5 cm. long; flower-buds purplish,
erect, 16 cm. long, pointed; scales on ovary and lower part of flower-tube minute, deep red, naked
in their axils; flowers white; fruit narrowly oblong, 6 to 7 cm. long, purplish red, when mature
splitting on one side exposing the white edible pulp and black seeds; style persisting after the
perianth falls; seeds shining, 2 mm. long.
Type locality: Not cited.
Distribution: Coast of Brazil and Uruguay.
This species of the coast of Brazil is what Schumann described as Cereus pitajaya, but
an examination of the original description of Cactus pitajaya Jacquin shows that this plant
came from the coast of Colombia and is evidently an Acanthocereus.
Cereus pernambucensis is common along the seacoast of Brazil. Dr. Rose observed it
at Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, Cabo Frio, and at Santos, but it is reported from both north and
south of those regions. It is very common in the sand just back of the ocean beach, and
on rocks near the sea, where it is usually low, often prostrate, growing in clumps. At
times it grows much taller, unless we have associated another species with it. The taller
plants suggest a small form of C. jamacaru, which is normally an interior desert species,
while C. pernambucensis is to be found only on the coast; besides the differences in size of
flowers and fruits, C. pernambucensis has shining seeds, which in the other species are dull.
Illustration: Vellozo, Fl. Mum. 5: pl. 22, as Cactus pentagonus.
Figure 14 is from a photograph taken by Paul G. Russell at Bahia, Brazil, in 1915.
17. Cereus obtusus Haworth, Rev. Pl. Succ. 70. 1821.
Low, branching at base, dull green slightly glaucous; branches at first strongly ribbed, but in
age simply angled; ribs on young growth separated by deep intervals, obtuse, 2 to 2.5 cm. high, with
long grooves running down from the areoles; areoles 1 to 2 cm. apart; spines acicular, yellowish;
radial spines usually 5 to 7; central spine 1; flower and fruit unknown.
Type locality: Not cited.
Distribution: South America, presumably Brazil.
The above description is drawn from a plant sent from the Edinburgh Botanical
Garden to New York in 1902.
Figure 15 is from a photograph of the specimen above mentioned.
18. Cereus caesius Salm-Dyck in Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 89.
1837.
Cereus jamacaru caesius Salm-Dyck in Fobe, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 18: 90. 1908.
Piptanthocereus jamacaru caesius Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 230. 1909.
Branching at base; branches strongly angled; ribs 5 to 7, high, somewhat acute, repand; areoles
1.5 to 2.5 cm. apart; spines acicular, brown, the radials 8 to 10; central spines 4 to 7, similar to the
radials, 12 mm. long or less; flowers and fruit unknown.
Type locality: Not cited.
Distribution: Probably Brazil.
This species was described from greenhouse plants of unknown origin; later these
were supposed to have come from South America, probably from Brazil. We have studied
a cutting received from the Berlin Botanical Garden.
Cereus glaucus (Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 89. 1837) was published as a synonym of C.
caesius. Cereus laetevirens caesius (Förster, Handb. Cact. 400. 1846), published as a
synonym only, doubtless applies to this species.
19. Cereus azureus Parmentier in Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 86.
1837.
Cereus seidelii Lehmann in Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 200. 1850.
Cereus azureus seidelii B. Dams, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 14: 157. 1904.
Piptanthocereus azureus Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 225. 1909.
Probably branching at base, bluish pruinose; branches elongated, slender, flexuous; ribs 6 or
7, obtuse, repand; areoles remote, with brown tomentum and grayish wool; radial spines 8 to 12,
16
THE CACTACEAE.
white, with black tips; central spines 1 to 3, brown, stouter than the radials; flowers nocturnal, 10
to 12 cm. long; inner perianth-segments white, lanceolate, acuminate, 10 cm. long, the margins
dentate; stamens numerous, green; style longer than the stamens, green; stigma-lobes 14, spreading,
linear; ovary glabrous, bearing a few scales; fruit not known.
Type locality: Brazil.
Distribution: Brazil.
The illustration of Schumann, here cited, resembles the species of Argentina more than
those of Brazil. Cereus azureus is reported growing in the Hanbury Garden at La Mortola,
Italy, and plants are now to be seen in the New York Botanical Garden, where one flowered
in 1915.
Illustration: Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen f. 26.
Fig. 15.—Cereus obtusus.
20. Cereus chalybaeus Otto in Förster, Handb. Cact. 382.
Fig. 16.—Cereus aethiops.
1846.
Piptanthocereus chalybaeus Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 227. 1909.
Stems 2 to 3 meters high, with few ascending branches; ribs 6, very high on the young parts
of the stems and there separated by wide intervals, more or less purplish; radial spines usually 7,
but on old stems much more numerous; central spines several, a little longer than the radials, all
dark brown; perianth large, about 2 dm. long and about as broad when fully expanded; flower-tube
about 1 dm. long, purplish, bearing long tubercles crowned by minute scales; outer perianthsegments pinkish, narrowly oblong, the inner white, acute, sometimes toothed; filaments numerous,
long-exserted beyond the throat, but shorter than the perianth-segments; style elongated, much
longer than the filaments, weak; stigma-lobes many; fruit spherical, smooth, yellow.
Type locality: Not cited.
Distribution: Northern Argentina.
17
CEREUS
This species is similar to the so-called Cereus coerulescens, of Argentina, which was
taken up as Cereus landbeckii by Philippi, but the former has different stems, is stouter, and
usually has shorter spines.
Cereus chalybaeus was described from a plant grown in the Botanical Garden at Berlin
in 1846, which we do not know; but we are accepting as this species the plant so identified
and figured by T. Gürke as below cited. Our description of the flower is drawn from
this illustration.
Dr. Schumann states that the species comes from near Córdoba, Argentina, and there
Dr. Rose collected specimens in 1915 which have been used for this description.
Walpers (Repert. Bot. 2: 340. 1843) referred this species to C. polychaetus, an older
species which seems to have been overlooked by recent writers.
Illustrations: Blühende Kakteen 3: pl. 135; Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen f. 27.
21. Cereus aethiops Haworth, Phil. Mag. 7: 109.
Cereus
Cereus
Cereus
Cereus
1830.
coerulescens Salm-Dyck, Hort. Dyck. 33. 1834.
landbeckii Philippi in Regel, Gartenflora 24: 162. 1875.
coerulescens landbeckii Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 122. 1897.
coerulescens melanacanthus Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 122. 1897.
Stems bluish green to purplish, 1 to 2 meters high, usually much branched; joints 3 dm. long or
more, somewhat tapering toward the apex; ribs 7 or 8, low, somewhat tuberculate, obtuse or rounded,
separated by acute intervals; areoles large, black; radial spines about 9 or even more, black, at least
at bases and tips; central spines usually solitary, a little stouter than the radials, ascending; flower
long, tubular, 22 cm. long, with a limb 12 cm. in diameter; outer perianth-segments linear-lanceolate,
rose-colored; inner perianth-segments white; filaments and style included, the former attached all
along the inner surface of the long tube; fruit ovoid to oblong-ovoid, more or less brownish when
mature, truncate at apex, with a thick rind, smooth, somewhat glaucous, 6 cm. long; seeds black,
2 mm. long, coarsely tuberculate above, finely tuberculate at base, with a large depressed hilum.
Type locality: Brazil.
Distribution: Western border of Argentina to Brazil.
Cereus mendory Hortus (Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 85. 1837), C. melanacanthus Hortus
(Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 122. 1897), and C. nigrispinus Labouret (Schumann,
Gesamtb. Kakteen 122. 1897), usually cited as synonyms of this species, are unpublished.
Cereus coerulescens fulvispinus (Graebener, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 19: 137. 1909) and
C. coerulescens longispinus (Weingart, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 16: 93. 1906) are referred
here, but they have not been described.
Cereus coeruleus Lemaire (Cact. Gen. Nov. Sp. 80. 1839) was supposed to be a variety
of the above species when first described but was said to be twice as large with stouter,
longer spines.
We have followed Schumann and others in combining the plants from Brazil and
western Argentina under one name, although there are indications that the specimens from
Mendoza, Argentina, which were taken up by Philippi as C. landbeckii, are distinct.
Illustrations: Curtis’s Bot. Mag. 68: pl. 3922; Pfeiffer, Abbild. Beschr. Cact. 2: pl. 24;
Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen f. 28, all three as Cereus coerulescens; Gartenflora 24: pl.
832, as Cereus landbeckii; Blühende Kakteen 3: pl. 127, as Cereus coerulescens melanacanthus.
Figure 16 is from a photograph taken at Alto Pencoso, San Luis, Argentina, by C.
Bruch in 1914; figure 17 shows a fruiting branch of C. aethiops from Mendoza, Argentina,
brought by Dr. Rose to the New York Botanical Garden in 1915.
22. Cereus repandus (Linnaeus) Miller, Gard. Dict. ed. 8. No. 5.
1768.
Cactus repandus Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 467. 1753.
Cereus hermannianus Suringar, Versl. Med. Akad. Wetensch. III. 2: 194 1886.
Pilocereus repandus Schumann in Engler and Prantl, Pflanzenfam. 3 6a: 181. 1894, as to name.
Tall, tree-like plant, up to 10 meters high, with a much branched top; trunk 4 dm. in diameter;
branches grayish green, usually upright or somewhat curved below, bearing numerous constrictions
18
THE CACTACEAE.
about 2 dm. apart; ribs usually 9 or 10, rather low for this genus, about 1 cm. high; areoles 5 to 15
cm. apart, small; spines numerous, gray, acicular, the longest ones 5 cm. long; flowers nocturnal,
narrowly funnelform, 7 to 8 cm. long, the limb 2.5 to 3 cm. broad, dark green except tips of inner
perianth-segments; ovary bearing a few small ovate scales with a little felt in their axils; fruit dark
red (occasionally white), oblong, 3 to 4 cm. long, with white flesh; seeds dull black, tuberculate
Type locality: Tropical America.
Distribution: Curaçao, Aruba, and Bonaire.
Schumann (Engler and Prantl, Pflanzenfam. 36a: 181) has confused this species with
Cephalocereus lanuginosus and has published it under Pilocereus repandus.
Common on Curaçao, where it often
grows in thickets, sometimes forming the
dominant feature of the landscape and there
known as kadoesji and breebee.
Figure 18 shows a fruit of a plant on
Curaçao; figure 19 is from a photograph of
the same plant taken by Dr. Britton and Dr.
Shafer in 1913.
Fig. 17.—Fruiting branch
of Cereus aethiops. × 0.6.
Fig. 18.—Fruit of Cereus
repandus. × 0.6.
Fig. 19.—Cereus repandus.
23. Cereus grenadensis sp. nov. (See Appendix, p. 223.)
24. Cereus margaritensis Johnston, Proc. Amer. Acad. 40: 693.
1905.
Stem columnar, erect, 5 to 8 meters high, with a trunk 1 to 2 meters long; branches ascending,
gray; ribs usually 8; areoles 1 cm. apart or less; spines 11 to 15, somewhat swollen at base; radial
spines about 10, acicular, 5 to 10 cm. long, spreading or reflexed; central spines 1 to 3, stouter and
twice as long as the radials, porrect or reflexed; flower-bud obtuse; flowers to 6 cm. long; fruit
oblong, 4 cm. long; seeds black, covered with blunt tubercles.
Type locality: El Valle, Margarita Island, Venezuela.
Distribution: Known only from Margarita Island.
OTHER SPECIES DESCRIBED AS BELONGING TO THE GENUS CEREUS.
The following species have been described under Cereus, but their flowers are unknown
or incompletely described:
Cereus beneckei Ehrenberg, Bot. Zeit. 2: 835.
1844.
Cereus farinosus Haage in Salm-Dyck, Allg. Gartenz. 13: 355. 1845.
Cereus beneckei farinosus Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 48. 1850.
Piptanthocereus beneckei Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 226. 1909.
Plants 4 to 5 meters high, much branched; branches 6 to 7 cm. in diameter, the growing tips
glaucous;. ribs 8, strongly tuberculate, obtuse, separated by narrow intervals; areoles small, borne
19
CEREUS
on the upper side of the tubercle, black-felted; spines 1 to 5, acicular, about 1 cm. long, brownish;
flowering areoles without wool; flowers small, less than 4 cm. long, greenish brown, night-blooming;
inner perianth-segments rose-colored; fruit small, spineless.
Type locality: Mexico, on red lava beds.
Distribution: Central Mexico.
This species is reported by Dr. Purpus from near Tehuacán, Mexico, while Dr. Rose
collected it at Iguala Canyon, Guerrero, Mexico, in 1905. This latter specimen is now
growing in the New York Botanical Garden, but has never flowered. It is not a true Cereus
nor is it referable to any genus which we know. It is characterized by its peculiar tuberculate ribs and small flowers. It was named for A. Benecke, a dealer in succulents, at
Birkenwerder near Berlin. Echinocactus farinosus (Förster, Handb. Cact. 396. 1846) is
a synonym.
Illustration: Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen f. 22.
Cereus gracilis Haworth, Phil. Mag. 1: 126.
1827.
Not Miller, 1768.
Slender, green, nearly erect, terete, simple or with few branches; spines white, at first 2 to several
but in age solitary, long; flowers and fruit unknown.
Type locality: “In America calidiore.”
According to Haworth this species has the habit of Euphorbia hystrix but is less spiny
and the spines are half as long. According to Haworth and De Candolle, this species is
related to Cereus nanus (Opuntia pestifer), but a careful study of the descriptions does not
suggest a very close relationship.
Cereus tenuis Pfeiffer, Allg. Gartenz. 8: 407. 1840.
Described as erect, slender, green, shining, with 8 angles; intervals between the ribs acute,
narrow; areoles close together, small, bearing white felt, white wool, and straight, acicular yellow
spines; radial spines 8, the central solitary; flowers and origin unknown.
Cereus subintortus, C. subintortus flavispinus Salm-Dyck, and C. haageanus SalmDyck (Förster, Handb. Cact. 381. 1846) are, according to Förster, of this relationship.
Cereus trigonodendron Schumann, Bot. Jahrb. Engler 40: 413. 1908.
Tall, 15 meters high, with simple or few-branched stems; ribs 3, prominent; radial spines 6;
central spine I, about 6 mm. long; flowers described as about 10 cm. long and red.
This species was very briefly described by Schumann. Vaupel (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23: 184. 1913) has described the species at more length but not in sufficient detail
to enable us to place it. It is very tall with few strict branches and only 3-angled stems,
and with red flowers. It probably is not a Cereus nor is it like any other Peruvian cacti.
Type locality: Department of Loreto, Peru.
Distribution: Northeastern Peru.
E. C. Erdis, in 1915, collected at Pumachaca, at an altitude of about 1,500 meters,
a very peculiar cactus which may be referable here. The small plant which he sent in
had only 4 thin wing-like ribs, but the newer growth has 5 ribs; the spines are 6 to 9,
dark brown, acicular. A small live plant is in the collection at Washington.
Illustration: Bot. Jahrb. Engler 40: pl. 10.
Cereus multangularis (Willdenow) Haworth, Suppl. Pl. Succ. 75.
1819.
Cactus multangularis Willdenow, Enum. Pl. Suppl. 33. 1813.
?Cereus multangularis pallidior Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 78. 1837.
Echinocereus multangularis Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 825. 1885.
Echinocereus multangularis pallidior Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 825. 1885.
Cactus multangularis, when first described, was not sufficiently characterized for identification. Schumann associated the name multangularis with a Peruvian plant and referred
considerable synonymy to it. We know no plant of Peru which answers his description.
20
THE CACTACEAE.
To this species Schumann refers Cereus flavescens (Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 79. 1837)
and with it should be referred Echinocereus flavescens (Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact.
ed. 2. 826. 1885). Cereus multangularis var. albispinus and var. prolifer Salm-Dyck (Hort.
Dyck. 62. 1834) and var. ruf ispinus Fobe (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 18: 75. 1908) are unpublished names.
Cereus kageneckii Gmelin (Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 77. 1837), also, according to the
Index Kewensis, Cactus hageneckii (De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 463. 1828) and Cereus
ochracanthus (Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 78) were published as synonyms.
In the Engelmann Herbarium is a single specimen labeled “Cereus multangularis” with
the following note: “Columnar, similar to serpentinus, coll. Germantown, Pa., October
27, 1869.” We believe this plant is Nyctocereus serpentinus.
Dr. A. Hrdlička collected in March 1913, in the mountains southeast of Nasea, Peru,
at an altitude of 5,000 to 7,000 feet, a curious plant which may represent the one referred
here by Schumann. It is a low cespitose plant, rarely 2 feet high, with numerous low almost
indistinct ribs, nearly hidden by the numerous spines; areoles approximate, 4 to 5 mm.
apart, felted and spiny; spines 25 or more, brown or white with brown tips, the longest
ones 12 mm. long; flower-buds scaly, woolly, and setose in their axils. Living specimens
were sent to Washington, but these eventually died without flowering.
Cereus lecchii (Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 78. 1837; Cactus lecchii Colla and C. lanuginosus aureus Colla, Hort. Ripul. 25. 1825; Echinocactus lecchii Don in Sweet, Hort.
Brit. ed. 3. 283. 1839) is referred here by Schumann. Cereus lanuginosus aureus (Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 78. 1837) was given as a synonym of C. lecchii. Cactus lecchii was
illustrated by Colla in his Fourth appendix to the Hortus Ripulensis (Mem. Accad.
Sci. Torino 35: pl. 2).
Cereus limensis Salm-Dyck, Allg. Gartenz. 13: 353.
1845.
Echinocereus limensis Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 824. 1885.
Cereus multangularis limensis Maass, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 15: 119. 1905.
Stems erect, thick, very green; ribs 12, obtuse, subrepand; areoles close together, oval, filled with
yellow tomentum; spines acicular, setaceous, rigid, the central ones 8 to 10, divergent, yellowish
red, one longer than the others; radial spines 20 to 25, reddish yellow above, white below.
The above is a free translation of the original.
This species is not determinable but was referred by Schumann to Cereus multangularis.
Echinocereus multangularis limensis Lemaire (Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2.
824. 1885) was given as a synonym of Echinocereus limensis.
Cereus langlassei, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 14: 145. 1904. Mentioned as a seedling from Paris.
Weingart (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 29: 105. 1919) described the plant after it had made
some growth and compared it with C. eburneus (Lemaireocereus griseus.)
Cereus horizontalis Gillies in Sweet, Hort. Brit. ed. 3. 285. 1839. Described as horizontal with
stems of 5 or 6 angles.
Cereus amblyogonus G. Don in Sweet, Hort. Brit. ed. 3. 284. 1839. Described as “blunt angled”
and introduced from South America.
Cereus caudatus Gillies in Sweet, Hort. Brit. ed. 3. 285. 1839. Described only as “tailed” and
introduced from Chile in 1828.
Cereus longifolius Karwinsky in Sweet, Hort. Brit. ed. 3. 286. 1839. Described as “long-leaved.”
Cereus de laguna Haage in Förster, Handb. Cact. 433. 1846. Said to be similar to C. geometrizans
and C. eburneus and to be from Brazil.
Cereus regalis Haworth in Sprengel, Syst. 2: 496. 1825. Described as erect, 9-ribbed, and with
elongated yellow equal spines.
Cereus ovatus Don (Loudon, Hort. Brit. 195. 1830; Cactus ovatus Gillies) and Cereus
decorus Loddiges (Voigt, Hort. Suburb. Calcutt. 62. 1845) were both introduced into
India in 1840 but are not now known nor have they been described.
Cereus flavispinus Roezl in Morren (Belg. Hort. 24: 39. 1874), collected by Roezl
probably in the high mountains above Lima, was never formally published.
21
MONVILLEA
The following names of Cereus we have been unable to refer to any of the species
otherwise mentioned in this work:
Cereus aculeatus Förster, Handb. Cact. 433. 1846.
albertinii Fobe, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 18: 175. 1908.
atrovirens Förster, Handb. Cact. 433. 1846.
concinnus Haage in Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 167. 1897.
damacaro Haage in Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 167. 1897.
incrassatus Link and Otto, Verh. Ver. Beförd. Gartenb. 6: 432. 1830.
jacquinii Rebut in Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 167. 1897.
karwinskii Haage in Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 167. 1897.
longipendunculatus Förster, Handb. Cact. 433. 1846.
lormala Maass, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 15: 119. 1905.
ophites Lemaire, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 4: 173. 1894.
pruinatus, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 11: 181. 1901.
robustus Schumann, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 13: 111. 1903.
rogalli Schumann, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 9: 96. 1899.
salpingensis Schumann, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 11: 181. 1901.
schoenemannii Hildmann, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 5: 43. 1895.
spathulatus Förster, Handb. Cact. 433. 1846.
steckmannii Jacobi, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 5: 43. 1895.
tellii, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 5: 43. 1895. A name f rom Hildmann’s Catalogue.
trichocentrus Förster, Handb. Cact. 433. 1846.
verschaffeltii Haage in Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 167. 1897.
2. MONVILLEA gen. nov.
Night-blooming cacti with long, slender, half-erect stems, often forming thickets; flowers borne
toward the top of the stem, of medium size, without felt or spines; tube proper in typical species
slender, tapering into a short throat; scales minute; outer perianth-segments greenish or pinkish;
inner perianth-segments white or yellow; stamens white, not in definite rows but scattered over
the throat; style slender, white, with linear stigma-lobes; flower-tube rigid after anthesis, withering
on the ovary; scales on the ovary minute, their axils naked; fruit glabrous, red, plump, spineless;
flesh of fruit white, juicy; seeds small, black.
Type species: Cereus cavendishii Monville.
The generic name commemorates M. Monville, a well-known student of this family.
We recognize 7 species, all South American.
Key to Species.
Flower-tube slender, straight; stamens and style more or less exserted.
Ribs 6 to 10.
Flowers white . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Flowers yellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ribs 3 to 5.
Plants erect, bluish green, more or less spotted; branches with 3 or
deeply serrate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Plants decumbent; branches with 4 or 5 rounded ribs . . . . . . . . . . . .
Flower-tube short and stout, somewhat curved; stamens and style included.
Spines subulate, often elongated.
Fruit globular; flower strongly angled; flower-bud pointed . . . . . . . . .
Fruit oblong; flower not strongly angled; flower-bud obtuse . . . . . . .
Spines acicular, all very short . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. M. cavendishii
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. M. insularis
4 sharp ribs, these
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. M. spegazzinii
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. M. phatnosperma
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5. M. diffusa
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6. M. maritima
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7. M. amazonica
1. Monvillea cavendishii (Monville).
Cereus serpentinus splendens Salm-Dyck in Lemaire, Cact. Gen. Nov. Sp. 79. 1839.
Cereus cavendishii Monville, Hort. Univ. 1: 219. 1840.
Cereus paxtonianus Monville in Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 211. 1850.
Cereus splendens Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 214. 1850.
Cereus saxicola Morong, Annals N. Y. Acad. Sci. 7: 121. 1893.
Cereus euchlorus Weber in Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 84. 1897.
Cereus rhodoleucanthus Schumann, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 9: 187. 1899.
Eriocereus cavendishii Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 239. 1909.
In cultivation more or less branched at base, 1 to 3 meters high, suberect or clambering, green,
2 to 3 cm. in diameter; ribs 9 or 10, low and rounded; areoles small, about 1 cm. apart; spines acicular,
22
THE CACTACEAE.
8 to 12, brown; flower 10 to 12 cm. long, the tube 5 to 6 cm. long; outer perianth-segments pinkish;
inner perianth-segments white; ovary small, bearing a few very small scales, these broader than
long, with minute brown chartaceous tips; fruit globular, 4 to 5 cm. in diameter.
Type locality: Carthagene.*
Distribution: Brazil, northern Argentina and Paraguay.
This is one of the best flowering species we have in cultivation. The flowers open at
night and appear more or less abundantly from April to September.
The species was named for William Spencer Cavendish, Duke of Devonshire, who
had a magnificent collection of plants at Chatsworth.
Cereus anguiniformis (Weingart, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 18: 6. 1908) and C. saxicola
anguiniformis Riccobono (Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 252. 1909) probably belong here.
We have referred here Cereus euchlorus, which originally came from São Paulo, Brazil.
We have specimens growing which were obtained under this name from M. Simon, of St.
Ouen, Paris, in 1901.
Fig. 20.—Monvillea cavendishii.
Fig. 21.—Monvillea insularis.
× 0.5.
Botanists have been much in doubt as to the relationship of this species. Schumann
in his Monograph refers it along with Cereus striatus (now Wilcoxia) to his series Tenuiores.
In his Nachtrage, published in 1903, he places it with Cereus obtusangulus (now Zygocactus)
in his series Anomali, but in his Keys, published about the same time, he again has it in
the series Tenuiores. Berger places it in his subgenus Piptanthocereus, while Riccobono has
recently transferred it to his genus Eriocereus.
Dr. Schumann discusses Cereus lauterbachii Schumann (Bull. Herb. Boiss. II. 3: 250.
1903) in connection with this species, but does not point out how they differ.
Both the names Cereus cavendishii and C. paxtonianus were in general use until Schumann in 1897 suggested that the plants are the same. Sir Joseph Hooker in 1899 united
them definitely under the name of Cereus paxtonianus.
Illustrations: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 19: 77, as Cereus saxicola; Monatsschr. Kakteenk.
13: 12, as Cereus rhodoleucanthus; Curtis’s Bot. Mag. 125: pl. 7648, as Cereus paxtonianus.
*When first published it was stated that the species came f rom “Carthagene.” Schumann says probably South
America, possibly Brazil, while Morong collected it in central Paraguay.
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
M. E. Eaton del.
1. Top of stem of Cereus validus.
2. Top of flowering stem of the same.
PLATE III
.
3. Top of flowering branch of Monvillea cavendishii.
4. Top of branch with f ruit of same.
(Natural size.)
A HOEN & CO
MONVILLEA
23
Plate 111, figure 3, shows a flowering branch in the collection of the New York Botanical
Garden; figure 4 shows the fruit from a plant in the same collection. Figure 20 is from a
photograph taken in 1917 by Dr. Shafer at Catilegua, Argentina.
2. Monvillea insularis (Hemsley).
Cereus insularis Hemsley, Voyage of Challenger Bot. 1 2: 16. 1884.
Creeping or clambering, forming a dense thicket, much branched; branches nearly cylindric,
2.5 to 3 cm. in diameter, 6-angled; spines 12 to 15, unequal, spreading, terete, yellow; flowers described as yellow, 12.5 cm. long; ovary and flower-tube bearing only a few minute scales, but no
spines or hairs; flower-tube very slender; perianth-segments in several series; filaments and style
protruding; stigma-lobes 13, radiating.
Type locality: St. Michael’s Mount, off Brazil, 5° S. latitude.
Distribution: Known only from the type locality.
This plant is noteworthy as inhabiting an island on which no other cactus exists. It
is the most eastern in natural distribution of all cactus species. So far as we are informed,
it has never been in cultivation.
Illustration: Voyage of Challenger Bot. 12: pl. 14, as Cereus insularis.
Figure 21 is copied from the plate above cited.
3. Monvillea spegazzinii (Weber).
Cereus spegazzinii Weber, Monatsschr.
Kakteenk. 9: 102. 1899.
Cereus anisitsii Schumann, Monatsschr.
Kakteenk. 9: 185. 1899.
Erect, strongly 3-angled or ribbed,
bluish green, more or less spotted with
white; ribs strongly undulate or serrate;
spines on young branches brown to black,
3 at an areole, 5 mm. long, with broad
conic bases; on old wood 6 at an areole, of
these 5 radial, 1 central; bud and flower
rigid and erect, but after anthesis abruptly
reflexed; flowers 11 to 12 cm. long, narrow,
funnelform; outer perianth-segments purplish, the inner nearly white, serrate
above, acuminate.
Type locality: Near Resistencia,
Chaco Territory, Argentina.
Distribution: Paraguay and northeastern Argentina.
Cereus marmoratus Zeissold (Cat.
1899), unpublished, is referred by
Gürke (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 18:
131. 1908) to Cereus anisitsii; Gürke
(Monatsschr., Kakteenk. 16: 146.
1906) also refers Cereus lindenzweigianus, name only, to C. anisitsii.
Fig. 22.—Monvillea spegazzinii.
Illustrations: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 12: 193; Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen Nachtr. f. 5; Schelle, Handb. Kakteenk. f.
31; Rev. Hort. Belge 40: after 184*, as Cereus spegazzinii; Blühende Kakteen 2: pl. 107,
as Cereus anisitsii.
Figure 22 is from a photograph of the type specimen given to Dr. Rose by Dr. Spegazzini.
*In the Revue de L’Horticulteur for 1914 was published a number of plates, mostly of cacti grown by Frantz
de Laet. These plates are not numbered and we have indicated their position by the page they follow. Most of
them were reproduced in De Laet’s Catalogue Général.
24
THE CACTACEAE.
4. Monvillea phatnosperma (Schumann).
Cereus phatnospermus Schumann, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 9: 186. 1899.
Decumbent, 1 to 2 meters long; branches 4 or 5-ribbed, bright green, 2.5 cm. in diameter;
ribs rounded, somewhat concave on the sides; spines brown, subulate; radial spines 5 or 6, spreading,
15 mm. long; central spines, when present, straight or somewhat curved, up to 2.5 cm. long; flowers
white, 12 cm. long; ovary subnaked, narrow, cylindric, about 3 cm. long.
Type locality: Near Porongo, Paraguay.
Distribution: Paraguay.
The plant is known to us only from the description above cited.
5. Monvillea diffusa sp. nov.
Stems slender, 4 to 5 cm. in diameter, at first erect, afterwards with long arching branches,
when growing in the open often forming thickets 2 to 5 meters in diameter; ribs high and thin,
usually 8; areoles 2.5 to 3 cm. apart, gray-felted; radial spines
6 to 10, spreading, acicular, 6 to 12 mm. long; central spines
1 to 3, one usually much elongated, 2 to 3 cm. long, subulate,
gray with black tips; flowers 7.5 cm. long, the tube strongly
ribbed; scales on the flower-tube ovate, acute; ovary globose
with elongated tubercles or ribs; scales on ovary minute, acute.
Common on the hillsides of the Catamayo Valley in
Fig. 23.—Monvillea diffusa. × 0.5.
southern Ecuador.
Collected by J. N. Rose, A. Pachano, and George Rose, October 3, 1918 (No. 23325).
Figure 23 shows a flower and young fruit from the type collection.
6. Monvillea maritima sp. nov.
Stems slender, 5 to 8 cm. in diameter, at first erect, sometimes 4 to 5 meters high, growing among
shrubs and trees and often high-clambering, either simple or with few distant branches, these weak,
ascending or drooping; ribs 4 to 6, somewhat undulating, the areoles borne in the depressions,
2 to 3 cm. apart; spines about 8, all gray, with black tips; central spines 1 or 2, one much longer and
stouter, 5 to 6 cm. long; upper part of flower-bud nearly globular, merely acute at apex; flowers 6 cm.
long; flower-tube faintly angled without, naked for about 3 cm. above the base of the style; ovary
oblong, faintly angled, the scales broad with a minute scarious tip.
Common in the thickets along the coast of southern Ecuador near Santa Rosa where
it was collected by J. N. Rose and George Rose, October 1918 (No. 23495).
The flowers of this species are similar to those of M. diffusa, but the two plants grow
in very different situations and are of different habit. M. diffusa grows on the mountainside of a very arid interior valley at an altitude of about 2,170 meters, while M. maritima
is from a humid region near sea-level; the former grows in the open while M. maritima grows
among bushes and trees.
7. Monvillea amazonica (Schumann).
Cereus amazonicus Schumann in Vaupel, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23: 164. 1913.
At first erect, up to meters long, not much branched; ribs 7, low, acute; areoles about 17 mm.
apart; spines about 15, acicular, weak, 8 mm. long; flowers borne on the upper part of the stem but
not at the tip, straight, 8 cm. long; areoles on ovary and flower-tube without hairs, bristles, or
spines, subtended by minute scales; perianth-segments numerous, obovate, rounded above; ovary
and fruit oblong, capped by the withering flower.
Type locality: Loreto, Peru.
Distribution: On the upper Amazon in eastern Peru.
This is evidently a remarkable species. It is known to us only from the description
and illustration, and may very likely represent a distinct generic type.
Illustration: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23: 165, as Cereus amazonicus.
25
CEPHALOCREUS
Monvillea Sp.
Stems slender, sometimes 3 to 4 meters high, nearly simple, rather weak and often supported
by other plants, 3 to 5 cm. in diameter; ribs about 8, 1 cm. high; areoles 1 to 1.5 cm. apart; radial
spines about 10, somewhat unequal, the longest about 1 cm. long; central spines 2 or 3, longer and
stouter than the radial, usually about 2 cm. long, black at tip; flowers and fruit not seen.
Collected by J. N. Rose and George Rose near Guayaquil, Ecuador, August 11, 1918
(No. 22117).
This species was quite common in the flat country northwest of Guayaquil associated
with a larger arborescent cactus, a species of Lemaireocereus, and at first was supposed to
be its juvenile form. Unfortunately, no flowers or fruit were seen. Living specimens
were brought back to the New York Botanical Garden, but these have not yet flowered.
We are not certain of the generic position of this plant, but it so much resembles Monvillea maritima in habit that we suspect that its relationship is here.
3. CEPHALOCEREUS Pfeiffer, Allg. Gartenz. 6: 142.
1838.
Cephalophorus Lemaire, Cact. Aliq. Nov. xii. 1838. Not Cephalophora Cavanille. 1801.
Pilocereus Lemaire, Cact. Gen. Nov. Sp. 6. 1839.
Elongated cacti, various in habit, mostly columnar and erect, sometimes much branched with
a short trunk or in one species with spreading and procumbent branches; in some species the flowering areoles develop an abundance of wool which confluently forms a dense mass called a pseudocephalium either at the top or on one side near the top; in others long wool or hairs grow from the
areoles but a pseudocephalium is not formed; in others the flowers are produced in a circle, at the
top and the bristles and fruit afterwards form a collar at the base of the new growth; in other species
neither wool nor hairs are produced in the flowering areoles; flowers nocturnal, short-campanulate to
short-funnelform or pyriform, straight or curved; perianth persisting on the ripening fruit, except in
one species; fruit usually depressed-globose, sometimes oblong; seeds black, smooth or tuberculate.
We know 48 species, distributed from southern Florida and northern Mexico to
eastern Brazil and Ecuador. The type species is Cactus senilis Haworth which is also
the type of Lemaire’s genera Cephalophorus and Pilocereus. The name Cephalocereus is
from the Greek, signifying headed-cereus, with reference to the pseudocephalium of the
typical species.
Key to Species.
A. Flowering areoles confluent, forming a pseudocephalium.
Pseudocephalium lateral.
Ovary bearing few distant scales; areoles of the flower with tufts of short wool;
plants simple, tall, columnar.
Plant cylindric; top rounded; bristles of pseudocephalium twice as long as wool . . . . 1.
Plant tapering to the apex; bristles of pseudocephalium little longer than the wool . 2.
Ovary naked.
Plant unbranched . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.
Plant branched at the base.
Ribs 12 to 17; flowers 6 to 7 cm. long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.
Ribs up to 23; flowers 4 cm. long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.
Pseudocephalium terminal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.
AA. Flowering areoles not confluent, though sometimes close together, not forming a pseudocephalium.
Flower-tube strongly bent about middle; areoles wholly without hairs; plant blue . . . . . . 7.
Flower-tube straight or a little curved at the base.
Ribs 10 to 18; flowers red.
Ribs 15 to 18; perianth-segments not reflexed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.
Ribs 8; perianth-segments reflexed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.
Ribs 4 to 13; flowers mostly whitish to purplish.
Perianth falling away, f rom the ovary by abscission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.
Perianth withering-persistent (so far as known).
Ribs strongly tubercled.
Spines all brown, the radials widely spreading, the centrals stout, subulate . . . . 11.
Spines all yellow, acicular, the radials only slightly spreading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.
Ribs not tubercled.
Flower-tube curved at base; areoles of the stem all densely long-woolly. . . . . . 13.
Flower-tube straight; only flowering areoles, if any, long-woolly.
C. senilis
C. hoppenstedtii
C. purpureus
C. fluminensis
C. dybowskii
C. macrocephalus
C. pentaedrophorus
C. polylophus
C. euphorbioides
C. russelianus
C. gounellei
C. zehntneri
C. leucostele
26
THE CACTACEAE.
Key to Species—continued.
AA. Flowering areoles not confluent, though sometimes close together, not forming a pseudocephalium-continued.
Ovary well-developed; flower-tube little scaly or without scales.
Flowering areoles without wool, or wool very short.
Fruit oblong to ovoid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.
Fruit globose or depressed.
Spines acicular; berry large.
Perianth-segments rounded, acute, or mucronate.
Plant grayish green; at least the perianth-segments rounded
or mucronate.
Outer perianth-segments rounded . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.
All perianth-segments rounded . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.
Plant glaucous green when young, dull green when old; outer
perianth-segments acute.
Much branched, the branches ascending; ribs 10 to 13; style
exserted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.
Little branched, the branches nearly erect; ribs 9 or 10; style
scarcely exserted; young growth very glaucous. 18.
Perianth-segments retuse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.
Spines subulate; berry small . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.
Flowering areoles definitely long-woolly.
Ribs 5 to 13, separated by narrow valleys.
Ribs 8 mm. high or higher.
Plant light green to dark green.
Spines short, subulate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.
Spines slender, acicular.
Wool of flowering areoles sparse, not matted . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.
Wool of flowering areoles mostly copious, matted.
Wool of flowering areoles brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23.
Wool of flowering areoles white.
Plant bright green, shining.
Joints slender, dark green; wool short . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.
Joints stout, light green; wool long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.
Plant dull green, not shining.
Wool elongated, up to 5 to 7 cm. long . . . . . . . . . . . 26.
Wool short, 2 cm. long or less.
Ribs 1 to 2 cm. high.
Only the flowering areoles woolly . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.
Both flowering and flowerless areoles of young
joints woolly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.
Ribs 8 mm. high or less . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29.
Plant, at least young joints, blue or bluish green, glaucous.
Young spines yellow.
Flower 7 to 8 cm. long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.
Flower 5 to 6 cm. long.
Ribs 6 to 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31.
Ribs mostly 9 to 12.
Ribs 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32.
Ribs 9 or 10.
Perianth-segments rounded or mucronate.
Young joints bright blue; ribs low . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33.
Young joints bluish green, glaucous; ribs high . . . . 34.
Perianth-segments acute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35.
Young spines brown or nearly black.
Areoles approximate, their spines overlapping . . . . . . . . . . . . 36.
Areoles separated, their spines not overlapping.
Ribs 9 to 12.
Wool short, 2 cm. long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37.
Wool 10 cm. long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38.
Ribs 7 to 9.
Ribs strongly horizontally grooved below the areoles.
Flowers rose-red . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39.
Flowers brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40.
Ribs not grooved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41.
Color of plant and of young spines unknown.
Mexican . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.
Colombian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43.
Ribs only 5 to 6 mm. high; plant green . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44.
Ribs 4 to 6, separated by broad valleys.
Glaucous, up to 10 meters high; flowers 6 to 8 cm. long . . . . . . . . 45.
Bright green, up to 3 meters high; flowers about 5 cm. long. . . . . . 46.
Ovary very short and flat; flower-tube scaly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47.
AAA. Species not grouped . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48.
C. smithianus
C. bahamensis
C. deeringii
C. robinii
C. keyensis
C. monoclonos
C. scoparius
C. moritzianus
C. arrabidae
C. urbanianus
C. nobilis
C. barbadensis
C. millspaughii
C. swartzii
C. polygonus
C. gaumeri
C. chrysacanthus
C. maxonii
C. piauhyensis
C. lanuginosus
C. brooksianus
C. royenii
C. robustus
C. cometes
C. leucocephalus
C. sartorianus
C. palmeri
C. tweedyanus
C. alensis
C. colombianus
C. purpusii
C.
C.
C.
C.
catingicola
brasiliensis
phaeacanthus
ulei
27
CEPHALOCREUS
1. Cephalocereus senilis (Haworth) Pfeiffer, Allg. Gartenz. 6: 142.
1838.
Cactus senilis Haworth, Phil. Mag. 63: 31. 1824.
Cactus bradypus Lehmann, Ind. Sem. Hamburg 17. 1826.
Cereus senilis De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 464. 1828.
Cephalophorus senilis Lemaire, Cact. Aliq. Nov. xii. 1838.
Pilocereus senilis Lemaire, Cact. Gen. Nov. Sp. 7. 1839.
Echinocactus senilis Beaton, Loudon’s Gard. Mag. 15: 550. 1839.
Echinocactus staplesiae Tate, Loudon’s Gard. Mag. 16: 27. 1840.
Plants 6 to 10 or even 15 meters high, columnar, simple or rarely branched above, sometimes
branched at base; ribs numerous; pseudocephalium developing on plants when 6 meters high,
broadening above, rarely confined to one side but usually encircling the top of the plant; areoles
closely set; the ones at base of old plants producing weak, gray bristles 2 to 3 dm. long, the ones
in the pseudocephalium producing similar but shorter bristles intermixed with dense, tawny wool, 4
to 6 cm. long; flower, including the ovary, 5 cm. long, rose-colored; scales few on the tube; fruit
obovoid, 2.5 to 3 cm. long, rose-colored, capped by the chartaceous base of the flower, bearing a
few minute scales with hairs in their axils.
Type locality: Mexico.
Distribution: Hidalgo and Guanajuato, Mexico.
Cephalocereus senilis has long been considered a great curiosity and small plants are
shipped in quantities to Europe. The young plants are covered with long white silky hairs
resembling a beard and hence the name old man cactus, and similar names. Large plants
are not often seen since the species grows in regions difficult of access. It is very common
on limestone hills of eastern Hidalgo, where it is often the most conspicuous plant in the
landscape. Large individuals are common here and are often 15 meters high. Very little
wood-tissue is developed and the largest individuals can easily be cut down with a pick or
small knife.
Salm-Dyck (Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1844. 24. 1845) named two varieties of Pilocereus
senilis: longispinus and flavispinus; later (Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 40, 186. 1850) he
described P. senilis longisetus, saying nothing about longispinus and flavispinus.
Cereus bradypus Lehmann and Melocactus bradypus Lehmann (Steudel, Nom. ed. 2.
1: 333. 1840; 2: 122. 1841) are cited as synonyms of Cereus senilis.
Illustrations: Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen f. 40; Grässner, Haupt-Verz. Kakteen
2; Knippel, Kakteen pl. 1; Engler and Prantl, Pflanzenfam. 3 6a: pl. opp. p. 180; f. 60;
Safford, Ann. Rep. Smiths. Inst. 1908: f. 15, 16, all as Cephalocereus senilis; Förster, Handb.
Cact. ed. 2. f. 91, 92; Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 4: 124, 125; Rev. Hort. 61: f. 139; 62: f. 38,
39; Rümpler, Sukkulenten f. 78; Dict. Gard. Nicholson Suppl. f. 634, all as Pilocereus
senilis; Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 1: 32, as Pilocereus senilis cristatus; Nov. Act. Nat. Cur.
16: pl. 12, as Cactus bradypus.
Figure 24 is from a photograph of a small plant in the collection of the New York
Botanical Garden.
2. Cephalocereus hoppenstedtii (Weber) Schumann in Engler and Prantl, Pflanzenfam. 3 6a: 181.
1894.
Pilocereus hoppenstedtii Weber, Cat. Pfersdorff. 1864 (according to Schumann).
Pilocereus hagendorpi Regel, Gartenflora 18: 220. 1869.
Pilocereus lateralis Weber, Dict. Hort. Bois 966. 1898.
Cereus hoppenstedtii Berger, Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 16: 70. 1905.
Slender, columnar, said sometimes to reach 10 meters in height, but in cultivation much lower,
often bent or clambering, the apex tapering; ribs low, close together, 20 or more, the whole plant
hidden under the numerous spines; areoles close together; radial spines 14 to 18, very short, white;
central spines 5 to 8, the longest one sometimes 7.5 cm. long, usually reflexed, brownish; pseudocephalium at the top of the plant but to one side (said to be on the north side); flower described as
7.5 cm. long, whitish, with rosy tips, bell-shaped; fruit not known.
Type locality: Zapotitlan, near Tehuacán, Mexico.
Distribution: Southern Mexico.
This plant is clearly a close relative of Cephalocereus senilis.
28
THE CACTACEAE.
So far as we know, the type has not been preserved. The species is sometimes cultivated, but it has never done well with us under glass. Mr. Berger was able to grow it at
La Mortola, Italy.
There has long been considerable confusion regarding the characters of this species,
partly because other cacti have been confused with it. For instance, the only specimens
(several flowers) in the Engelmann Herbarium, so named, although from the region of this
species, are those of a Pachycereus.
Illustrations: Knippel, Kakteen pl. 29; Grässner, Haupt-Verz. Kakteen 29. 1912;
Möllers Deutsche Gärt. Zeit. 29: 355. f. 10; Schelle, Handb. Kakteenk. f. 38, as Pilocereus hoppenstedtii; Bull. Soc. Acclim. France 52: f. 15, as Pilocereus lateralis.
Fig. 24.—Cephalocereus senilis.
Fig. 25.—Cephalocereus purpureus.
3. Cephalocereus purpureus Gürke, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 18: 86.
1908.
Columnar, upright, unbranched, 3 meters high or more; ribs 12 to 15, broad, low, separated by
narrow intervals, marked by upturned V-shaped depressions, one from the top of each areole; areoles
large, longer than broad, white-woolly and spiny; radial spines 15 to 20, acicular, white, short, 1 cm long
or less; central spines 8 to 10, the longer ones 5 cm. long, brown; pseudocephalium on the west side
of the plant, confined to only a few of the ribs (3 to 7); flowers open at night, closing in the morning, 4 to 5 cm. long; tube and outer perianth-segments pinkish; inner perianth-segments white;
stamens and style included; fruit small; seeds black, roughened, large at the top, narrowed at base.
Type locality: Serra do Sincorá, Bahia, Brazil, 800 to 1,200 meters altitude.
Distribution: Southern central Bahia, Brazil.
CEPHALOCREUS
29
Photographs and an abundance of flowers and seed of this most interesting species
were obtained by Dr. Rose from Dr. L. Zehntner, who had two plants growing in his garden
at Joazeiro, Bahia.
Figure 25 is from a photograph of one of the plants above mentioned; figure 28 shows
a spine-areole of its stem; figure 2 7 shows the flower.
4. Cephalocereus fluminensis (Miquel).
Cactus melocactus Vellozo, Fl. Plum. 205. 1825. Not Linnaeus, 1753.
Cereus fluminensis Miquel, Bull. Sci. Phys. Nat. Neerl. 1838: 48, 1838.
Pilocereus vellozoi Lemaire, Rev. Hort. 1862: 427. 1862.
Cephalocereus melocactus Schumann in Martius, Fl. Bras. 4 2: 215. 1890.
Pilocereus melocactus Schumann, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 3: 20. 1893.
Cereus melocactus Berger, Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 10: 62. 1905.*
Growing generally in clumps, clambering over rocky cliffs; branches erect, spreading or pendent,
1 to 2 meters long; ribs 12 to 17, 1 to 1.5 cm. high, acute, separated by acute intervals; spines acicular,
yellow, the longest ones 3 cm. long; pseudocephalium
on one side of the branch, of a dense white felt, 2 to
3 cm. thick, intermixed with long yellow bristles, 4 to
7 cm. long; areoles close together, circular, with short
white wool but with no long hairs; flowers 6 to 7 cm.
long; style long-exserted; fruit bright red to purple,
obovoid, 3 cm. long, naked, almost hidden in the mass
of white wool of the pseudocephalium; seeds black, 1
mm. in diameter, tuberculate.
Type locality: On island in harbor of Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil.
Distribution: On rocky cliffs and islands along
Brazilian coast from Rio de Janeiro to Cabo Frio.
This plant was first collected and figured by
Vellozo about 1790 and named Cactus melocactus,
a name which had already been used by Linnaeus
Fig. 26.—Fruit of Cephalocereus fluminensis. ×0.7.
Fig. 27.—Flower of Cephalocereus purpureus. ×0. 7.
Fig. 28.—Cluster of spines of same. ×0.7.
Fig. 20.—Cephalocereus fluminensis.
for another plant. Although this species is very common on all the rocky knolls and outcrops about the harbor of Rio de Janeiro, it has rarely been collected and no living or
herbarium material was in the Washington and New York collections until Dr. Rose collected it in Brazil in 1915.
*Schumann (Martius, Fl. Bras. 4 2: 216. 1890) erroneously refers this binomial to Vellozo.
30
THE CACTACEAE.
Illustrations: Vellozo, Fl. Flum. 5: pl. 20, as Cactus melocactus; Martius, Fl. Bras.
42: pl. 43; Engler and Prantl, Pflanzenfam. 36a: f. 65, b, as Cephalocereus melocactus; Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 3: 25, as Pilocereus melocactus.
Figure 29 is from a photograph taken at Rio de Janeiro by Paul G. Russell in 1915;
figure 26 shows the fruit as drawn by A. Löfgren.
Cereus ferox Haworth (Phil. Mag. 7: 109. 1830) may be of this relationship. It is
described as upright, stout, oblong, terete, 9 inches high, 2 inches in diameter, dark green;
ribs about 18, densely covered with spreading yellow spines; radial spines about 6; central
spines 4 or 5, one twice as long as the others, much stouter, up to an inch long. This
species was introduced from Brazil by Loddiges, in whose collection it was seen and
described by Haworth. It is stated to be near Cereus multangularis. Förster and Schumann did not know the species.
5. Cephalocereus dybowskii (Gosselin).
Cereus dybowskii Gosselin, Bull. Soc. Bot. France 55: 695. 1908.
Stems much branched at the base, sending up many strict, usually simple branches 2 to 4
meters high, 8 cm. in diameter, almost hidden by the white cobwebby hairs of the areoles; ribs numerous, often 23, low; pseudocephalium on the west side of the plant, consisting of a mass of long
white wool extending from the top of the branch downward sometimes for 5 to 6 dm.; spines yellow,
the radials short, hidden in the white hairs, the central spines 2 or 3, porrect, acicular, 2 to 3 cm. long;
flower opening at night, 4 cm. long; inner perianth-segments white, broad, short; stamens in 2
series; stamens in upper series with short filaments or none; stamens in lower series united at base
into a short tube; style slender, cream-colored, 3.5 cm. long; stigma-lobes about 15, linear; fruit
globular, naked, pinkish, 2.5 cm. in diameter; seeds black, roughened.
Fig. 30.—Cephalocereus dybowskii.
Type locality: Itumirin, Bahia, Brazil.
Distribution: Common on the dry hills in Bahia, where it forms dense thickets sometimes to the exclusion of all other plants.
Our description is based largely on the specimens collected by Dr. Rose at Barrinha,
Bahia, in 1915 (No. 19785).
In Bahia this species is called cabeça branca or mandacaru de penacho.
Figure 30 is from a photograph taken at Barrinha, Bahia, by Paul G. Russell in 1915.
CEPHALOCREUS
31
6. Cephalocereus macrocephalus Weber in Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 197. 1897.
Pilocereus macrocephalus Weber, Dict. Hort. Bois 966. 1898.
Cereus macrocephalus Berger, Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 16: 62. 1905.
Plant of great size, 10 to 16 meters high, with a very solid woody trunk 3 to 6 dm. in diameter,
simple or with a few ascending branches; pseudocephalium not so conspicuous as in Cephalocereus
senilis; ribs numerous (about 24), low, obtuse, pale green; radial spines about 12, spreading; central
spines several, sometimes 6 cm. long; flowering areoles spineless but bearing white, stiff hairs or
weak bristles; perianth about 5 cm. long, the tube bearing a few distant scales, the limb short, the
outer segments rounded.
Type locality: Tehuacán, Mexico.
Distribution: Southern Puebla, Mexico.
Dr. Rose found this species very common on a single hill near Tehuacán, forming a
forest of considerable size. The individual plants are often very large and the trunk is
so stout and woody that one can not cut down the plants readily, as is the case with Cephalocereus senilis and some other species of this genus.
Illustrations: Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 10: pl. 43, f. B; MacDougal, Bot. N. Amer.
Des. pl. 15; Nat. Geogr. Mag. 21: 698; Möllers Deutsche Gärt. Zeit. 29: 351. f. 6.
Plate 1 is from a photograph taken by Dr. MacDougal near Tehuacán in 1906.
7. Cephalocereus pentaedrophorus (Labouret).
Cereus pentaedrophorus Labouret, Monogr. Cact. 365. 1853.
Pilocereus polyedrophorus Lemaire, Rev. Hort. 1862: 428. 1862.
Pilocereus pentaedrophorus Console in Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 174. 1897.
Stems very slender, usually only 2 to 5 meters, rarely 7 or occasionally 10 meters high, 10 cm.
in diameter or less, bluish, glaucous especially toward the growing tip; ribs usually 4 to 6, but
occasionally as many as 8; areoles without wool,
often large, separated by horizontal grooves or depressions; spines yellow, various as to size and number, usually 6 to 12, the longest often 4 cm. long;
flowers 4 to 6 cm. long; perianth-tube bent near the
middle; ovary and tube green, glabrous, rarely with
a few minute scales; perianth-segments small, white;
fruit depressed-globose, 3 cm. broad; pulp red, juicy.
Type locality: Moro-Queimado, Bahia,
Brazil.
Distribution: Very common in the brush
country of Bahia, Brazil, but not found in dry
parts of that state.
Labouret (Monogr. Cact. 365. 1853) gives
Cereus pentalophorus Labouret and Cereus pentagonus glaucus Morel as synonyms.
Fig. 31.—Cephalocereus pentaedrophorus.
Fig. 32.—Fruit of Cephalocereus pentaedrophorus.
Fig. 33.—Flower of same. ×0.6.
×0.6.
This species differs from its relatives in its smaller flowers and fruits, in the flowertube being more or less curved or sometimes abruptly bent, and in the flowering areoles
32
THE CACTACEAE.
never producing long hairs or wool. The plant, although widely distributed in Bahia,
is not found in the dry parts where other cacti are common, but prefers the borders of the
deserts, growing usually as solitary individuals surrounded by bushes and small trees.
The stems, which are erect and usually unbranched, project about the surrounding vegetation. They are of a vivid glaucous-blue color and thus in striking contrast to their surroundings.
Plate iv, figure 1, shows the top of a flowering plant in the collection of the New York
Botanical Garden. Figure 31 is from a photograph taken in Bahia by Paul G. Russell in
1915; figure 32 shows a fruit collected by Dr. Rose at Machado Portella, Brazil; figure 33
shows a flower.
8. Cephalocereus polylophus (De Candolle) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 419.
1909.
Cereus polylophus De Candolle, Mém. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 17: 115. 1828.
Pilocereus polylophus Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1844. 24. 1845.
Erect, with simple stems 10 to 13 meters high, green; ribs 15 to 18; areoles small, 1 cm. apart
or less, bearing white felt but no wool; spines 7 or 8, yellow, straight, spreading; central spine single,
longer than the others; flowers 4 to 5 cm. long, about 3 cm. broad at top, narrowly funnelform;
free part of tube 6 to 8 mm. long with ridges down the inside; stamens included, inserted on the
throat; filaments about 5 mm. long, red;
inner perianth-segments probably red, broad
and short, rounded at apex; ovary somewhat
tuberculate; scales small, without felt, wool,
or hairs in their axils; scales of flower-tube
small, acute, spreading, with the tip reflexed.
Type locality: Mexico.
Distribution: Eastern Mexico.
In 1909 Dr. C. A. Purpus sent Dr.
Rose a small plant labeled Pilocereus
polylophus which is probably this species.
It is now only about 30 cm. high and
may be briefly described as follows: Ribs
14, strongly notched below the areoles;
areoles white-felted; spines 3 to 6, at first
brown, becoming white, acicular, about 1
cm. long.
The flower of this species is not typical
for the genus. We have never seen it in
bloom, but it did flower in the Missouri
Botanical Garden, August 24, 1905, and
our description is based on photographs,
specimens, and notes made by Mr. C. H.
Thompson at that time. The plant is
known in trade also as Cereus nickelsii
and is a shy bloomer in cultivation.
The name occurs in the Monatsschrift
Fig. 34.—Cephalocereus polylophus.
für Kakteenkunde for 1910 (20: 27).
Cereus angulosus Stieber (Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 175. 1897) belongs here.
Illustration: Bull. U. S. Dept. Agr. Bur. Pl. Industr. 262: pl. 9, as Pilocereus polylophus.
Figure 34 is from a photograph of the plant in flower at the Missouri Botanical Garden
in 1905, copied from Bulletin No. 262 of the Bureau of Plant Industry.
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
PLATE IV
M. E. Eaton del.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Flowering stem of Cephalocereus pentædrophorus.
Top of stem of Cephalocereus gounellei.
Top of stem of Cephalocereus bahamensis, with flower.
Fruit of Cephalocereus deeringii.
(All natural size.)
33
CEPHALOCREUS
9. Cephalocereus euphorbioides (Haworth).
Cereus euphorbioides Haworth, Suppl. Pl. Succ. 75. 1819.
Cactus euphorbioides Sprengel, Syst. 2: 496. 1825.
Pilocereus euphorbioides Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed.
2. 658. 1885.
Plant 3 to 5 meters high, columnar, usually simple; ribs 8,
acute, somewhat crenate; areoles less than 1 cm. apart, whitefelted; spines few, sometimes only 4 or 5, and then only 1 prominent, dark brown, porrect, about 1 cm. long; ovary 2 cm. long,
spirally tuberculate; tubercles bearing triangular scales sparingly
woolly in their axils, with 1 to 4 yellow spines; perianth-tube funnelform, campanulate, 4.5 cm. long; outer perianth-segments 15
mm. long, fleshy, reflexed, brown or reddish brown, the inner
ones 2 cm. long, reflexed, rose-red; flowers diurnal.
Type locality: Not cited.
Distribution: The Index Kewensis says South America; Schumann says Brazil, not Mexico; Rümpler says
Mexico and tropical America. Known to us only from
cultivated specimens.
Rümpler refers here Cereus conicus Hort. Berol.
(Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 97. 1837), which Pfeiffer states is
from Mexico. Cereus olfersii Salm-Dyck (Hort. Dyck. 335.
1834) probably belongs here. The Theodosia B. Shepherd
Company, in their Descriptive Catalogue for 1916, describes
briefly Cereus olfersii from Brazil as follows: “A magnificent Cereus, exceedingly stout growth; color light blue;
beautiful spines which are jet black and very long.”
Cereus polylophus is very similar in its habit and
flowers to this species. Although Haworth did not know
its origin, it is usually stated to have come from Brazil.
In habit it resembles Cephalocereus fluminensis.
Illustrations: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 17: 89, as Pilocereus euphorbioides; Rev. Hort. 57: 279. f. 47, 48, as Fig. 35.—Cephalocereus euphorbioides.
Cereus olfersii.
Figure 35 is from a photograph of a plant in the New York Botanical Garden.
10. Cephalocereus russelianus (Otto) Rose, Stand. Cycl. Hort. Bailey 2: 715.
1914.
Cereus russelianus Otto in Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort.
Dyck. 1849. 201. 1850.
Pilocereus russelianus Rümpler in Förster, Handb.
Cact. ed. 2. 682. 1885.
Often tree-like, up to 8 meters high, with a
much branched top and a definite woody trunk, 2
meters long and 2.5 dm. in diameter; branches elongated, nearly erect, dark green; ribs 4 to 6, stout, with
prominent horizontal creases on the sides; areoles 1
to 2 cm. apart, large and circular, when young bear ing
white wool sometimes 1 to 1.5 cm. long; spines 8
to 14, at first dark brown but in age becoming gray
except at the tips, 1 to 1.5 cm. long; flowers nocturnal,
7 to 9 cm. long, appearing from areoles anywhere on
the branches or even from the base of the old trunk,
cutting off after anthesis at the top of the ovary; top
of unopened flower tuberculate; upper scales and
outer perianth-segments broad, obtuse, thick, fleshy,
pinkish; inner perianth-segments narrow, almost
Fig. 36.—Flower of Cephalocereus russelianus.
Fig. 37.—Fruit of same. ×0.7.
×0.7.
34
THE CACTACEAE.
linear, cream-colored, erect; stamens numerous, included; ovary naked or nearly so, oblong,
olive-green; fruit crowned by the persisting style, salmon-colored, about 6 cm. long, when fully
mature splitting from top to bottom, exposing the white juicy pulp.
Type locality: La Guayra, Venezuela.
Distribution: Northern Venezuela and Colombia.
Collected by Dr. and Mrs. J. N. Rose in 1915, on the mountains between La Guayra
and Caracas (No. 21828) and again near Puerto Cabello, Venezuela (No. 21859).
This species was also collected by William R. Maxon in April 1906, at Puerto Colombia,
Colombia, and in June of the same year at the same place by H. Pittier, and by John G.
Sinclair in 1914, at Santa Marta, Colombia. Mr. Maxon’s plant was confused with Cephalocereus colombianus, based on material collected by Mr. Pittier from the State of Cauca.
Illustration: Möllers Deutsche Gärt. Zeit. 25: 473. f. 5, No. 5, as Pilocereus russelianus.
Figure 38 is from a photograph taken by Mrs. J. N. Rose above Caracas, Venezuela,
in 1916; figure 39 is from a photograph of the top of a plant collected by J. G. Sinclair
at Santa Marta; figure 36 shows the flower of the Caracas plant and figure 37 its fruit.
Fig. 38.—Cephalocereus russelianus.
Fig. 39.—Cephalocereus russelianus.
11. Cephalocereus gounellei (Weber).
Pilocereus gounellei Weber in Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 188. 1897.
Cereus setosus Gürke in Ule, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 18: 19. 1908. Not Loddiges. 1832.
Pilocereus setosus Gürke, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 8: 52. 1908.
Low, 1 to 2 or rarely 3 meters high, much branched and spreading to as much as 5 meters in
diameter, often with a definite woody trunk up to 12 cm. in diameter; lower branches at first spreading or creeping, the tips ascending or even erect, pointed, the upper branches horizontal; ribs 10
or 11, stout, acute, more or less tuberculate; areoles large, 1.5 cm. in diameter; flowering areoles
with many long white hairs covering the flower-buds; radial spines 15 to 24, widely spreading,
brown; central spines 4 to 6, subulate, much stronger than the radials, sometimes 10 cm. long;
perianth tubular to funnelform, white, 7 to 9 cm. long, glabrous, the limb shorter than the tube;
stigma-lobes 15 to 18; ovary glabrous; fruit purplish, depressed-globose.
CEPHALOCREUS
35
Type locality: Certão, Pernambuco, Brazil.
Distribution: Semi-arid parts of Pernambuco and Bahia, Brazil.
This species is very common in the dry parts of Bahia and Pernambuco, where it is
known as chique-chique. The town Chique Chique on the São Francisco River takes its
name from this plant. Several collections of this plant were made by Dr. Rose in Bahia
in 1915 (Nos. 19945, 19846, and 19289).
Fig. 40.—Cephalocereus gounellei.
The perianth is relatively longer and narrower than that of other species of this genus.
Illustrations: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 18: 21, as Cereus setosus; Vegetationsbilder 6: pl. 15, as Pilocereus setosus.
Plate iv, figure 2, shows the top of a plant collected by Dr. Rose near
Joazeiro, Bahia, in 1915. Figure 40 is a nearby view of a good-sized plant
taken by P. H. Dorsett in northern Bahia, Brazil, in 1914.
12. Cephalocereus zehntneri sp. nov.
Low, much branched, and spreading; branches 3 to 4 cm. in diameter, about
9-ribbed, more or less tubercled; areoles 1 to 2 cm. apart, long-hairy when young;
spines often 30 or more, only slightly spreading, all acicular and bright yellow, the
centrals similar to the radials or a little longer, the longer ones 3 to 4 cm. long;
flowering areoles producing with the flowers long tufts of white wool; flowers slender,
tubular, 6 to 7 cm. long, white to light cream-colored; inner perianth-segments
oblong, obtuse; style slender, glabrous, cone-shaped at base; ovary naked.
Fig. 41.—Flower
of C. zehntneri.
×0.6.
Collected by Leo Zehntner, from the Serra de Tiririca, Bahia, Brazil, November 1917.
It is called chique-chique das pedras and is similar in habit to the one from Joazeiro described
above. Dr. Zehntner says, however, that it prefers a rocky habitat while the common
chique-chique is found on sandy ground and this statement is in accordance with Dr.
36
THE CACTACEAE.
Rose’s observations. Dr. Zehntner also says it differs from the latter in its more numerous,
finer spines, which are of a light orange-yellow color. We find, too, that the radial spines
are less spreading, while the centrals are much like the radials, acicular, and not stoutsubulate as in the other species, and the flowers appear to be smaller.
Figure 41 shows a flower from the type plant.
13. Cephalocereus leucostele (Gürke).
Cereus leucostele Gürke, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 18: 53. 1908.
Plants normally simple, 2 to 5 meters tall, to 8 cm. in diameter, the joints surrounded by
peculiar bands or collars of long bristles; ribs 13 to 18, low; spines numerous, white, acicular, the
lateral ones spreading, the central much longer, 3 to 5 cm. long; flowers borne in a mass of wool
at top of plant but fruit becoming lateral by the prolongation of the stem; perianth slightly curved
Fig. 42.—Cephalocereus leucostele.
Fig. 43.—Cephalocereus smithianus.
downward, dull green, with a few small scales, 7 cm. long, opening in the early evening; perianthsegments short, waxy, white, tightly recurved; stamens numerous, included; filaments white, the
upper cluster thickly set all over the long throat, very short; the lower cluster few, fixed at top of
short tube proper, longer than the others, bent in just above their bases forming a knee and pressing
against the style; space between the two clusters of stamens short but definite; perianth-tube proper
1.5 cm. long; style slender, white, pressed against the upper part of tube; anthers dehiscing soon
after the flower expands, appressed against the tube; fruit smooth, longer than broad, 5 cm. long,
bluish green, the rind thick, the pulp white; seeds black, tuberculate.
37
CEPHALOCREUS
Type locality: Calderão, Bahia.
Distribution: Deserts of southern Bahia, Brazil.
A cutting, received from the Berlin Botanical Garden with the name Cereus albispinus Salm-Dyck, is strikingly similar to Cephalocereus leucostele.
In developing, the perianth carries flecks of wool with it from the dense white cushion
at the areole; the perianth-tube bears several distant scales passing into the numerous outer,
green, obtuse segments; inner perianth-segments about 25, ovate, white, acute, firm in
texture, reflexed-spreading, about 12 mm. long; stigma-lobes pale yellow, slightly exserted
when the perianth is fully expanded; stamens unequal in length Dr. Rose collected living
and herbarium specimens in Bahia in 1915 (No. 19902).
Illustration: Bot. Jahrb. Engler 40: Beibl. 93: pl. 5, as Cereus leucostele.
Figure 42 is from a photograph of a plant brought to the New York Botanical Garden
from Machado Portella, Bahia, by Dr. Rose in 1915; figure 44 shows a flower of this plant
and figure 45 its fruit.
Fig. 44.—Flower of Cephalocereus leucostele.
Fig. 45.—Fruit of same. ×0.7.
×0.7.
Fig. 46.—Flower of C. smithianus.
Fig. 47.—Fruit of same. ×0.7.
×0.7.
14. Cephalocereus smithianus sp. nov.
Stems weak and slender, 4 to 7 cm. in diameter, simple or much branched, erect or more or
less clambering; ribs 9 to 11, low and rounded, sometimes constricted between the areoles; areoles
rather large, felted; radial spines short, white, acicular, 1 cm. long or less; central spines several,
nearly porrect, the longest ones 3 to 4 cm. long, at first black, in age black only at tips; flower 6 to
8 cm. long, 4 cm. broad across the mouth, with a short funnelform tube bearing a few broad ovate
scales with reddish tips; inner perianth-segments short, rounded, white; ovary with a few minute
scales; fruit ovoid, 3 to 4 cm. in diameter, red, splitting on one side when mature; areoles on the
fruit each represented by a horizontal line 8 mm. long, subtended by a minute brown scale; pulp
white; seeds black.
Collected by Dr. and Mrs. J. N. Rose just below Zig Zag, between La Guayra and
Caracas, Venezuela, October 25, 1916 (No. 21889, type) and by Dr. Rose and Major C. C.
Smith near Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, October 28 (No. 21852); also by Dr. Britton, Mr.
W. G. Freeman, and Professor T. E. Hazen on Patos Island, Trinidad, a few miles from
the Venezuelan Coast, March 13, 1920 (No. 532).
In form its flower is not quite typical of the genus.
This species is named for Major Cornelius C. Smith, U. S. Army, who accompanied
and assisted Dr. Rose during some of his excursions in northern Venezuela in 1916.
Figure 43 is from a photograph of a plant brought by Dr. Rose to the New York
Botanical Garden from Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, in 1916; figure 46 shows the flower
and figure 47 the fruit, collected by Dr. Rose between Caracas and La Guayra.
38
THE CACTACEAE.
15. Cephalocereus bahamensis Britton, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 415.
1909.
Cereus bahamensis Vaupel, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23: 23. 1913.
Plant 3 to 4 meters high, often 20 cm. thick at the base; branches divergent-ascending, 7 to 9
cm. thick, dull green, not pruinose, 10 or 11-ribbed, the ribs blunt or acutish, rather higher than
wide; areoles 1 to 1.5 cm. apart; spines 15 to 20, acicular, radiately spreading and ascending, grayish
brown to yellowish brown when old, 1 to 1.5 cm. long, the young ones yellowish with darker bases,
the uppermost 2.5 to 3 cm. long; wool very short, shorter than the spines, or none; flower 5 to 6
cm. long, brownish outside, the tube bluish; inner perianth-segments creamy white, tinged with
pink, acute; style pale greenish white, sometimes slightly exserted; fruit depressed-globose, 3 to
4 cm. in diameter.
Type locality: Frozen Cay, Berry Islands, Bahamas.
Distribution: Bahamas.
Illustration: Journ. N. Y. Bot. Gard.
11: f. 20.
Plate iv, figure 3, shows a cutting of
the type plant which flowered in the
New York Botanical Garden July 24,
1912. Figure 48 is from a photograph
of the type plant in flower; figure 49 is
from a photograph taken by Dr. Paul
Bartsch on Andros Island.
Fig. 48.—Cephalocereus bahamensis.
Fig. 49.—Cephalocereus bahamensis.
16. Cephalocereus deeringii Small, Journ. N. Y. Bot. Gard. 18: 201. 1917.
Plant slender, often becoming 10 meters tall, the stem erect, simple or with few erect, short or
elongated fastigiate branches which are ascending or erect and appressed to the main stem, the
branches deep green, but sometimes rather light, usually 10-ribbed, sometimes 9-ribbed; areoles
copiously short-hairy, the hairs rather persistent; spines acicular, 25 to 31 together, the longer ones
1 cm. long or more; flowers opening in the afternoon, about 6 cm. long, elongate-campanulate,
light green without; outer perianth-segments obovate, obtuse, rounded, or emarginate; inner
perianth-segments 9 to 11 mm. long, clawless, oval, rounded at the apex, erose, scarcely narrowed at
the base; anthers less than 2 mm. long; fruit much depressed, 3.5 to 4 cm. in diameter, dark red;
seeds about 2 mm. long, shining.
B RIT TON AND ROSE, VOL. II
A clump of plants of Cephalocereus deeringii on Lower Matacumbe Key, Florida.
P L ATE V
CEPHALOCREUS
39
Type locality: Lower Matecumbe Key, Florida.
Distribution: Rocky hammocks, Lower Matecumbe Key, Florida.
The plant was named for Charles Deering, whose deep interest in the botanical exploration of Florida and in the preservation of its hammocks from destruction and its rare native
plants from extermination, enabled Dr. Small to rediscover, study, and satisfactorily determine the relationship of this plant.
Plants similar to those from Upper and Lower
Matecumbe Key have been collected on Umbrella Key,
which is a few miles north of Lower Matecumbe, and
these plants represent, without much doubt, the same
species.
Illustration: Journ. N. Y. Bot. Gard. 18: pl. 206.
Plate iv, figure 4, shows a fruit from the type plant;
plate v is from a photograph of the type colony of
plants on Lower Matecumbe Key, taken by Dr. Small
in May 1917. Figure 50 shows the flower and figure
Fig. 50.—Flower of C. deeringii. ×0.7.
51 the fruit with withering persistent corolla.
Fig. 51.—Fruit of same. ×0.7.
17. Cephalocereus robinii (Lemaire).
Pilocereus robinii Lemaire, Illustr. Hort. 11: Misc. 74. 1864.
Cephalocereus bakeri Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 415. 1909.
Cereus bakeri Vaupel, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23: 23. 1913
Plant 3 to 8 meters high,
branching near and above the
base; branches ascending, 7 to 10
cm. thick, dull green, bright glaucous green when young; ribs 10 to
13, acutish; areoles 1 to 1.5 cm.
apart, bearing short wool; spines
15 to 20, acicular, 1 to 2.5 cm.
long, yellow when young, becoming gray, the centrals hardly
different from the radials; flowering areoles close together; flowers
brownish green, 5 cm. long, 3 cm.
broad at widest part of throat,
constricted at top of tube proper,
alliaceous in odor; tube green and
slightly glaucous; ovary and lower
Fig. 52.—Flower of C. robinii.
Fig. 53.—Fruit of same. ×0.7.
×0.7
Fig. 54.—Cephalocereus robinii.
part of tube with a few small scales; upper scales broadly ovate with bluish purple tips passing
into greenish or cream-colored perianth-segments, the inner segments white; tube proper very short
(1 cm. long or less); throat 2.5 cm. long, bearing stamens all over its surface; stamens white,
40
THE CACTACEAE.
included, the inner row appressed against the style; style creamy white, 6 cm. long, exserted
beyond the perianth-segments; fruit 4 cm. in diameter, flattened above, dark wine-colored; seeds
smooth, black, shining.
Type locality: Near Habana, Cuba.
Distribution: Coastal regions of Matanzas and Habana, Cuba.
This species was recorded by Grisebach as Cereus royenii armatus.
Illustrations: Journ. N. Y. Bot. Gard. 11: 226, f. 28; Roig, Cact. Fl. Cub. pl. [3], f. 1,
as Cephalocereus bakeri.
Figure 52 shows a flower of Cephalocereus robinii, and figure 53 its fruit; figure 54 is
from a photograph of the plant obtained by Brother Léon at the type locality.
18. Cephalocereus keyensis Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 416.
1909.
Cereus keyensis Vaupel, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23: 23. 1913.
Plant 5 to 6 meters high, little branched, the branches almost erect, 5 to 6 cm. in diameter, the
trunk up to 12 cm. thick; ribs 9 or 10, narrow, separated by deep grooves, bluish green, very glaucous;
areoles 1 to 2 cm. apart, slightly elevated; spines about 15, acicular, yellow, diverging, 1.5 cm. long
or less; wool very short, less than 1 mm. long, white, turning grayish; flowers brownish purple,
narrowly campanulate, 6 cm. long, with a strong odor of garlic when opening in the late afternoon
or evening, odorless the next morning; outer perianth-segments oblong-spatulate, bluntly pointed, the
inner acutish; style scarcely exserted; fruit depressed-globose, reddish, 3.5 cm. thick, about 2 cm. high.
Fig. 55.—Cephalocereus keyensis.
Fig. 56.—Flower of C. keyensis.
Fig. 57.—Fruit of same. ×0.7.
×0.7,
Fig. 58.—Flower of Cephalocereus monoclonos.
Type locality: Hammock, Key West, Florida.
Distribution: Key West, Big Pine Key, and Boca Chica Key.
The plant is now very nearly exterminated on Key West, owing to the necessity for
military purposes during the war with Germany of clearing the hammock in which it grew.
Dr. Small succeeded in establishing it in flourishing masses in the cactus garden of Mr.
Charles Deering at Buena Vista, Miami, Florida.
Illustration: Journ. N. Y. Bot. Gard. 10: f. 25.
Figure 55 is from a photograph of the type plant taken by Marshall A. Howe; figure
56 shows its flower and figure 57 its fruit.
CEPHALOCREUS
41
19. Cephalocereus monoclonos (De Candolle) Britton and Rose, Contr. U.S. Nat. Herb. 12: 418. 1909.
Cereus monoclonos De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 464. 1828.
Melocactus monoclonos Steudel, Nom. ed. 2. 2: 122. 1841.
Stems simple, erect, tall, mostly 8-ribbed; ribs triangular in section, high, obtuse; spines 10
to 16, short, about equal, spreading; flowering areoles with only a few short hairs; flower-tube
short and thick, bearing a few broad, pointed scales; perianth-segments white, numerous, spreading, retuse; stamens not exserted, numerous; style slender, long-exserted, with 5 or 6 stigma-lobes;
fruit purple, globular, naked, thick-walled, with numerous shining seeds.
Type locality: Caribbean Islands, according to De Candolle.
Distribution: Probably Hispaniola.
There are probably two species of this genus on Hispaniola, although a half-dozen
species have been described, two of them based on the same illustration. We believe that
C. monoclonos is one of these. De Candolle, however, who first took up this species under
Cereus, and who knew it only from Plumier’s description and his somewhat conventionalized plate, gave its range as Caribbean Islands, but since most of Plumier’s plates are
supposed to be based on Hispaniola plants, it should be looked for on that island; however,
explorations on both sides of the island in recent years have failed to bring it to light.
Illustration: Plumier, Pl. Amer. ed. Burmann, pl. 191.
Figure 58 is copied from Plumier’s plate above cited.
20. Cephalocereus scoparius (Poselger) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 419.
1909.
Pilocereus scoparius Poselger, Allg. Gartenz. 21: 126. 1853.
Cereus scoparius Berger, Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 16: 63. 1905.
“Arborescent; much branched, 20 to 2 5 feet high. Trunk a foot and more in diameter.
Branches often very long, 2 to 3 inches in diameter. The younger branches, which have not yet
borne flowers, are somewhat different from the older ones which have borne flowers. The former
(younger) have 12 to 15 ribs. Ribs blunt, the furrows tolerably sharp. Areoles 8 to 12 lines apart,
naked, somewhat thickened and protruding, close under the areole a strongly marked horizontal
impression, through which the ribs appear serrated. Radial spines 5, somewhat bent downward,
21/2 to 4 lines long. Central spine 1, stout, sharp, bent upward, blackish when young, later whitish,
1 inch long. The latter (older) flower-bearing branches are usually thinner, having 20 to 25 ribs;
these are lower, blunter, and much closer together. Areoles very thick. Radial spines 5 to 7,
central spine 1, all of the spines 10 to 15 lines long, bristle-like, brown. Flowers very sparse, small,
almost campanulate (bell-shaped) reddish. Fruit red, of the size of a hazel-nut. Seeds large,
black, shiny.” This is a translation of the original description.
Type locality: Near La Soledad (near Vera Cruz, Mexico).
Distribution: Known only from the type locality.
Pilocereus sterkmannii Hortus is an unpublished name cited in the synonymy of P.
scoparius by Schumann (Gesamtb. Kakteen 179. 1897)
We know the plant only from description. Schumann (Gesamtb. Kakteen 179)
states that the flowering tops have up to 25 ribs.
21. Cephalocereus moritzianus (Otto).
Cereus moritzianus Otto in Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 84. 1837.
Pilocereus moritzianus Lemaire, Illustr. Hort. 13: under pl. 469. 1866.
Tree-like, up to 10 meters high, sometimes with 50 ascending branches, green or bluish; ribs
7 to 10, obtuse, separated by acute intervals; areoles 10 to 12 mm. apart, all white-woolly at first;
flowering areoles with tufts of wool 1 cm. long or longer; spines slender, at first brownish, rigid,
straight, 1 to 3.5 cm. long; radial spines 6 to 8; central spines 3; flowers 5 cm. long, the outer
perianth-segments broad, short, the inner white, obtuse; fruit red, depressed, naked, 4 to 5 cm.
broad.
Type locality: La Guayra, Venezuela.
Distribution: Venezuela; northwestern mainland and Bocas Islands of Trinidad;
Tobago.
42
THE CACTACEAE.
This species is common above La Guayra and about Puerto Cabello, Venezuela,
especially about the latter place, where it is the most common cactus seen, being abundant
both on the hills and on the flats near the sea. Its branches are often overrun by orchids,
vines, and bromeliads.
It is abundant on Monos, Chacachacare, and Patos Islands of Trinidad, inhabiting
rocky hillsides and cliffs, and varying from slender, light green, and simple-stemmed in
sunny situations to stout, dark green, and much branched in woodlands.
Cereus pfeifferi Parmentier (Pfeiffer,
Allg. Gartenz. 5: 370. 1837) 15 referred to the
synonymy of Cereus moritzianus by Labouret
(Monogr. Cact. 344. 1853), who also states
on the same page that in Monville’s Catalogue is indicated the variety C. moritzianus
pfeifferi. As Cereus pfeifferi is supposed to
have originally come from Buenos Aires, it is
more likely to be a true Cereus.
Fig. 59.—Flower of Cephalocereus moritzianus.
Fig. 60.—Fruit of same. Both ×0.7.
Fig. 61.—Cephalocereus moritzianus.
Figure 61 is from a photograph taken by Mrs. J. N. Rose near Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, in 1916; figure 59 shows the flower of this plant; figure 60 a fruit of same.
22. Cephalocereus arrabidae (Lemaire).
Pilocereus arrabidae Lemaire, Rev. Hort. 1862: 429. 1862.
Cereus warmingii Schumann in Martius, Fl. Bras. 4 2: 204. 1890.
Pilocereus exerens Schumann in Engler and Prantl, Pflanzenfam. 3 6a: 181. 1894.
Cephalocereus exerens Rose, Stand. Cycl. Hort. Bailey 2: 715. 1914.
Rather low but sometimes 3 meters high, often much branched at base, usually pale, somewhat
glaucous; branches 6 to 10 cm. in diameter; ribs 6 to 8, high, obtuse; areoles rather close together,
producing long hairs when young, but no tufts of hairs or wool at flowering time; spines 5 to 10,
acicular to subulate, unequal, the longest up to 4 cm. long, brownish or sometimes yellowish; flowers
6 cm. long; inner perianth-segments white; fruit depressed, 6 cm. broad; seeds black, shining.
Type locality: Not cited.
Distribution: Along the sandy coast of Brazil.
The synonymy of this coastal species of Brazil is very complicated, for it has been confused with a Mexican species of uncertain relationship. An attempt is here made to account
for the various names. Schumann took up the specific name exerens for it, basing it on
Cereus exerens, an unpublished name of Link. Pilocereus arrabidae Lemaire seems to be
the oldest definite name for the plant. This is not to be confused with Cereus arrabidae
(Steudel, Nom. ed. 2. 1: 333. 1840) as it has been in the Index Kewensis.
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
PLATE VI
A HOEN & CO
M. E. Eaton del.
1. Top of flowering stem of Cephalocereus arrabidae.
2. Top of flowering stem of Cephalocereus nobilis.
3. Top of flowering stem of Cephalocereus barbadensis.
(Natural size.)
CEPHALOCREUS
43
Schumann refers here Cereus virens Pfeiffer (Enum. Cact. 99. 1837; Pilocereus
virens Lemaire, Illustr. Hort. 13: Misc. 20. 1866), but Pfeiffer really did not propose a
new name, although the plant he described may have been different from De Candolle’s
(Mém. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 17: 116. 1828), which came from Mexico, for the latter is
definitely stated to have been sent by T. Coulter from there, and is described as a simple,
light green, 5-ribbed plant; it may be a Lemaireocereus. Schumann refers Cereus sublanatus Salm-Dyck (Hort. Dyck. 337. 1834) here, but this reference is to be questioned.
If the two are the same the name sublanatus must be taken up instead of arrabidae.
Cereus exerens Link (Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 99. 1837) was never described but given as
a synonym of Cereus virens. Cereus retroflexus Pfeiffer (Allg. Gartenz. 3: 380. 1835) and
C. reflexus Steudel (Nom. ed. 2. 1: 335.
1840) were given as synonyms of C.
tilophorus. Cereus ericomus, given as
a synonym of Pilocereus exerens, was
given by Salm-Dyck (Cact. Hort. Dyck.
1849. 47. 1850) as a synonym of C. virens.
Illustrations: Schumann, Gesamtb.
Kakteen f. 39, as Pilocereus exerens;
Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 2: 41, as Pilocereus virens; Martius, Fl. Bras, 42: pl.
40, as Cereus macrogonus; Vellozo, Fl.
Flum. 5: pl. 18, as Cactus hexagonus;
also pl. 19, as Cactus heptagonus.
Fig. 62.—Fruit of Cephalocereus arrabidae. ×0.7.
Fig. 63.—Cephalocereus arrabidae.
Plate vi, figure 1, shows a flowering joint of a plant brought by Dr. Rose to the New
York Botanical Garden from Iguaba Grande, Brazil, in 1915. Figure 62 shows the fruit
collected by Dr. Rose at Bahia in the same year; figure 63 is from a photograph taken
by Paul G. Russell on Juparyba Island, Bay of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the same year.
23. Cephalocereus urbanianus (Schumann) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 420. 1909.
Pilocereus urbanianus Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 193. 1897.
Cereus urbanianus Berger, Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 16: 63. 1905. Not Gürke and Weingart. 1904.
Simple and columnar or branching at base, sometimes 4 meters high, 3 cm. in diameter; branches
4 to 5 cm. in diameter, woolly at apex; ribs 8 to 12, obtuse; spines 10 to 13, spreading, stiff but flexuous;
central spines distinct from the radials; flowers on one side of the stem, the flowering areoles bearing
long brown wool and bristle-like spines often 4 to 6 cm. long; flower 3 to 4 cm. long; ovary bearing
small scales; fruit depressed, 3 cm. broad; seeds black, smooth, shining.
Type locality: Guadeloupe Island, West Indies.
Distribution: Guadeloupe, Martinique, and, apparently, Grenada.
We have not seen this species alive; it is based upon Père Duss’s No. 3506, of which
material is preserved in the herbaria of the New York Botanical Garden and the United
States National Museum. Specimens from Woodlands, St. George’s, Grenada (W. F
Broadway, No. 1766) appear to be referable to this species.
44
THE CACTACEAE.
24. Cephalocereus nobilis (Haworth) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 418.
1909.
Cereus nobilis Haworth, Syn. Pl. Succ. 179. 1812.
Cactus strictus Willdenow, Enum. Suppl. 32. 1813. Not C. strictus Haworth, 1803.
Cactus haworthii Sprengel, Syst. 2: 495. 1825.
Cactus niger Salm-Dyck in Sprengel, Syst. 2: 495. 1825.
Cereus strictus De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 465. 1828.
Cereus haworthii De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 465. 1828.
Cereus aureus Salm-Dyck in De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 465. 1828.
Cereus curtisii Otto in Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 81. 1837.
Cereus lutescens Salm-Dyck in Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 84. 1837.
Cereus violaceus Lemaire, Cact. Gen. Nov. Sp. 57. 1839.
Cereus nigricans Lemaire, Cact. Gen. Nov. Sp. 57. 1839.
Pilocereus curtisii Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1844. 24. 1845.
Pilocereus consolei Lemaire, Rev. Hort. 1862: 427. 1862.
Pilocereus haworthii Console in Lemaire, Rev. Hort. 1862: 428. 1862.
Pilocereus nigricans Sencke in Lemaire, Illustr. Hort. 13: Misc. 20. 1866.
Pilocereus lutescens Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 675. 1885.
Pilocereus strictus Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 687. 1885.
Pilocereus nobilis Schumann in Engler and Prantl, Pflanzenfam. 181. 1894.
Pilocereus strictus consolei Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 190. 1897.
Plant much branched and spreading, the ultimate branches slender, erect, green, shining when
young, not at all glaucous, 8 to 10-ribbed; areoles about 1 cm. apart, at first producing only a little
wool and this appressed against the ribs, but wool in flowering areoles very dense but short, white;
spines up to 3.5 cm. long, acicular, at first yellow, soon brown; flower-buds obtuse or nearly truncate;
flowers 4 to 6 cm. long; upper scales and outer perianth-segments broad, rounded at apex; inner
perianth-segments purple; style exserted; fruit depressed-globose.
Type locality: West Indies.
Distribution: St. Christopher to Grenada.
The plant has escaped from cultivation on the island of St. Thomas, and has been
grown at Hope Gardens, Jamaica.
As to the locality for C. curtisii, Pfeiffer (Enum. Cact. 81. 1837) gives Grenada, following Hooker, who originally published it as from Grenada, while Pfeiffer and Otto (Abbild.
Beschr. Cact. 1: pl. 11) give New Granada also as its original habitat.
Cereus aureus pallidior Salm-Dyck (Hort. Dyck. 63. 1834), given by name only, is
referred by Pfeiffer (Enum. Cact. 84. 1837) as a synonym of C. lutescens Salm-Dyck.
Cereus mollis and C. nigricans (Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 83. 1837) and C. mollis nigricans
(Labouret, Monogr. Cact. 349. 1853) were given as synonyms of Cereus strictus. C. niger*
Salm-Dyck (Observ. Bot. 3: 4. 1822) and C. niger gracilior Salm-Dyck (Hort. Dyck. 63.
1834) may also belong here. Cereus trichacanthus (Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849.
46. 1850) was given as a synonym of Cereus lutescens and Pilocereus trichacanthus (Rümpler
in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 675. 1885) of Pilocereus lutescens. Here also, Echinocereus
trichacanthus, only a name, is referred by the Index Kewensis.
Illustrations: Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 16: pl. 4, f. 2, as Cereus strictus; Pfeiffer and Otto,
Abbild. Beschr. Cact. 1: pl. 11, as Cereus curtisii; Curtis’s Bot. Mag. 59: Pl. 3125, as Cereus
royeni; Krook, Handb. Cact. 92, as Pilocereus.
Plate vi, figure 2, shows a flowering branch of a plant in the collection of the New
York Botanical Garden. Figure 64 is from a photograph of the plant growing on St.
Thomas, taken by W. R. Fitch in 1913.
25. Cephalocereus barbadensis sp. nov.
Plant light green, tall, 3 to 6 meters high, with ascending or spreading columnar branches; ribs
usually 8 or 9, high, separated by acute intervals; areoles 1 cm. apart; spines acicular, 1 to 4 cm.
* Pilocereus niger is different f rom Cactus niger Salm-Dyck and is not a synonym of Cereus nobilis, although it
was referred to P. strictus by Schumann (Gesamtb. Kakteen 189. 1897). Neumann described Pilocereus niger
(Rev. Hort. II. 4: 289. 1845), a new species based on plants sent f rom Mexico by M. Ocampo. This species in the
index Kewensis and also in Schumann’s Monograph is attributed to Poiteau, one of the editors of the Revue, but the
article is signed by Neumann and, therefore, he should be made the author for the name. The Index Kewensis also
makes it a synonym of Cereus niger, which it is not, nor should it be referred to this plant as it is by Schumann.
45
CEPHALOCREUS
long, numerous, light brown; flowering areoles confined to one side of the branch and near its top;
sometimes only on 3 ribs, producing abundant, long, white wool; flowers 5 to 6 cm. long; tube short
and thick, greenish below, red above; perianth-segments numerous, light pink, spreading, obtuse;
stamens scarcely exserted, dull yellowish white; style included; fruit red, subglobose, 3.5 cm. in
diameter; seeds minute, shining, black.
Collected by J. N. Rose in company with W. Nowell, of the Imperial Department of
Agriculture for the West Indies, on Barbados, September 30, 1915 (No. 21181). This species
is found only on the exposed hills near the ocean on the eastern side of the island.
Plate vi, figure 3, shows the top of the type specimen in the New York Botanical
Garden in flower in 1916. Figure 65 is from a photograph of the same plant; figure 66
is from a photograph taken near Boscobel, St. Andrew, February 9, 1919, communicated
by Sir Francis Watts.
Fig. 64.—Cephalocereus nobilis.
Fig. 65.—Cephalocereus barbadensis.
26. Cephalocereus millspaughii Britton, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 417.
1909.
Cereus millspaughii Vaupel, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23: 23. 1913.
Stem branched, 2 to 6 meters high, 20 cm. thick at the base, the branches nearly erect, 8 to
12 cm. thick, pale grayish green, pruinose, 8 to 13-ribbed; ribs acutish, about as wide as high or a
little wider; areoles 1 to 2 cm. apart; spines about 20, acicular, widely radiating, 1 to 2 cm. long, or
at the flower-bearing (upper) areoles 3 to 7 cm. long, the old ones gray-brown, the young ones
46
THE CACTACEAE.
yellow or yellowish brown, with darker bases; upper areoles on one side of the plant with large
tufts of whitish wool 5 to 7 cm. long, often as long as the spines or longer; flowers greenish, 6 to
7 cm. long; tube obconic with a spreading limb, 6 to 7 cm. broad, slightly purple, a little glaucous;
scales on ovary and flower-tube few, small, acute;
inner perianth-segments waxy, rigid, white, 1.5 to
2 cm. long; style white; fruit depressed-globose,
about two-thirds as long as thick, about 4 cm. in
diameter.
Fig. 66.—Cephalocereus barbadensis.
Fig. 67.—Cephalocereus millspaughii.
Type locality: Cave Cay, Exuma Chain,
Bahamas.
Distribution: Bahamas; Cays of northern
Cuba.
Figure 67 is from a photograph, taken by
Marshall A. Howe in 1907 on the island Mariguana, Bahamas; figure 68 represents the fruit
of the type specimen.
27. Cephalocereus swartzii (Grisebach) Britton and
Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 420. 1909.
Fig. 68.—Fruit of Cephalocereus millspaughii. ×0.7
Cereus swartzii Grisebach. Fl. Brit. W. Ind. 301. 1860. Fig. 69.—Flower of Cephalocereus royenii. ×0.7.
Tall, 2 to 7 meters high, often simple; branches obtuse at apex; ribs 10, obtuse, strongly indented
between the areoles; spines 8 to 10, or in young plants 20 or more from an areole, the longer ones 2.5
cm. long, slightly spreading; flowers pinkish to greenish yellow, sometimes borne on all the ribs,
usually near the tops of the branches, surrounded with masses of white hair and long bristles;
perianth 5 to 6 cm, long, the inner perianth-segments obtuse; fruit depressed-globose, 3 cm. in
diameter, perhaps larger.
Type locality: Jamaica.
Distribution: Southern side of Jamaica.
Cephalocereus swartzii, which is confined to the dry southern portions of Jamaica,
has frequently been confused with Lemaireocereus hystrix, which is very commonly used as a
hedge plant along the country roads about Kingston.
CEPHALOCREUS
47
Schumann (Gesamtb. Kakteen 184. 1897) by mistake attributed the name Pilocereus
swartzii to Grisebach.
Figure 70 is from a photograph obtained by Wm. Harris near Port Henderson, Jamaica.
28. Cephalocereus polygonus (Lamarck) Britton and
Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 418. 1909.
Cactus polygonus Lamarck, Encycl. 1: 539. 1783.
Cereus polygonus De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 466.
1828.
Pilocereus plumieri Lemaire, Rev. Hort. 1862:
427. 1862.
Pilocereus schlumbergeri Weber in Schumann,
Gesamtb. Kakteen 186. 1897.
Pilocereus polygonus Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 196. 1897.
Plants at first simple, but when old with large,
much branched tops, 3 meters high or more; trunk
erect, 1 to 1.5 meters long below the branches;
branches elongated, erect or ascending, 5 to 13ribbed; young growth, at least in some forms, very
blue; ribs rather narrow, 2 cm. high or more, grooved
on their sides; areoles closely set, often only 1 cm.
apart, producing long tawny wool, longer than the
short acicular spines; old areoles without wool, vigorous and producing very different spines from the new
ones; first spines acicular or setaceous, 1 to 1.5 cm.
long, yellow, becoming gray or darker by age; supplementary spines elongated, subulate, yellowish
brown, 2 to 7 cm. long; flowering areoles very
woolly; flowers 5 to 6 cm. long, white; perianthsegments rounded or somewhat acutish; fruit globular, 3 to 4 cm. in diameter; seeds numerous,
small, 2 cm. long, smooth, shining.
Type locality: Santo Domingo.
Distribution: Dry parts of Hispaniola.
Illustration: Plumier, Pl. Amer. ed. Burmann, pl. 196.
Plate vii, figure 1, is from a photograph
taken by Paul G. Russell near Azua, Santo
Domingo, in 1913.
29. Cephalocereus gaumeri sp. nov.
Plant 6 meters high, light green, slender, often
Fig. 70.—Cephalocereus swartzii.
only 2 to 3 cm., but sometimes 6 cm., in diameter;
ribs 8 or 9, 6 to 8 mm. high; areoles 6 to 10, bear-ing
short felt and cobwebby hairs when young; flowering areoles bearing tufts of white wool 1 to 2
cm. long, 1 to 2 mm. apart; spines numerous, 15 to 25, acicular, 1 to 5 cm. long, yellowish brown
when young; flowers “light green,” 5 to 7 cm. long; scales on the ovary and lower part of the
flower-tube few, minute, acute; scales on the upper part of the tube and outer perianth-segments
broadly ovate, acute; inner perianth-segments oblong, acute; stamens included; style long-exserted;
stigma-lobes 12; fruit depressed, brownish, somewhat ridged, 4.5 cm. long.
This species has been repeatedly collected by Dr. George F. Gaumer in Yucatan and
has been distributed by him under various numbers. In 1918 he sent living plants to the
New York Botanical Garden and these flowered the same year. This number (No. 23934)
is made the type of the species.
Schott also collected this species in Yucatan and indicated it as a new species of Cereus,
but this was never published. His sheet, now in the Field Museum of Natural History,
bears drawings and paintings of the flowers and fruit.
48
THE CACTACEAE.
30. Cephalocereus chrysacanthus (Weber) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 416. 1909.
Pilocereus chrysacanthus Weber in Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 178. 1897.
Cereus chrysacanthus Orcutt, West Amer. Sci. 13: 63. 1902.
Plant 3 to 5 meters high, branching near the base; branches erect or ascending, glaucous; ribs
about 12; areoles about 1 cm. apart; spines 12 to 15, the longer ones 3 to 4 cm. long, at first golden
yellow, becoming darker in age; flowers borne in definite zones on one side of the branch, accompanied by dense masses of long white hairs, nocturnal, 7 to 8 cm. long, rose-red; fruit smooth, reddish
or purplish, about 3 cm. in diameter, the flesh red; seeds black.
Type locality: Near Tehuacán, Mexico.
Distribution: Puebla and Oaxaca, Mexico.
Illustration: MacDougal, Bot. N. Amer. Des. pl. 17, in part, as Pilocereus chrysacanthus;
Möllers Deutsche Gärt. Zeit. 29: 356. f. 12.
Plate vii, figure 2, is from a photograph taken by Dr. MacDougal near Esperanza,
Mexico, in 1906.
31. Cephalocereus maxonii Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 417.
1909.
Cereus maxonii Vaupel, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23: 23. 1913.
Plant 2 to 3 meters high, with few long branches, erect or nearly so, in mature plants the tops
of the branches for about 30 cm. clothed with white hairs 4 to 5 cm. long; ribs 6 to 8, acute, pale
blue and somewhat glaucous; areoles small; spines about 10, slender, yellow, the central single, 4
cm. long, all nearly hidden in flowering areoles by the long white hairs; flowers purple, 4 cm. long;
ovary naked except for a few small scales; fruit 3.5 cm. broad, broader than high; seeds brownish,
reticulate, with an oblique basal hilum.
Fig. 71.—Cephalocereus maxonii.
Fig. 72.—Cephalocereus piauhyensis.
Type locality: Near El Rancho, Guatemala.
Distribution: Guatemala.
This species, although discovered only a few years ago, has been repeatedly collected
since and is now to be found in living collections. It is called organo in Guatemala.
B R IT TON A ND ROSE, VOL. II
2. Larger plant of Cephalocereus chrysanthus.
P L ATE V I I
1. Plants of Cephalocereus polygonus.
49
CEPHALOCREUS
Illustration: Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: pl. 64.
Figure 71 is from a photograph taken near Salama, Guatemala, by W. R. Maxon in 1905.
32. Cephalocereus piauhyensis (Gürke).
Cereus piauhyensis Gürke, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 18: 84. 1908.
Plant tree-like, 5 to 10 meters high; trunk woody, 3 to 5 dm. in diameter, with a smooth,
nearly spineless bark; branches 20 to 100, slender, bluish green; ribs 13, low; areoles large, each flowering one bearing a tuft of long white hairs; spines numerous, yellowish brown, acicular, unequal, the
longest 3 cm. long; flowers 3.5 to 4 cm. long, naked; fruit depressed, glaucous, 4 cm. broad, naked.
Type locality: Rocks of the Serra Branca, Piauhy, Brazil.
Distribution: On the dry hills in the caatinga along the São Francisco River in the States
of Bahia and Piauhy, Brazil.
It resembles Cephalocereus catingicola, but has more slender branches, more ribs, smaller
flowers, and smaller fruits. The trunk is woody, very heavy, and is often sawed into
boards and used for making picture frames and the like. We have referred here the plant
collected by Dr. Rose in Bahia without having seen the type of the species.
Figure 72 is from a photograph taken by Paul G. Russell east of Joazeiro, Bahia,
Brazil, in 1915.
33. Cephalocereus lanuginosus (Linnaeus) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 417. 1909.
Cactus lanuginosus Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 467. 1753.
Cereus lanuginosus Miller, Gard. Dict. ed. 8. No. 3. 1768, as to name only.
Cereus crenulatus Salm-Dyck, Observ. Bot. 3: 6. 1822.
Cereus lanuginosus glaucescens Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 80. 1837.
Pilocereus crenulatus Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 655. 1885.
Pilocereus lanuginosus Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 672. 1885.
Often tall and tree-like, either nearly simple or much branched; branches elongated, to 13ribbed, bright blue, somewhat glaucous; ribs rounded when young, separated by acute intervals;
spines acicular, light yellow when young; young areoles all woolly, the flowering ones bearing dense
tufts of wool, but this not very long; flowering areoles confined to 2 to 4 ribs on the south side of the
plant; flower-buds short, green, rounded at the apex; flowers opening in the early evening, 6 cm.
long; outer perianth-segments short, green; inner perianth-segments ovate, white, short; stamens
numerous, included; style rigid, white, slightly exserted; stigma-lobes white; fruit depressed, red,
naked.
Type locality: Island of Curaçao.
Distribution: Curaçao, Aruba, Bonaire.
Cereus crenulatus gracilior Salm-Dyck (Hort. Dyck. 63. 1834) 15 only a mentioned name.
Illustrations: Loudon, Encycl. Pl. f. 6861, as Cactus lanuginosus; Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard.
16: pl. 4, f. 5 as Cereus lanuginosus; Hermann, Par. Botavus pl. 115, as Cereus erectus, etc;
Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 12: 56, as Pilocereus lanuginosus.
Figure 73 is from a photograph taken on Curaçao by Mrs. J. N. Rose in 1916.
34. Cephalocereus brooksianus Britton and Rose, Torreya 12: 14.
1912.
Cereus brooksianus Vaupel, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 22: 66. 1912.
Plant 3 to 6 meters high, stout, much branched at base, bluish green, glaucous; ribs 8 or 9,
obtuse; areoles closely set, in flowering specimens almost contiguous, bearing silky hairs when young
and tufts of long white hairs at flowering ones; spines about 16, acicular, up to 3 cm. long, yellow,
all somewhat similar, the upper ones in each areole ascending; flowers 5 to 6 cm. long, opening in the
evening, odorless, somewhat flattened; tube stout, rigid, green, with only 2 or 3 small scales; inner
perianth-segments about 10, rather rigid, broad, a little spreading; throat of flower wide; stamens
very numerous, all included; filaments white, attached all over the long broad throat, 3 cm. long;
tube proper very short, 8 mm. long or less; style white, rigid, 5 cm. long; ovary naked.
Type locality: Near Novaliches, about six miles south of Guantánamo, Cuba.
Distribution: Dry, rocky situations, provinces of Oriente and Santa Clara, Cuba.
Plate viii, figure 1, is from a plant collected by Dr. Britton at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba,
in 1909, which flowered at the New York Botanical Garden in 1913.
50
THE CACTACEAE.
35. Cephalocereus royenii (Linnaeus) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 419.
Cactus royenii Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 467. 1753.
Cereus royenii Miller, Gard. Dict. ed. 8. No. 7. 1768.
Cereus fulvispinosus Haworth, Syn. Pl. Succ. 183. 1812.
Cactus fulvispinosus Sprengel, Syst. 2: 496. 1825.
Cereus floccosus Otto in Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 81. 1837.
Cereus armatus Otto in Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 81. 1837.
Pilocereus floccosus Lemaire, Illustr. Hort. 13: under pl. 470. 1866.
Cereus leiocarpus Bello, Anal. Soc. Esp. Hist. Nat. 10: 276. 1881.
Pilocereus barbatus Rebut in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 650. 1885.
Pilocereus royenii Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 682. 1885.
Pilocereus royeni armatus Salm-Dyck in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 682. 1885.
Pilocereus strictus fouachianus Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 190. 1897.
Pilocereus fulvispinosus Schumann Gesamtb. Kakteen 196. 1897.
Pilocereus fouachianus Weber in Gosselin, Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 10: 386. 1904.
Cereus fouachianus Vaupel, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23: 25. 1913.
Fig. 73.—Cephalocereus lanuginosus.
1909.
Fig. 74.—Cephalocereus royenii.
Stout, 2 to 8 meters high or more, either branching near the base or with a short definite trunk
up to 3 dm. in diameter; branches stout, erect or ascending, glaucous, green to blue; ribs 7 to 11,
high; areoles close together; spines acicular, very variable, often only 1 cm. long, but sometimes 6
cm. long, yellow; young areoles bearing soft wool; flowering areoles producing tufts of long white
hairs; flowers about 5 cm. long, greenish yellow to purplish; inner perianth-segments white, acute;
fruit reddish or green, 5 cm. broad; pulp red; seeds black, shining.
Type locality: America, but no definite locality cited.
Distribution: Antigua to Anegada, St. Croix, St. Thomas, Culebra, Porto Rico, Mona,
and Desecheo.
Philip Miller states that this species was sent to him from the British Islands of
America in 1728. The combination Cereus royenii is generally credited to Haworth (1812),
but it was first used by Miller in 1768, although the true Cactus royenii of Linnaeus may not
be the one he actually. described.
51
CEPHALOCREUS
Cereus barbatus Wendland (Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1844. 29. 1845) was given
as a synonym of Cereus floccosus. Cereus royenii armatus Salm-Dyck (Walpers, Repert.
Bot. 2: 276. 1843), and C. royenii floccosus Monville (Labouret, Monogr. Cact. 343. 1853),
are given only as synonyms.
Cephalocereus fouachianus Quehl (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 20: 39. 1910), name only,
belongs here.
Cereus gloriosus (Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 80. 1837) was printed as a synonym.
Illustrations: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 12: 6, as Pilocereus royenii; Journ. N. Y. Bot.
Gard. 7: f. 4, this last as Pilocereus sp.
Figure 74 is from a photograph taken by Frank E. Lutz on Desecheo Island, in 1914;
figure 69 represents a flower of the plant from Culebra Island, collected by Dr. Britton.
Fig. 75.—Cephalocereus robustus.
Fig. 76.—Cephalocereus cometes.
52
THE CACTACEAE.
36. Cephalocereus robustus nom. nov.
Pilocereus ulei Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen Nachtr. 64.
Cereus ulei Berger, Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 10: 70. 1905.
1903.
Not Cephalocereus ulei Gürke,
1908.
Tall, much branched, with a rather indefinite trunk, 3 to 7 meters high, pale whitish blue,
roughish; ribs 8 or 9, high, separated by acute intervals; areoles closely set, with short dark spines
and longer silky hairs; 3 of the ribs bearing flowers and their flowering areoles producing long, curly,
white hairs, 5 to 6 cm. long; flower nocturnal, 5 cm. long, its tube proper 1 cm. long; perianthsegments acute, nearly white; stamens numerous, scattered all over the broad long throat, scarcely
exserted; anthers purple; style slender, included; fruit 2 cm. in diameter; seeds minute, black,
shining.
Type locality: Cabo Frio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Distribution: Coast of State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
This species is common on the hills about Araruama Lake and near Cabo Frio, where
it forms small forests and is the dominant feature of many landscapes. Dr. Rose and
Señor Campos Porto obtained from São Pedro, near Cabo Frio, a living specimen (No.
20706) which flowered in the New York Botanical Garden in July 1916.
This plant is very unlike any of the other Brazilian species of this genus, of which
there are at least three in the State of Rio de Janeiro.
Figure 75 is from a photograph of a specimen collected by Dr. Rose near São Pedro,
Rio de Janeiro, in 1915.
37. Cephalocereus cometes (Scheidweiler) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 416. 1909.
Cereus cometes Scheidweiler, Allg. Gartenz. 8: 339. 1840.
Pilocereus jubatus Salm-Dyck in Förster, Handb. Cact. 356. 1846.
Cereus flavicomus Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 202. 1850.
Pilocereus flavicomus Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 658. 1885.
Erect, cylindric; ribs 12 to 15 (Schumann says 9 to 12), hardly tuberculate, obtuse; areoles close
together, round; spines unequal, straight, spreading, 2 cm. long or less, flesh-colored or brownish,
becoming gray; flowering areoles bearing masses of yellow hairs or wool, longer than the spines;
neither the flowers nor the fruit known.
Type locality: Near San Luis Potosí, Mexico.
Distribution: State of San Luis Potosí, Mexico.
A small specimen in the New York Botanical Garden (No. 6710) has 12 ribs, with areoles bearing long white deciduous hairs and short spines, brownish at first, becoming gray.
Förster (Handb. Cact. 357. 1846) gave both Pilocereus cometes Mittler and Cereus
jubatus Salm-Dyck, as synonyms of P. jubatus. See also Schelle, Handb. Kakteenk. 104. 1907.
Figure 76 is from a photograph of a plant in the collection of the New York Botanical
Garden obtained from M. Simon of St. Ouen, Paris, France.
38. Cephalocereus leucocephalus (Poselger) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 417. 1909.
Pilocereus leucocephalus Poselger, Allg. Gartenz. 21: 126. 1853.
Pilocereus houlletii Lemaire, Rev. Hort. 1862: 428. 1862.
Pilocereus foersteri Lemaire, Illustr. Hort. 13: under pl. 472. 1866.
Cereus houlletii Berger, Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 16: 70. 1905.
Plants 2 to 5 meters high, branched below, the branches 3 to 15, erect or ascending; ribs usually
12, low; spines about 10 in each cluster, acicular, 12 to 20 mm. long; flowering areoles clustered on
one side of the plant toward the top and producing an abundance of long white hairs (sometimes 4
to 10 cm. long); flowers and fruit not seen.
Type locality: Near Horcasitas, Sonora, Mexico.
Distribution: Sonora and southeastern Chihuahua, Mexico.
This species has been much misunderstood in recent years. The specific name houlletii is a clear synonym of the older name leucocephalus. Both were described as species
of Pilocereus and based on plants from Sonora, Mexico, but no further Sonoran material
being collected the name was transferred to an East Mexican species from Vera Cruz
53
CEPHALOCREUS
(Cephalocereus sartorianus), and is sometimes applied to the Guatemalan species (C. maxonii).
As a result of Dr. Rose’s explorations in Sonora in 1910, additional material, both living
and herbarium, was obtained, which enables us to reestablish this species as Sonoran.
In 1908, Dr. Palmer sent photographs and specimens of a Cephalocereus from Batopilas, Chihuahua,
which we believe may belong here.
Cereus foersteri (Sencke, Cat. 1861) and Pilocereus
marschalleckianus (Zeissold, Cat. 1899) are given by
Schumann as synonyms of this species. The latter
is mentioned in Nicholson’s Dictionary of Gardening
(Suppl. 602. 1901) as having been introduced but very
rare in cultivation.
Illustrations: Dict. Gard. Nicholson 3: f. 153;
Gartenwelt 7: 291; Knippel, Kakteen pl. 29; Lemaire,
Cact. f. 5, 6; Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 3: 145; 11: 76;
21: 37; 22: 133; Engler and Prantl, Pflanzenfam. 36a:
f. 59, a, b; Rev. Hort. 1862: f. 38 to 41; Förster,
Handb. Cact. ed. 2. f. 89, 90; Rümpler, Sukkulenten
f. 77; Rev. Hort. Belge 40: after 184, all as Pilocereus houlletii; Cact. Journ. 2: 5, as P. houlletianus; Rep.
Mo. Bot. Gard. 16: pl. 4, f. 3, 4, as Cereus houlletii.
Figure 77 is from a photograph by E. Palmer, at
Batopilas, Chihuahua, in 1908.
39. Cephalocereus sartorianus Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat.
Herb. 12: 419. 1909.
Plant 3 to 5 meters high or more, with nearly erect
branches, these 7 to 10 cm. in diameter, bluish or bluish
green; ribs (in the three individuals examined) 7, 2 cm.
high, marked by a pair of grooves descending obliquely,
one on each side, from each areole; areoles closely set, usually 1.5 cm. apart; radial spines at first 7 or 8, others apparently developing later; central normally one; all spines
short, 1 cm. long or less, at first straw-colored, in age grayish; all areoles producing few or many cobwebby hairs;
flowering areoles appearing on one side of the plant, in the
specimen under observation on a single rib, and producing
long white hairs 4 to 6 cm. long; flowers 6 to 8 cm. long,
“dirty rose-red”; fruit red.
Type locality: State of Vera Cruz, Mexico.
Fig. 77.—Cephalocereus leucocephalus.
Distribution: Vera Cruz, Mexico.
In the original description, based on material sent by Dr. C. A. Purpus, we stated
that the branches were “light or yellowish green, apparently not pruinose.” The illustration in Blühende Kakteen referred to below, however, shows very blue and probably
pruinose branches.
It seems to grow in thickets, and is very slender, with a few slender, nearly erect
branches bearing large masses of wool at the top.
Illustration: Blühende Kakteen 2: pl. 79, as Pilocereus houlletii.
40. Cephalocereus palmeri Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 418.
1909.
Cereus victoriensis Vaupel, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23: 24. 1913.
Tall, 2 to 6 meters high, with 20 branches or more (often 5 to 8 cm. in diameter), dark green or
when young glaucous and bluish; ribs 7 to 9, rounded on the edge, rather closely set, clothed from
top downward for 20 to 30 cm. with long white hairs (4 to 5 cm. long) usually hiding the brown
54
THE CACTACEAE.
spines; radial spines 8 to 12, slender, the central one much longer than the others, 2 to 3 cm. long;
areoles 1 cm. apart, scarcely woolly except toward the top; flowers 6 cm. long, somewhat tubular,
purplish to brownish, the ovary without spines or hairs; fruit globular, about 6 cm. in diameter,
naked but the surface somewhat warty; seeds black, shining, minutely pitted, 2 mm. long, oblique
at bases.
Type locality: Near Victoria, Mexico.
Distribution: Eastern Mexico.
The spines of seedlings are yellow. This species flowered in the New York Botanical
Garden in June 1918.
E. O. Wooton made a trip into eastern Mexico in 1919 and obtained a photograph
of a large Cephalocereus, presumably this species. The plant was common on the coastal
plain and extended the known range of this species northwards. Mr. Wooton’s locality
was on the Chamal Hacienda, about halfway between Matamoras and Tampico.
41. Cephalocereus tweedyanus sp. nov.
Sometimes only 1 to 2 meters high and much branched at base, or sometimes tall, 5 to 7 meters
high and branched above, with a large woody trunk; branches 8 to 10 cm. in diameter, ascending
or slightly spreading, bluish green when young, grayish green in age; ribs 7 to 9, obtuse; spines brown
when young; radial spines several, 1.5 cm. long or less; central spines often solitary, porrect, 2 to
3 cm. long; flowering areoles bearing long white wool; flowers 7 cm. long; inner perianth-segments
short, oblong, obtuse; scales and outer perianth-segments obtuse, purplish; fruit nearly globular,
about 4 cm. in diameter, reticulated.
Figs. 78 and 79.—Cephalocereus tweedyanus.
The species is based on two collections from widely separated localities in Ecuador,
one being from the Pacific coast near sea-level, and the other from east of the coast range
at an altitude of about 3,000 feet. The first was collected by J. N. Rose and George Rose
in thickets near Santa Rosa, Province Del Oro, October 15, 1918 (No. 23494, type), and the
other east of Ayapamba, same province, October 15, 1918 (No. 23454). This is the first
species of Cephalocereus reported from Ecuador and is the most southern species known
on the west coast of South America. It is dedicated to Mr. Andrew Mellick Tweedy, who
assisted Dr. Rose in his Ecuadorean Expedition in 1918.
CEPHALOCREUS
55
Figure 78 shows the type plant as it grows in thickets
along the coast at Santa Rosa; figure 79 shows it as it grows
in the open below Ayapamba, both from photographs by
George Rose; figure 80 shows a flower and figure 81 a fruit
collected by Dr. Rose near Ayapamba, Ecuador, in 1918.
42. Cephalocereus alensis (Weber) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S.
Nat. Herb. 12: 415. 1909.
Pilocereus alensis Weber in Gosselin, Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris
11: 508. 1905.
Fig. 80.—Flower of C. tweedyanus.
Cereus alensis Vaupel, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23: 23. 1913.
Fig. 81.—Fruit of same. ×0.5.
×0.5.
Erect, sometimes 5 to 6 meters
high, branching f rom the base;
branches rather slender, spreading,
12 to 14-ribbed, the ribs somewhat tuberculate; spines 10 to 14,
acicular, about 1 to 1.5 cm. long,
brownish; flowering areoles on one
side of the stem, developing white
or yellowish hairs 5 cm. long; flowers light purple to purplish green;
perianth-segments fleshy, usually
rounded at apex; ovary nearly
naked; f ruit not known.
Type locality: Sierra del Alo,
Mexico.
Distribution: Western Mexico.
The type of the species was
collected by Léon Diguet and
is preserved in the Museum of
Paris, where it was studied by
Dr. Rose in 1912. To this species we would refer specimens
collected in Jalisco, Mexico, in
1892, by M. E. Jones.
Illustration: Bull. Soc. Aclim. France 52: f. 16, as Pilocereus alensis.
43. Cephalocereus
colombianus
Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb.
12: 416. 1909.
Cereus colombianus Vaupel,Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23: 23. 1913.
Plant 5 to 6 meters high, more
or less branched throughout, the
branches nearly erect; ribs 8, obFig. 82.—Cephalocereus colombianus.
tuse; spines many, 25 at an areole or
more, long and slender; wool of
the areoles long and white, produced for 1 meter down from the top of the plant; flowers 7 cm. long,
smooth, pale pink.
Type locality: Venticas del Dagua, Colombia.
Distribution: Northwestern Colombia.
56
THE CACTACEAE.
In our original description we referred here specimens from northern Colombia which
we now include in Cephalocereus russelianus.
Illustrations: Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: pl. 62, 63.
Figure 82 is from a photograph of the plant; figure 83 a shows a piece of the stem;
figure 83 b a cross-section of the stem; figure 83 C a flower; and figure 83 d a flower-bud;
all are from photographs of the type specimen by Henry Pittier.
44. Cephalocereus purpusii sp. nov.
Stems slender, 2 to 3 meters high, simple or more or less branched; branches green,
erect, 3 to 4 cm. in diameter, usually simple; ribs 12, low, 5 to 6 mm. high, separated
by narrow intervals; areoles closely set, 10
mm. apart or less on the lower part of the
stem, but much closer together toward the
top, on the young growth with long silky
white hairs, but on old parts without hairs;
spines acicular, swollen at base, 1 to 3 cm.
long, bright yellow at first, in age gray.
Collected by Rose, Standley, and
Russell at Mazatlan, Mexico, on the
hills near the town overlooking the sea,
March 31, 1910 (No. 13749, type), and
also a short distance inland at Guadalupe, in thickets, April 18, 1910 (No.
14741).
This species differs from the other
Mexican ones in having very slender
stems. It is named for the veteran collector, Dr. C. A. Purpus, who writes
that he collected the species several
years earlier than above recorded. We
have not, however, seen his specimens.
The plant is growing in the New
York Botanical Garden, from Dr. Rose’s
collection at Mazatlan.
Fig. 83.—Cephalocereus colombianus.
45. Cephalocereus catingicola (Gürke).
Cereus catingicola Gürke, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 18: 54. 1908.
Tree-like, 3 to 10 meters high, with a short definite trunk and a large, much branched top,
bluish green; ribs 4 or 5, separated by broad intervals; areoles large, woolly; spines yellow when
young, numerous, unequal, the longest 3 cm. long; flowers 6 to 8 cm. long, 6 cm. broad when fully
open, with a broad throat, opening in the evening, odorless; flower-tube short, about 1 cm. long, with
broad scales near its top, these green with brownish margins; perianth-segments numerous, broad,
short, white, stiff; anthers dehiscing soon after the flowers open; filaments short, the lower ones
much longer than the upper one but all included, attached all over the throat; style stout, soon
exserted, at first raised against the upper part of the throat, white; stigma-lobes at first white but
pinkish the second day after anthesis; fruit broader than high, glaucous, 6 to 7 cm. broad, capped by
the withered perianth; rind thick; pulp purple.
Type locality: In the caatinga of Bahia, Brazil.
Distribution: Common in the caatinga of Bahia.
Illustration: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 18: 55, as Cereus Catingicola.
Plate viii, figure 2, shows the top of a plant brought from Bahia by Dr. Rose in 1915.
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
M. E. Eaton del.
PLATE VIII
A HOEN & CO
1. Top of flowering stem of Cephalocereus brooksianus.
3. Top of stem of Cephalocereus phaeacanthus.
2. Top of stem of Cephalocereus catingicola.
4. Flowering branch of Leptocereus assurgens.
(Natural size.)
57
CEPHALOCREUS
46. Cephalocereus brasiliensis sp. nov.
Somewhat branching at base, 1 to 3 meters high, producing long, slender, weak branches, these
at first erect, but soon spreading or reclining, bright green when old, but when young somewhat
glaucous; branches at base nearly square in section, but toward the tip with 4, sometimes 5, prominent obtuse ribs; areoles very close together, with long white hairs longer than the spines; radial
spines several, very short, brown, spreading, acicular; central spines generally solitary, porrect, 1 to 2 cm. long; flowers 5
cm. long; fruit globular.
Collected by Rose and Russell on
the base of Corcovado, Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, July 10, 1915 (No. 20190).
This plant is not uncommonly
found with Cephalocereus fluminensis,
but is not as abundant as that species.
In the open flats and valleys
toward Cabo Frio, Brazil, similar
plants occur, but they are stouter and
usually erect; of these, flowers and fruit
were not obtained (Rose, No. 20705).
Figure 84 is from a photograph
taken by Paul G. Russell of the type
plant.
Fig. 84.—Cephalocereus brasiliensis growing above
Cephalocereus fluminensis.
Fig. 85.—Flower of C. phaeacanthus.
Fig. 86.—Fruit of same. ×0.7.
×0.7.
47. Cephalocereus phaeacanthus (Gürke).
Cereus phaeacanthus Gürke, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 18: 57. 1908.
Slender, usually branching at base, rarely branching above, more or less erect, often meters
high, the branches 4 to 9 cm. in diameter; ribs usually 13, low, narrow, bearing approximate areoles
about 5 mm. apart, with acicular spines and small tufts of short white wool; spines numerous, when
young yellowish brown, 1 to 1.5 cm. long; flowers 6 cm. long, slightly bent upward near the top of
the tube, the limb 6 cm. broad when fully expanded; perianth-tube and ovary bearing several ovate
scales; outer perianth-segments greenish brown; inner perianth-segments white, acute; upper series
of stamens 2 cm. long; lower series of stamens 4 cm. long; filaments green; style white; fruit 1.5
cm. in diameter, smooth, somewhat tubercled; seeds 2 cm. long.
Type locality: Maracás, Bahia, Brazil.
Distribution: In thickets, State of Bahia, Brazil.
We have placed this species near the end of the genus, for it is very unlike the other
species and may not be congeneric with them. It has very slender stems, low ribs, no long
hairs at the flowering areoles, and a bent flower with a very small, flattened ovary.
Plate viii, figure 3, shows the top of a plant brought by Dr. Rose from Toca da Onca,
Brazil, in 1915. Figure 85 shows the flower, and figure 86 shows the fruit and withering
perianth.
58
THE CACTACEAE.
48. Cephalocereus ulei Gürke, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 18: 85. 1908.
“Trunk upright, strongly branched, columnar, several meters high, and in this instance 7 cm.
in diameter. Ribs 18 to 20, blunt, separated by deep furrows from each other and rather deeply
crenate, 8 to 9 mm. high, 7 to 8 mm. wide at the base, semi-elliptic and with rounded angles; areoles
10 to 12 mm. apart, elongated, 4 to 5 mm. in diameter, covered with gray wool, developing on one side
of the crown of a branch into a stout, brownish, dirty yellow cephalium, with wool about 8 to 10 mm.
long; radial spines 13 to 15, radiating, extending obliquely from the plant body, 10 to 12 mm. long;
central spines 2 or 3, somewhat longer than the radial spines, up to 18 mm. long; all of the spines
brown, not very sharp, elastic; flowers from the cephalium short, tubular, 45 mm. long, 17 to 20
mm. in diameter; ovary and tube thickly covered with lanceolate or narrowly triangular scales, 2
to 4 mm. long and bearing in their axils fascicles of short, closely lying reddish-brown hairs; petals
white, lanceolate-spatulate, with short tips, the innermost 10 mm. long and 5 mm. wide; anthers
arising from the upper part of the tube, not extending beyond the perianth; filaments 1 mm. long;
Pistil 27 mm. long, the stigma slightly exceeding, with 10 stigma-lobes 3 mm. long; fruit pear-shaped,
6 cm. long, 4 cm. in diameter; seeds black, shining, 1.5 mm. long.
“Of the hitherto known species of the genus Cephalocereus only one comes from Brazil, the rest
from Mexico. The Brazilian species, C. melocactus Schumann, has only 12 ribs; 3 to 6 radial spines;
red flowers, 3 cm. long; and through these characteristics differs from the here-described species.”
Translated by Paul G. Russell from Ule, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 18: 85. 1908.
Type locality: Serra do S. Ignacio, Bahia, Brazil.
Distribution: Known only from the type locality.
The plant is known to us only from the description and illustration. It would seem
from these to be related to C. dybowskii.
Illustrations: Bot. Jahrb. Engler 40: Beibl. 93: pl. 9; Vegetationsbilder 6: pl. 18.
PUBLISHED SPECIES. PERHAPS OF THIS GENUS.
The species of this genus have often been described under Pilocereus, while others have
appeared under Cereus. There are also some species of Cephalocereus which we do not
know, and these are all grouped here under the above heading.
Cephalocereus hermentianus (Monville) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 416.
1909.
Cereus hermentianus Monville, Illustr. Hort. 6: Misc. 90. 1859.
Pilocereus hermentianus Lemaire in Weber, Dict. Hort. Bois 965. 1898.
Upright, slender, 3 meters high, 5 to 7 cm. in diameter, branching; ribs about 19, rounded,
shallow; areoles close together, round, with short brown wool and silky, persistent, hanging hairs;
spines about 20, small, slender, yellowish; flowers 5 to 6 cm. long.
Type locality: Not cited.
Distribution: Haiti, according to Weber.
Monville did not know the origin of this species, but Weber assigned it to Haiti without
question. We do not know any cactus from Hispaniola with 19 ribs, but further explorations may prove its occurrence there.
Pilocereus albisetosus (Haworth) Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 196.
1897.
Cereus albisetosus Haworth, Suppl. Pl. Succ. 77. 1819.
This certainly does not belong to this genus. It may be a Selenicereus. Evidently a
low creeping plant, green, 5-angled, with areoles bearing brown wool and several white
setaceous spines. It is a native of “Domingo,” and is said to be similar to Cereus reptans.
It was introduced into England by A. B. Lambert in 1816.
Pilocereus verheinei Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 690.
1885.
Columnar, simple so far as known, pale green, the apex covered with white wool, soon turning
gray; ribs 12 or 13, 8 to 10 mm. high, obtuse; areoles 6 to 8 mm. apart, 2 to 3 mm. in diameter;
spines yellowish at first, in age gray; radial spines 7 or 8, spreading, subulate, 1 to 1.5 cm. long;
central spine solitary or wanting, 1 cm. long.
59
CEPHALOCREUS
This species, recognized by Schumann as a good species of Pilocereus, we do not know.
Its flowers and fruits are unknown and hence its exact place can not be determined. Its
origin, too, is unknown and so far as we are aware it is not now in cultivation. The above
description has been compiled.
Pilocereus Glaucescens Labouret, Monogr. Cact. 279.
1853.
Pilocereus coerulescens Lemaire, Rev. Hort. 1862: 427. 1862.
Pilocereus andryanus Cels in Lemaire, Rev. Hort. 1862: 427. 1862, as synonym.
“Stem erect, at first simple, later probably becoming branched, dark bluish gray, glaucescent,
bearing 10 rounded, blunt, inflated ribs; sinuses sharp, shallow, with age becoming effaced toward
the base of the stem; areoles close together, almost confluent toward the base of the stem, rounded,
with short almost black tomentum, furnished with hairs and very abundant, fine, undulating, weak,
white bristles, especially on the areoles recently developed and toward the summit of the stem,
rarer on the lower areoles; spines radiating, of different lengths and thicknesses, biserial, the exterior
fine, divergent, inserted to the number of 5 or 6 on each side of the areole, the interior stouter, disposed irregularly in the center, to the number of 5 or 6 also, all of a dull yellow, brown at the base.
The plant is 8 cm. in diameter by about 20 cm. in height; the bristles and the hairs of the areoles are
about 1 to 2 cm. long; the interior spines, which are the strongest, are 10 to 15 mm. long; flowers
unknown.”
“The general aspect of this plant, which I believe is unique in Europe, resembles that of a
Pilocereus. However, in the absence of definite and certain characters, it is not without doubt that
we place it in the genus near Pilocereus columna and chrysomalus, as much for the long bristles of its
areoles as for its branching stem. If later, however, its flower makes it a Cereus, its place would
very probably be among the Lanuginosi, just after the Coerulescentes, and in this event, which seems
doubtful to me because of its many points of resemblance to Pilocereus, it would certainly constitute
one of the most remarkable species of Cerei.”
The above is taken from Labouret’s monograph.
The Index Kewensis refers one of these names to Cereus glaucescens and the other to Cereus
coerulescens, but doubtless in error, while the last is called Cereus andryanus by Schumann
(Gesamtb. Kakteen 196). Lemaire says his plant came from Serra do Cipo, District
Diamartina, Brazil.
Pilocereus albispinus (Salm-Dyck) Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 649.
1885.
Cereus albispinus Salm-Dyck, Observ. Bot. 3: 5. 1822.
Cereus crenatus Salm-Dyck in Labouret, Monogr. Cact. 341. 1853.
Pilocereus albispinus crenatus Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 649. 1885.
Cereus serpentinus albispinus Weingart, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 18: 30. 1908.
Columnar, usually simple but sometimes branched at base; branches with 8 to 12 low, obtuse
ribs, these dull green and woolly at apex; radial spines 8 to 13, spreading, white except at tip and
there red; central spines 1 to 4; flowers and fruit not known.
Type locality: Curaçao, according to Schumann, but nothing like it was found there
by Dr. Britton in 1913.
Distribution: Unknown. Rümpler says it is South America.
Cereus albispinus major Monville (Labouret, Monogr. Cact. 341. 1853) is undescribed.
The original publication of Cereus acromelas (Hortus, Berol. Ind. Cact. 1833) we have
not seen. Pfeiffer refers it to Cereus crenulatus and Labouret to C. albispinus.
Cereus octogonus Otto (Allg. Gartenz. 1: 365. 1833) and C. decagonus (Pfeiffer, Enum.
Cact. 85. 1837) are unpublished names for this species.
We have studied a living specimen of this plant which is growing in the New York
Botanical Garden. Its flowers and fruit are not known. See note under Cephalocereus
leucostele; see also Weingart’s reference (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 18: 30. 1908)
60
THE CACTACEAE.
Pilocereus flavispinus Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 659.
1885.
Cereus flavispinus Salm-Dyck, Observ. Bot. 3: 5. 1822.
These names were both referred by Schumann to Pilocereus strictus. The former is
said to come f rom South America and the latter f rom tropical America. The specific
name comes f rom Cactus flavispinus Colla (Hort. Ripul. 24) and probably applies to
some Chilean plant.
Cereus ghiesbreghtii Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 81.
1897.
Columnar, simple or somewhat branched, short-jointed; joints nearly as broad as long; ribs
6 to 8, separated by broad intervals; radial spines 10 to 12, subulate, about 1.4 cm. long; central
spines 2 to 4, 5 cm. long; flowers and fruit unknown.
Type locality: Mexico.
Distribution: Known only from type locality.
A plant in the New York Botanical Garden so named suggests a small Cephalocereus
and here we refer the species for the present. Schumann’s illustration suggests a greenhouse seedling and may differ widely from the wild form.
This is different from Pilocereus ghiesbrechtii Rümpler (Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2.
661. 1885) which Rümpler says (p. 662) is in the Paris Gardens as Echinocactus ghiesbrechtii. This is doubtless what Salm-Dyck (Allg. Gartenz 18: 395. 1850) described under
that name, a species which has not been recognized by later students.
Illustration: Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen f. 16.
NOTES.
A species of Cephalocereus with woolly areoles occurs at Tehuantepec, Mexico, as shown
by a photograph obtained there by O. F. Cook and G. N. Collins of the United States
Department of Agriculture.
A species of Cephalocereus, with slender, deflexed, white spines, occurs at Coro, Venezuela, as shown by a plant brought by Dr. Rose to the New York Botanical Garden in 1916.
A species of Cephalocereus inhabits the Serra de Borborema, Pernambuco, Brazil, as
shown by a photograph received from A. Löfgren; his notes describe it as several meters
high, with stout, erect branches, numerous low ribs, the yellow pseudocephalium on one
side, elongated, the acicular spines yellow.
A very peculiar plant which was collected by Luetzelburg near Born Jesus, Bahia
altitude about 1,700 meters, should probably be placed in this genus and next to C. leucostele. It is called the bottle cactus on account of its shape. A brief description follows
Plant simple, short, and stubby, 10 cm. high; globular at first, in time lengthening from 20 to
40 cm. and becoming more or less bottle-shaped, the upper part being more slender and jointed;
ribs 12 to 15, acute; areoles close together, arranged along the ribs; spines from the upper areoles
white, elongated, and soft; flowers reddish, 8 to 9 cm. long, opening during the day.
4. ESPOSTOA gen. nov.
Columnar plants with numerous low ribs and when flowering developing a pseudocephalium
similar to that of some species of Cephalocereus; areoles strongly armed with spines, and bearing
long white hairs; flowers small, short-campanulate, nearly hidden by the surrounding wool, probably
opening at night; tube short; outer perianth-segments pinkish, the inner ones probably white;
stamens and style short, included; scales on ovary and flower-tube small, acute, with long silky
caducous hairs; fruit subglobose to broadly obovoid, smooth, its flesh pure white, slightly acid, very
juicy, edible; seeds very small, black, shining.
This genus resembles the typical species of Cephalocereus. Berger suggested that it
was an Oreocereus, but this was before he had seen any flowers of the latter; we now know
that there is much difference not only in the flowers but also in the fruit and seeds. It is
named for Nicolas E. Esposto, a very keen botanist who is connected with the Escuela
Nacional de Agricultura at Lima, Peru.
ESPOSTOA
61
1. Espostoa lanata (HBK.).
Cactus lanatus Humboldt, Bonpland, and Kunth, Nov. Gen. et. Sp. 6: 68. 1823.
Cereus lanatus De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 464. 1828.
Pilocereus dautwitzii Haage, Gard. Chron. 1873: 7. 1873.
Pilocereus haagei Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 665. 1885.
Pilocereus lanatus Weber, Dict. Hort. Bois 965. 1898.
Cereus dautwitzii Orcutt, West Amer. Sci. 13: 63. 1902.
Cleistocactus lanatus Weber in Gosselin, Bull. Mens. Soc. Nice 44: 37. 1904.
Pilocereus lanatus haagei Jostmann, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 21: 25. 1911.
Oreocereus lanatus Britton and Rose, Stand. Cycl. Hort. Bailey 4: 2404. 1916.
Plant simple, 2 to 4 meters high, sometimes with several strict branches or with a simple erect
stem, 4 to 10 cm. in diameter, with many spreading branches at first nearly horizontal or curved
upward and becoming erect near the tip, the tip hidden under a mass of hairs and brown bristles;
ribs numerous, 20 to 25, low, 5 to 8 mm. high, rounded; areoles rather large, 5 to 6 mm. apart; radial
spines numerous, acicular, 4 to 7 mm. long, brownish, intermixed with long white hairs; central
spine solitary, yellow or brown to black, subulate, 2 to 5 cm. long; flowers borne on one side of the
stem from a prominent pseudocephalium, 3.5 to 5 cm. long; scales on the tube many, triangularlanceolate, acute, about 6 cm. long; fruit 3 to 4 cm. long, juicy, edible, white except the small
pinkish scales; seeds 1 mm. broad.
Type locality: Near Rio Aranza and Guancabamba, Ecuador.
Distribution: On the dry hills of northern Peru and Ecuador, altitude 1,200 to 2,250
meters.
Figs. 87 and 88.—Espostoa lanata.
In 1918, while in Ecuador, Dr. Rose attempted
to reach the exact locality of Humboldt’s Cactus
lanatus, but was unsuccessful. In the Catamayo
Valley somewhat north of Humboldt’s station and
in what is doubtless a part of the same desert
he collected this species and upon this our description above is largely based. These plants are so
different in habit from other plants collected by
Dr. Rose in central Peru that we have been very
Fig. 89.—Flower of Espostoa lanata. ×0.7.
much in doubt whether they should all be referred
Fig. 90.—Fruit of same. ×0.7.
here or a part separated as a new species. That
there is more than one species in this genus has been further suggested since receiving a
photograph from G. M. Dyott, taken at Chagual, on the west bank of the Marañon River,
in northern Peru. In this photograph are shown several very striking cactus plants, perhaps of this genus, but very unlike any we have heretofore seen.
62
THE CACTACEAE.
We have followed most recent writers in combining Cereus dautwitzii with Cereus
lanatus, although we have not seen the type of either. We know, however, that Cereus
dautwitzii came from Huancabamba, Peru, while Cactus lanatus, upon which Cereus lanatus was based, came from Guancabamba, Ecuador; the names, varying only in the initial
letter, are different spellings for the same place. The northern boundary-line of Peru has
pushed north since Humboldt visited this region; his station of Guancabamba is now in
Peru instead of Ecuador.
The sweet, edible fruit is called soroco in southern Ecuador; it is also called piscol
colorado, according to Humboldt.
Fig. 91.—Espostoa lanata.
The typical form was collected by J. N. Rose, A. Pachano, and George Rose in the
Catamayo Valley, southern Ecuador, October 3, 1918 (No. 23326) and the other form was
collected by Dr. and Mrs. Rose near Matucana, central Peru, altitude about 7,000 feet,
July 9, 1914 (No. 18649). Dr. Rose also collected a living plant above Chosica (No. 18537)
and herbarium specimens between Matucana and San Bartelome (No. 18748). Dr. W. H.
Osgood has sent us photographs of a cactus which we would refer here. One was taken
near Chilete, Peru, altitude 1,000 feet, and the other between Menocucho and Otuzco,
Peru, altitude 3,000 feet.
Pilocereus haageanus (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 6: 96. 1896) 15 sometimes referred to
but was never published.
BROWNINGIA
63
Illustrations: Dict. Gard. Nicholson 3: f. 152; Fl. Serr. 21: pl. 2163; Förster, Handb.
Cact. ed. 2. f. 87; Gard. Chron. 1873: f. 1; Knippel, Kakteen pl. 29, all as Pilocereus dautwitzii; Cact. Journ. 2: 4, as Pilocereus dautwitzii cristatus, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 21: 23;
24: 131, both as Pilocereus lanatus; Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 19: 183, as Pilocereus lanatus
cristatus; Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 21: 23; 23: 125, both as Pilocereus lanatus haagei.
Figure 87 is from a photograph taken by George Rose in southern Ecuador in 1918;
figure 88 is from a photograph taken by Dr. Rose at Matucana, Peru, in 1914; figure 89
shows the flower and figure 90 the fruit of the plant photographed by him; figure 91 is
from a photograph taken at the New York Botanical Garden of the plant obtained by Dr.
Rose at Chosica, Peru, in 1914.
5. BROWNINGIA gen. nov.
Plants solitary, with an upright trunk, branching only at top, the branches spreading or drooping; ribs numerous, low; young and sterile plants formidably spined; flowering branches naked or
bearing only weak bristle-like spines; flowers solitary at the areoles, nocturnal, large, with slightly
curved tubes; stamens and style shorter than the perianth-segments; flowers nearly white; ovary
and flower-tube covered with large, thin, fleshy scales, these naked in their axils; fruit slightly acid,
yellow, becoming naked by the falling away of the scales; seeds black, strongly papillose.
This genus does not closely approach any other. In the thin scales of the ovary and
flower-tube there is a hint of Escontria of Mexico, but the scales are not chartaceous and
the flowers are otherwise different. The ovary and perianth perhaps most resemble those
of Hylocereus.
It is named in honor of W. E. Browning, formerly director of the Instituto Ingles at
Santiago, Chile, who for many years did efficient educational work in Chile, and who was
the friend of all Americans who visited Santiago.
1. Browningia candelaris (Meyen).
Cereus candelaris Meyen, Allg. Gartenz. 1: 211. 1833.
Stems 3 to 5 meters high, with a simple trunk sometimes 3 dm. in diameter at base, tapering
gradually upward; trunk when young strongly armed with many long spines, but when very old
shedding the spines and in some cases becoming nearly naked; ribs 30 to 34, rounded, about 5 mm.
high; branches from and near the top usually many, sometimes as many as 50, but sometimes as
few as 3 to 6, in whorls or pseudo-whorls, slender, often spreading at right angles to the trunk,
sometimes erect, or sometimes drooping and even touching the ground; areoles circular, usually
about 1 cm. apart, 5 to 15 mm. in diameter and, when old, much elevated; spines of the trunkareoles normally about 20, very unequal, the longest ones 6 to 10 cm. long, but sometimes 50 or
more, the longest 15 cm. long, at first brownish, then gray or black; spines on flowering branches
weak, yellow, sometimes bristle-like or even wanting; flower-buds globular, obtuse, covered with
thin imbricating scales; flowers opening in the evening, closing in early morning, not fragrant, 8 to
12 cm. long, a little curved; scales on ovary and flower-tube large, numerous; throat of flower rather
narrow, 3 to 4 cm. long, covered with filaments; tube proper 4 cm. long; inner perianth-segments
narrow, about 2 cm. long, brown or rose-colored or the innermost pale rose to white; filaments
cream-colored, numerous, the lower 3 cm. long, the upper 2 cm. long; style slender, 7 cm. long,
cream-colored; stigma-lobes about 12, 4 to 5 mm. long, cream-colored; fruit said to be edible; seeds
2 mm. broad.
Type locality: On mountain slopes along the way from Tacna, Chile, to Arequipa, Peru,
up to 9,000 feet (2,740 meters) altitude.
Distribution: Southern Peru and northern Chile.
The name, Cactus candelaris Meyen (Reise 2: 40. 1835), occurs in Meyen’s narrative,
where he states that it was first found in the Cordilleras of Tacna (now in Chile) in isolated
examples, confined between 7,000 and 9,000 feet altitude. This plant is very conspicuous
in the desert below Arequipa and was collected there by Dr. Rose in 1914 (No. 18794).
64
THE CACTACEAE.
Figure 92 shows a flower collected
by Dr. Rose below Arequipa, Peru, in
1914; figure 93 shows the young fruit
and persistent withering perianth from
the same plant; figure 94 is from a
photograph taken by T. A. Corry near
Arequipa, Peru, in 1917; the plant
immediately in front is Trichocereus
fascicularis.
Fig. 92.—Flower of Browningia candelaris.
Fig. 93.—Young f ruit of same. ×0.6.
×0.6.
Fig. 94.—Browningia candelaris, with Trichocereus fascicularis
immediately in front of it.
6. STETSONIA gen. nov.
A tall, erect, much branched cactus, with strongly ribbed branches, the areoles felted and
bearing several unequal stiff subulate spines; flowers funnelform, large, solitary at upper areoles;
ovary oblong-globose, densely covered by small, broad, erose, ciliate, abruptly subulate-tipped,
membranous scales; flower-tube cylindric, somewhat expanded above, bearing distant scales similar
to those of the ovary; outer perianth-segments broad, green, obtuse, the inner oblong-oblanceolate,
spreading, acute; stamens numerous, not exserted; anthers large, oblong; style rather stout; stigmalobes many, linear.
Only the following species is known to us, a conspicuous plant of the Argentine deserts.
The genus is dedicated to Francis Lynde Stetson, of New York.
1. Stetsonia coryne (Salm-Dyck).
Cereus coryne Salm-Dyck,* Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 205. 1850.
Plants large and massive, 5 to 8 meters high, with a thick, short trunk up to 4 dm. in diameter
and 4 to 6 dm. long, and many (100 or more) ascending or upright elongated branches; ribs 8 or 9,
1 to 1.5 cm. high, obtuse, more or less crenate; spines 7 to 9, unequal, the longest 5 cm. long, subulate;
flowers 12 to 15 cm. long; inner perianth-segments white, spreading; fruit not known.
Type locality: Not cited.
Distribution: Northwestern Argentina.
Although this species has long been known in collections, it is usually represented by
very small specimens and has been poorly described.
*Both Weber and Schumann make Otto the author of this name. Salm-Dyck credits it to the Berlin Gardens.
B R IT TON A N D R OSE, VOL. II
PLATE I X
A large plant of Stetsonia coryne in the desert of northern Argentina.
65
ESCONTRIA
This tree-like cactus is native in the dry parts of northwestern Argentina, and occurs
over a considerable area, growing with scattered shrubs and small trees on plains and low
ridges. It is one of the most striking cacti in South America and often forms the dominant
feature of the landscape on the high plains of northern Argentina.
In 1917, Dr. Shafer collected living specimens and flowers in Santiago del Estero,
Argentina, which have enabled us to redescribe the species. Flowers were also collected
by Wilhelm Bodenbender in 1905, but these were not accompanied by stems and were not
at first associated with this species.
Illustrations: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 3: 177; 13: 187; Schelle,
Handb. Kakteenk. f. 17; Rev. Hort.
Belge 40: after 184, as Cereus coryne.
Fig. 95.—Flower of S. coryne.
×0.6.
Fig. 96.—Stetsonia coryne.
Plate ix is from a photograph contributed by Dr. Spegazzini. Figure 96 is from a
photograph of flowering branches taken by Dr. Shafer at Santiago del Estero, Argentina,
in 1917; figure 95 shows the flower of one of these branches.
7. ESCONTRIA Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 10: 125.
1906.
Large and much branched plants; ribs few; spines all similar, arranged in peculiar pectinate
clusters,; flowers small, yellow, somewhat campanulate, one at an areole, diurnal; ovary globular,
covered with imbricated chartaceous, translucent, persistent scales, their axils without spines or
hairs; inner perianth-segments erect, narrow; stamens and style included; fruit globular, scaly, purple,
fleshy, edible; seeds numerous, black, rugose, with a flattened, broad, basal hilum.
Type species: Cereus chiotilla Weber.
Only 1 species is definitely known. The genus commemorates Señor Don Blas Escontria, a distinguished Mexican, who died in 1906.
1. Escontria chiotilla (Weber) Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 10: 126.
1906.
Cereus chiotilla Weber in Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 83. 1897.
Plant 4 to 7 meters high; trunk very short; branches numerous, forming a compact top, weak
and easily broken, bright green, not at all glaucous; ribs 7 or 8, acute; areoles close together, often
confluent, elliptic; radial spines 10 to 15, rather short, often reflexed; central spines several, one much
66
THE CACTACEAE.
longer than the others, somewhat flattened, sometimes 7 cm. long, all light colored; flowers borne
near the ends of the branches, including the ovary about 3 cm. long; inner perianth-segments
yellow, acuminate; scales on ovary and flower-tube arranged in many overlapping series, ovate, 8
to 15 mm. long; fruit glabrous, about 5 cm. in diameter, scaly, edible.
Type locality: Mexico.
Distribution: Southern Mexico.
The ripe fruit is sold in the market at Tehuacán
under the name of geotilla or chiotilla and tuna. Dr.
H. H. Rusby reports that the dried fruit, which tastes
like gooseberries, is also sold in the markets.
This species was collected by Dr. A. Weber while
connected with the French army in Mexico. Material
was sent to Dr. Engelmann in 1864, but it was not
described by him.
Illustrations: Bull. Soc. Acclim. France 52: f. 5;
Fig. 97.—Flower of Escontria chiotilla. ×0.7.
Möllers Deutsche Gärt. Zeit. 29: 445, as Cereus chiotilla; Fig.
98.—Fruit of same. ×0.7.
Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 10: pl. 43, f. A; 12: pl. 65.
Plate x is from a photograph taken by Dr. MacDougal at Tomellín, Mexico, in 1906.
Figure 97 shows a flower and figure 98 a fruit collected in 1905 by Dr. Rose near Tehuacán.
8. CORRYOCACTUS gen. nov.
Stems columnar, usually very short, branching from the base; the branches stiff, more or less
erect, strongly ribbed; areoles very spiny; flowers diurnal (?), rather large, with a broad, open throat,
the tube proper very short; perianth-segments yellow or orange; filaments numerous, stiff, short,
scattered all over the throat, much shorter than the segments; style short and stiff, with numerous
stigma-lobes; ovary and flower-tube bearing numerous conspicuous areoles with brown or black
wool and subtended by minute scales; fruit juicy, globular, covered with clusters of deciduous
acicular spines; seeds small.
Type species: Cereus brevistylus Schumann.
A genus of three known species of similar habit and flowers, natives of Peru and
Bolivia. The flowers have very short tubes, but are quite different from those of Eulychnia,
to which Berger referred the only species he knew.
While the species are similar in a general way, they are individually different in habit,
armament, and in shades of color and size of the flowers; their ranges do not overlap, as
they are found in different regions and at different altitudes. One of them occurs in the
coastal mountains of southern Peru, altitude 550 meters; one in the foothills of the Andes
proper, altitude 2,300 meters; and one in the great valley of the Andes in Bolivia, altitude
3,650 meters.
The genus is named for T. A. Corry, chief engineer of the Ferrocarril del Sur of the
Peruvian Corporation, who much facilitated our exploration of this region. It is rather
remarkable that all three of these species are found along this very interesting railroad,
which extends from the sea-level to an altitude of 16,000 feet.
Key to Species.
Flowers very broad, 10 cm. wide, yellow . . . .
Flowers much narrower than the last, 4 to 7
Inner perianth-segments orange; longest
Inner perianth-segments yellow; longest
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. C. brevistylus
cm. broad.
spines 10 to 16 cm. long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. C. brachypetalus
spines 5 to 7 cm. long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. C. melanotrichus
1. Corryocactus brevistylus (Schumann).
Cereus brevistylus Schumann in Vaupel, Bot. Jahrb. Engler 50: Beibl. 111: 17. 1913.
Plants 2 to 3 meters high, usually much branched from the base, often forming large clumps,
light green to almost yellow; ribs few, 6 or 7, very prominent; areoles 3 cm. apart, large, circular
and elevated, with short, dense wool and spines; spines about 15, at first brownish, very unequal,
B RIT TON A N D R O SE, VOL. II
P L ATE X
A plant of Escontria chiotilla, near Tehuacán, Mexico.
67
CORRYOCACTUS
some less than 1 cm. long, some about 3 cm. long, and still others 20 to 24 cm. long; flower broadly
funnelform, constricted just above the ovary, 9 cm. long, 10 cm. broad when fully expanded; throat
4.5 cm. broad at the top; perianth-segments bright yellow, oblong, spreading; filaments numerous,
yellow; style short, thick, white, with numerous, slender, white stigma-lobes; scales of the ovary
and flower-tube small, with brown wool, white bristles, and short spines; fruit globular, juicy, covered
with numerous spine-clusters, these tardily deciduous.
Type locality: Yura, near Arequipa, Peru.
Distribution: In the mountains of southern Peru, altitude 2,000 to 3,300 meters.
This species is one of the three or four common cacti found on the hills and in the valleys
both above and below Arequipa, and, while not the largest, is often the most abundant and
conspicuous. Dr. Rose studied this plant in Peru in 1914, collecting living and herbarium
specimens, including the very long spines described above (Nos. 18780, 18965).
Figure 99 is from a photograph taken near Arequipa, Peru, by T. A. Corry in 1917;
figure 101 represents a flower collected by Dr. Rose near the same place in 1914.
Fig. 99.—Corryocactus brevistylus.
Fig. 100.—Corryocactus brachypetalus
2. Corryocactus brachypetalus (Vaupel).
Cereus brachypetalus Vaupel, Bot. Jahrb. Engler 50: Beibl. 111: 16. 1913.
Plant 2 to 4 meters high, usually with many (sometimes 100 or more) strict branches from
the base, forming a top 3 to 4 meters in diameter; ribs usually 7 or 8, somewhat prominent; areoles
usually 2 cm. apart, large, 1 cm. in diameter or less, with short wool and spines; spines at first black
with brown bases, about 20 at an areole, very unequal, most of them less than 1 cm. long, the longest
ones 10 to 16 cm. long; flowers broadly funnelform, 4 to 6 cm. broad; throat 2 to 3 cm. broad at top;
inner perianth-segments deep orange, 1 to 1.5 cm. long, the outer ones apiculate, the inner ones
obtuse or truncate; filaments very short, 5 to 8 mm. long, yellow; style, including the slender stigmalobes, 2 cm. long; areoles of the ovary and flower small, filled with black and white wool and nascent
spines; fruit globular, 6 to 7 cm. in diameter, greenish yellow, covered with clusters of deciduous
spines, juicy, said to be edible; seeds dull in color, 1 . mm. long.
68
THE CACTACEAE.
Type locality: Rocky sandy bottoms near Mollendo, southern Peru.
Distribution: Foothills of southern Peru, altitude 600 meters.
This plant is very abundant in the foothills of southern Peru. In many places it is
the only conspicuous plant in this arid region, which in the dry season is otherwise almost
devoid of plant life. In the shelter of these plants thousands of lizards live and, doubtless,
feed upon the flowers. Dr. Rose collected the species in 1914 (No. 18810) at Posco, Peru,
not far from the type locality.
Fig. 101.—Flower of C. brevistylus.
×0.7.
Fig. 102.—Flower of C.
brachypetalus. ×0. 7.
Fig. 103.—Fruit of Corryocactus
brachypetalus. ×0.7.
Figure 102 represents a flower and figure 103 a fruit, collected by Dr. Rose at Posco,
Peru, in 1914; figure 100 is from a photograph taken near Posco, Peru, by T. A. Corry in
1918.
3. Corryocactus melanotrichus (Schumann).
Cereus melanotrichus Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 71. 1897.*
Plant 1 to 2 meters high, forming small clumps with erect slender branches 3 to 4 cm. in diameter; ribs 7 or 8, much lower than in the other species; areoles 1 to 1.5 cm. apart, black or nearly
so; spines 7 to 15, light yellow, subulate, somewhat unequal, the longest ones 5 to 7 cm. long; flowers
broadly funnelform, 6 to 8 cm. long, 5 to 7 cm. broad; perianth-segments yellow; filaments much longer
than in the other species; areoles of the flower with 1 to 5 long, black, bristle-like spines; fruit globular,
5 to 6 cm. in diameter, very juicy, covered with clusters of small acicular spines.
Type locality: Near La Paz, Bolivia.
Distribution: Central Bolivia, altitude 3,300 meters.
Plants of this species are much smaller than those of the other two and often form low
thickets, growing on the barren hills in and about La Paz. The species was re-collected
by Dr. Rose in 1914 (No. 18843).
9. PACHYCEREUS (Berger) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 420. 1909.
Usually very large plants, more or less branched, with definite trunks, the stems and branches
stout, columnar, ribbed; flowers diurnal, with rather short tubes; outer perianth-segments short,
spatulate; stamens included, numerous, inserted along the throat; style included; ovary and flower-tube
covered with small scales bearing felt and bristles in their axils; fruit large, bur-like, dry, usually
densely covered with clusters of deciduous spines and bristles; seeds large and black.
Type species: Cereus pringlei S. Watson
We recognize 10 species, all natives of Mexico, from northern Sonora to Yucatan. The
name was first used by Berger as a subgenus of Cereus (Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 16: 63. 1905);
we agree with his limitation of the group, except by excluding Cereus thurberi Engelmann,
*This name occurred in print two years earlier, but without description, in the Memoirs Torrey Botanical Club
(4: 207).
69
PACHYCEREUS
referred by us to Lemaireocereus, and by including Cereus marginatus De Candolle, placed
by him in his subgenus Stenocereus.
The name Pachycereus is from the Greek and means thick-cereus, referring to the
stout stems and branches.
Key to Species.
A. Scales of ovary and perianth-tube fleshy or herbaceous.
Wool of ovary-areoles copious, mostly longer than the scales.
Perianth-tube broad; branches many-ribbed.
Areoles of ovary and perianth-tube densely felted, but without long wool.
Joints green or but slightly glaucous.
All areoles of the perianth-tube densely felted, the scales short.
Spines brown to gray or sometimes black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Spines of young growth yellowish brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Upper areoles of perianth-tube little or scarcely felted, scales long.
Flowering areoles bearing many short, weak spines . . . . . . . . . .
Flowering areoles bearing several acicular stiff spines . . . . . . . .
Young growth glaucous, the bloom persistent as whitish streaks . . . . . .
Areoles of ovary and perianth-tube bearing copious yellow-brown wool 1.5
to 2.5 cm. long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Perianth-tube narrow; branches 5 to 7-angled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Wool of ovary-areoles sparse, shorter than the coriaceous scales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
AA. Scales of ovary and perianth-tube dry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
AAA. Species not grouped . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . 1. P. pringlei
. . 2. P. orcuttii
. . 3. P. pecten-aboriginum
. . 4. P. gaumeri
. . 5. P. grandis
.
.
.
.
.
. 6.
. 7.
. 8.
. 9.
10.
P.
P.
P.
P.
P.
chrysomallus
marginatus
ruf iceps
lepidanthus
columna-trajani
1. Pachycereus pringlei (S. Watson) Britton and
Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 422. 1909.
Cereus pringlei S. Watson, Proc. Amer.
Acad. 20: 368. 1885.
Cereus calvus Engelmann in Coulter, Contr.
U. S. Nat. Herb. 3: 409. 1896.
Cereus titan Engelmann in Coulter, Contr.
U. S. Nat. Herb. 3: 409. 1896.
Pilocereus pringlei Weber, Dict. Hort. Bois
966. 1898, name only.
Pachycereus calvus Britton and Rose, Contr.
U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 420. 1909.
Pachycereus titan Britton and Rose, Contr.
U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 422. 1909.
Tree-like, up to 11 meters high, usually
with a very short, thick trunk, sometimes 1 or
even 2 meters long or more, often 6 dm. but
sometimes 2 meters in diameter or more, very
woody and in age naked; stem sometimes nearly
simple but often with numerous, thick, upright
branches, more or less glaucous, very spiny or
in some forms nearly naked; ribs usually 11 to
15 but sometimes 17, obtuse; areoles, especially
the flowering ones, very large, brown-felted,
usually confluent or connected by a groove;
spines variable as to length, abundance, and
structure, usually more formidable in young
plants than in old plants, often wanting in very
old plants; spines on young growth 20 or more
at an areole, 1 to 2 cm. long, white but with
black tips, or on young plants sometimes 12
cm. long and black throughout; flower-bearing
region of the branches extending from near the top
downward sometimes for 2 meters, the areoles
becoming broad and uniting, often spineless;
flower-buds greenish; flowers 6 to 8 cm. long,
the tube and ovary bearing small, acute scales,
these nearly hidden by the mass of brown hairs
produced in their axils; inner perianth-segments
white, broad, spreading; fruit globular, covered
with brown felt and bristles, dry; seeds large,
edible.
Fig. 104.—Pachycereus pringlei.
70
THE CACTACEAE.
Type locality: South of the Altar River, Sonora, Mexico.
Distribution: Sonora and Lower California.
This is a very interesting and important cactus in northwestern Mexico, often the
dominant plant in the landscape. On the plain about Guaymas solitary plants, giants of
the race, are seen, which are doubtless remnants of great forests which once covered this
plain. In Lower California protected valleys and hillsides are now covered with forests
made up almost entirely of this species. The natives call these plants cardon. They
gather the wood for firewood and use it to make walking-canes, or in building their simple
houses, especially for rafters and beams; the Yaquí Indians, especially, gather the seeds
and make a kind of flour by crushing them, and this is made into tomales. It is common
in western Sonora, on many of the islands in the Gulf of California, all along the east
coast of Lower California, and along the west coast of Lower California as far north as
Magdalena Bay. In this distribution we have included the two species Cereus calvus and
C. titan, both of which were described from spine-clusters. They may or may not be specifically distinct from P. pringlei, but without further data it is best to refer them here.
Illustrations: Gard. and For. 2: f. 92; Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 18: 119; Rep. Mo. Bot.
Gard. 16: pl. 1, f. 1 to 4; Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen f. 13; Schelle, Handb. Kakteenk.
f. 19; MacDougal, Bot. N. Amer. Des. pl. 12, 13; Rep. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1897: pl. 6, as
Cereus pringlei; Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 16: pl. 130; Stand. Cycl. Hort. Bailey 5: f. 2695.
Figure 104 is from a photograph taken at Magdalena Bay, Lower California.
2. Pachycereus orcuttii (K. Brandegee) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 422.
1909.
Cereus orcuttii K. Brandegee, Zoe 5: 3. 1900.
“Stems erect, branching, bright green, reaching a height of 3 meters and a diameter of 15 cm.,
with hard woody center; ribs 14 to 18, about 1 cm. high; areoles round, about 6 mm. in diameter
and about half that distance apart, densely covered with short, light gray wool; spines all slender,
spreading, yellowish brown, irregularly 3-seriate; radials 12 to 20, about 12 mm. long, deficient
above; intermediates about 10, one-third to more than twice as long, less spreading, one of the
upper spines of this row usually stouter and darker, porrect, often reaching a length of 7 cm.; centrals
about 5, porrect, spreading a little longer than the intermediates; flowers greenish brown, darker
outside, diurnal, entire length about 4 cm.; petals short-apiculate; ovary densely covered with short
scales, almost completely concealed by thick, rounded tufts of yellowish wool, in which are imbedded dark brown bristles 4 to 6 cm. long; stamens lining the upper half of the tube; style tips
acute; fruit not known.
“The plant from which this description is drawn was obtained by Mr. C. R. Orcutt near Rosario,
Baja California, in May 1886. It was brought to him by his guide, who found it off the trail some
little distance. The cutting was planted in Mr. Orcutt’s garden, and is now about 2 meters in
height; has flowered but has formed no fruit. It is much the finest of the large Cerei of Baja California, being densely covered with bright yellow-brown spines.”
Type locality: Rosario, Lower California.
Distribution: Known only from the type locality.
The above description and account are taken from Mrs. Brandegee’s article in Zoe,
June 1900. Dr. Rose saw the type plant in 1908 at San Diego, California, and at that
time obtained a flower and bud from Mr. Orcutt. Afterwards Mr. Orcutt photographed
the plant and a flower and sold the prints. The photograph has also been printed on cardboard and distributed in an advertisement for Orcutt’s American plants. A set of these
photographs is in the National Herbarium.
3. Pachycereus pecten-aboriginum (Engelmann) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12:
422. 1909.
Cereus pecten-aboriginum Engelmann in S. Watson, Proc. Amer. Acad. 21: 429. 1886.
Tree-like, 5 to 10 meters high, with a trunk 1 to 2 meters high and 3 dm. in diameter, crowned
with many erect branches; ribs 10 or 11; areoles 1 cm. in diameter or even less, extending downward
in narrow grooves, in the flowering ones forming brownish cushions connecting with the areoles
PACHYCEREUS
71
below, densely tomentose (grayish except in flowering ones, which are brownish or reddish); spines
8 to 12, 1 to 3 central, all short, usually 1 cm. long or less, but in some cases 3 cm. long, grayish
with black tips; flowering areoles not much larger than the others; flowers 5 to 7.5 cm. long; ovary
covered with dense soft hairs with only a few bristles or none; outer perianth-segments purple, succulent; inner ones white, fleshy; stamens very numerous; style with 10 linear stigma-lobes; fruit 6 to
7.5 cm. in diameter, dry, covered with yellow wool and long yellow bristles.
Type locality: Hacienda San Miguel, Chihuahua, Mexico.
Distribution: Chihuahua, Sonora, Colima, and
Lower California.
Illustrations: Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 5: f. 32;
pl. 57, 58; Gard. and For. 7: f. 54; Dict. Gard.
Nicholson Suppl. f. 233, all as Cereus pecten-aboriginum.
Figures 105 and 106 are copied from the two
plates first cited above.
4. Pachycereus (?) gaumeri sp. nov.
Plant slender, 2 to 7 meters high, erect, simple or
few-branched; branches 4-angled or winged; ribs thin, 3
to 4 cm. high; areoles large, 1 to 2.5 cm. apart, brownfelted; spines several, slender, 1 to 3 cm. long, brownish;
flowers yellowish green, 5 cm. long; scales of the ovary
and flower-tube more or less foliaceous, drying black and
thin, with brown felt in the areoles; scales on the ovary
linear, puberulent; fruit not known.
This species is based on two collections, both
made in Yucatan by George F. Gaumer, as follows:
No. 23778 at Hodo, April 1917 (type), No. 648
at Port Silam, 1895. Dr. Gaumer writes of these
numbers as follows:
“As to my No. 23778 I sent many fine specimens
of flowers and several cross-sections of a moderately
large plant to Dr. Millspaugh. It grows erect, has few
branches, many flowers on each plant; it is very common at the senote Hodo where the most of the plants
range from 6 to 10 ft. high; it is a delicate-looking Cactus
of a light pea-green color, quite showy, the flowers are of
Fig. 105.—Pachycereus pecten-aboriginum.
a light green tinged with cream-color, they do not open
out much but remain almost cylindrical. Living specimens were sent to Dr. Britton at Bronx Park. It blooms in May and is found about four leagues
east of Izamal.
“648 was taken by myself at the port of Silam in 1894 and sent to Dr. Millspaugh. Only
two plants were seen; one was about 10 ft. and the other 20 ft. high. It grows erect and the larger
plant had but one branch. My son Geo. J. has failed to find it in the region of Progresso.”
Since the above description was written, Dr. Gaumer has sent another plant (No.
23935) which we believe belongs here, although it differs somewhat from the other plants.
A cutting was sent to the New York Botanical Garden which produced a bud in the spring
of 1919, but this only partially developed. This plant may be described as follows:
Erect; ribs 5 to 7, separated by broad intervals; areoles 1 cm. apart; spines about 15, 2 to 3
cm. long, weak, gray in age; flower-bud acute, ovoid, covered with green imbricating scales.
72
THE CACTACEAE.
Fig. 106.—Fruit of Pachycereus pecten-aboriginum.
5. Pachycereus grandis Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 421.
1909.
Cereus bergerianus Vaupel, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23: 24. 1913.
Plant 6 to 10 meters high, either simple or much branched, the trunk sometimes a meter in
diameter; branches, when present, columnar, generally simple, becoming erect almost from the first
with numerous constrictions, pale green, or when young glaucous, with some bloom which persists
in streaks; ribs 9 to 11, acutish, high; sterile areoles circular, large, bearing white felt and subulate
spines, 2 to 3 cm. apart, not running together, not extending below the spines as in P. pectenaboriginum; old spines grayish to white with black tips; radial spines 9 or 10; central spines 3, the
lower one longer, sometimes 6 cm. long, somewhat flattened; flowering areoles large, elliptic, bearing
acicular or bristle-like spines; flowers rather small for the genus, about 4 cm. long; ovary and flowertube bearing small, acuminate scales, their axils filled with downy hairs; fruit large, globular, dry,
covered with long yellow bristles and yellow felt.
Type locality: On the pedregal near Cuernavaca, Mexico.
Distribution: Common in the State of Morelos, Mexico.
This plant is very common on the pedregal north of Cuernavaca, where it was first
observed by Dr. Rose in 1906 (No. 11087), and is frequent on the hills south of Cuernavaca.
Mr. Dowell, the cactus dealer in Mexico City, told Dr. Rose that he had exported plants
to Europe, but whether they are now in the trade we do not know. A living specimen sent
back by Dr. Rose has since been growing in the Washington Botanical Garden.
6. Pachycereus chrysomallus (Lemaire) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 421.
1909.
Pilocereus chrysomallus Lemaire, Fl. Serr. 3: under pl. 242. 1847.
Cereus chrysomallus Hemsley, Biol. Centr. Amer. Bot. 1: 541. 1880.
Cephalocereus chrysomallus Schumann in Engler and Prantl, Pflanzenfam. 3 6a: 182. 1894.
Pilocereus fulviceps Weber in Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 176. 1897.
Cereus fulviceps Berger, Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 16: 64. 1905.
Stem columnar, massive, at first simple, but in very old plants much branched, giving off
hundreds of erect branches which form an almost compact cylinder up to 5 meters in diameter,
becoming 12 to 18 meters high; branches glaucous green, 11 to 14-ribbed; flowering branches capped
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
M. E. Eaton del.
PLATE XI
Top of flowering plant of Pachycereus chrysomallus.
(Natural size.)
A HOEN & CO
PACHYCEREUS
73
by dense masses of brownish wool; areoles approximate or even confluent; radial spines about 12,
slender; centrals 3, 1 very long, sometimes 12 to 13 cm. long; flowers borne near the tops of the stems
or branches, 6 to 7 cm. long; the bud, afterwards the flower, and finally the fruit, completely concealed in the long wool; ovary covered with small, pale, imbricated scales; flower-tube also covered
with imbricated scales, but these larger and pinkish, pointed; flowers doubtless opening at night, but
still expanded at 8 o’clock in the morning; tube proper 10 mm. long or less; throat funnelform, 3 cm.
long; inner perianth-segments numerous, 1.5 to 3 cm. long, cream-colored; inner perianth-segments
and stamens inflexed after anthesis, with the stiff outer perianth-segments pressed down upon them;
stamens attached all over the throat, the innermost and lower row united at base and appressed
against the style; filaments cream-colored; style stout, stiff, 7.5 cm. long, cream-colored; stigmalobes linear, erect, cream-colored.
Fig. 107.—Pachycereus chrysomallus.
Type locality: Mexico.
Distribution: Puebla and Oaxaca, Mexico.
This is one of the characteristic plants on the mesas around Tehuacán. When fully
grown, it is a very large plant with many upright branches; the trunk and old branches
are stout and woody, making it very difficult to obtain botanical specimens. In 1906 Dr.
MacDougal and Dr. Rose shipped a very large plant to the New York Botanical Garden,
which flowers annually and from which an abundance of flowers has been obtained.
Cereus militaris Audot (Rev. Hort. II . 4: 307. 1845) and Pilocereus militaris (SalmDyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 40. 1850, as synonym) probably belong here.
Illustrations: Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 10: pl. 18; MacDougal, Bot. N. Amer. Des. pl.
16; Nat. Geogr. Mag. 21: 699, as Pilocereus fulviceps; Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: pl. 66.
Plate xi illustrates the top of a flowering plant in the New York Botanical Garden
brought from Tehuacán, Mexico, by Dr. MacDougal and Dr. Rose in 1906. Figure 107 is
from a photograph taken by Dr. Rose near Tehuacán, in 1906; figure 108 shows the flower
of this plant; and figure 109 a longitudinal section of the flower.
74
THE CACTACEAE.
7. Pachycereus marginatus (De Candolle) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 421. 1909.
Cereus marginatus De Candolle, Mém. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 17: 116. 1828.
Cereus gemmatus Zuccarini in Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 96. 1837.
Fig. 108.—Flower of P. chrysomallus.
×0.7.
Fig. 109.—Longitudinal section of flower of
P. chrysomallus. ×0.7.
Stems 3 to 7 meters high, erect, usually simple; ribs 5 or 6 (7 in the original specimen), somewhat acute when young, obtuse in age; areoles close together, usually confluent, their wool forming
a dense white cushion along the ridge of each rib; spines at first 5 to 8 (1 central), in old areoles more
numerous, 1 cm. long or less, but in flowering areoles often numerous, bristly and 2 cm. long; flowers
and fruit usually closely set, one above the other, apparently only one at an areole, but recorded as
often geminate, and appearing anywhere along the ribs from the top downward; flower funnelform,
3 to 4 cm. long including the ovary; tube and ovary more or less scurfy and with ovate scales subtending bunches of wool and small spines; fruit globular, about 4 cm. in diameter, not very fleshy,
yellowish red within, covered with spines and wool which finally drop off; seeds numerous, black,
and somewhat shining, rather large, 4 mm. long, the hilum depressed.
Type locality: Mexico.
Distribution: Hidalgo, Querétaro, and Guanajuato, and widely planted
and naturalized throughout Mexico.
This species is commonly cultivated throughout central and southern
Mexico as a hedge plant and when properly cared for forms an impenetrable barrier; it is there called organo.
Cereus cupulatus, Cereus incrustatus, and Cereus mirbelii are all referred by Pfeiffer (Enum. Cact. 97. 1837) to this species. Cereus incrustans Steudel (Nom. ed. 2. 1: 334. 1840) was only a garden name but was
referred to this species by Steudel.
110.—Flower
Illustrations: Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 5: pl. 59, 60; Bull. Soc. Acclim. Fig.
of P. marginatus.
Natural size.
France 52: f. 8; Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 19: 62; Reiche, Veg. Alred. Cap.
Mex. f. 21, 22; Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen f. 17; U. S. Dept. Agr. Bur.
Pl. Ind. Bull. 262: pl. 6; Journ. Intern. Gard. Club 3: 18, all as Cereus marginatus; Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23: 149, as Cereus marginatus gibbosus; Cact. Journ. 1: 59; 2: 169,
as Cereus gemmatus; Schelle, Handb. Kakteenk. f. 22, as C. marginatus gemmatus.
PACHYCEREUS
75
Figure 110 shows a flower drawn from an herbarium specimen collected by Edward
Palmer at San Luis Potosí, Mexico, in 1905; figure 111 is from a photograph of the plant
used as a hedge near the City of Mexico.
Fig. 111.—Pachycereus marginatus used as a hedge plant in Mexico.
8. Pachycereus ruficeps (Weber).
Pilocereus ruf iceps Weber in Gosselin, Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 11: 509. 1905.
Cereus ruf iceps Vaupel, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23: 27. 1913.
Stout, columnar, 1 meters high, from a simple trunk, 3 to 4 dm. in diameter, but branched
above; branches erect; ribs about 26; young spines all reddish; radial spines 8 to 10, about 1 cm. long,
rigid, grayish; central spines 1 to 3, the longest 4 to 5 cm. long, porrect or deflexed; flowers at the top
of the plant, campanulate, 5 cm. long, the ovary and tube bearing small chartaceous scales, these
with small tufts of felt and a few yellow bristles in their axils; stamens numerous, arranged in 2
series; style stout, light flesh-colored; stigma-lobes 7 to 9; fruit small, not edible; seeds small, brownish, shining.
Type locality: Near Tehuacán, Mexico.
Distribution: Oaxaca, Mexico.
This species has been described rather fully by Roland-Gosselin, but we are still in
some doubt as to its relationship.
Dr. Rose collected flowers of it in 1905, but these were confused with specimens of
Cephalocereus macrocephalus, which seems to indicate that the two species grow together.
When Dr. Rose was at the Museum of Paris in 1912 he was given a flower from the
type collection made by M. Diguet.
Illustration: Bull. Soc. Acclim. France 52: 58. f. 17, as Cereus ruf iceps.
76
THE CACTACEAE.
9. Pachycereus lepidanthus (Eichlam).
Cereus lepidanthus Eichlam, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 19: 177. 1909.
Stems simple or with few stout branches, light green; ribs 7 to 9, rather low, separated by
broad, rounded intervals; areoles about 1 cm. apart, small; radial spines about 10, slender, 1.5 cm,
long or the longer ones 4 cm. long; the central ones stouter and somewhat flattened, 3 to 6 cm.
long; flowers 7 cm. long, 2.5. cm. broad; perianth-segments arranged in 3 or 4 series, 2.5 cm. long, 8 mm.
broad, below red, above sepia-brown, persisting on the fruit; ovary and flower-tube covered with
membranous scales; fruit dry.
Type locality: Rancho San Agustin, Guatemala.
Distribution: Guatemala.
This plant resembles Escontria chiotilla, with which we at one time thought it was related, but it has very different areoles on the stems, while the areoles in the axils of the
fruit scales, instead of being naked, are described as bearing felt and bristles, and the fruit
as dry instead of juicy. We have studied living specimens of the plant both in the New
York Botanical Garden and in the Cactus House at Washington, but none of these has
flowered, and we know its flowers and fruits only from Eichlam’s description above cited.
Illustration: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23: 53, as Cereus lepidanthus.
10. Pachycereus columna-trajani (Karwinsky) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 421.
1909.
Cereus columna-trajani Karwinsky in Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 76. 1837.
Cephalophorus columna-trajani Lemaire, Cact. Aliq. Nov. xii. 1838.
Pilocereus columna Lemaire, Cact. Gen. Nov. Sp. 9. 1839.
Pilocereus lateribarbatus Pfeiffer in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 672. 1885.
Cephalocereus columna Schumann in Engler and Prantl, Pflanzenfam. 36: 182. 1894.
Pilocereus columna-trajani Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 198. 1897, as synonym.
Plants erect, stout, up to 15 meters high, 4.5 to 5 dm. in diameter, often simple; ribs many,
green; areoles oblong, bearing brown felt; radial spines 8 to 10, 12 to 25 mm. long; central spines
more elongated, sometimes 16 cm. long, deflexed; spines all rigid, white or horn-colored except the
brown bases and tips, sometimes said to be soft and erect; flowers described as purple.
Type locality: San Sebastian, Puebla, Mexico.
Distribution: Puebla and Oaxaca, Mexico.
In 1906, Dr. Rose collected in the Tomellín Canyon in southern Mexico, not far
f rom the type locality of this species, what appeared to him to be this species. It
forms forests which cover the surrounding hills, but, unfortunately, no flowers or f ruit
could be procured.
Melocactus columna-trajani (Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 46. 1837) is usually referred to this
species, but is not formally published at the place here cited.
Cereus lateribarbatus (Rev. Hort. 1862: 427. 1862) belongs here, according to Lemaire.
Illustrations: Blanc, Cacti 77, f. 1715; Rev. Hort. 62: 129. f. 40, as Pilocereus
columna-trajani; Möllers Deutsche Gärt. Zeit. 29: 354. f. 9; MacDougal, Bot. N. Amer.
Des. pl. 22, as Pilocereus tetetzo; Schelle, Handb. Kakteenk. f. 43, as Cephalocereus
columna-trajani.
Plate xii is from a photograph taken by Dr. MacDougal at Tomellín Canyon, Mexico.
Cereus tetazo Coulter (Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 3: 409. 1896; Pilocereus tetetzo Weber in
Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 175. 1897), which we first confused with Pachycereus
columna-trajani, is not of this genus, for its ovary is glabrous and the fruit more or less
fleshy and edible. Coulter, however, does state that it is closely related, if not identical,
with one of the species of this genus, that is, Pachycereus pecten-aboriginum. It should be
compared with Cephalocereus macrocephalus.
B RIT TON A N D ROSE, VOL. II
P L ATE X I I
A mountain-side along Tomellín Canyon, Mexico, covered with Pachycereus columna-trajani.
77
LEPTOCEREUS
10. LEPTOCEREUS (Berger) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 433. 1909.
Arborescent, bush-like, vine-like, or diffusely branching cacti; joints with 3 to 8 prominent, thin,
high, crenate ribs, without aerial roots; spines slender, acicular; flowers diurnal, small; ovary spiny;
flower-tube short, campanulate, spiny; stamens very numerous, borne at the base of the throat,
scarcely exserted; stigma-lobes a little exceeding the stamens; fruit globose to oblong, more or less
spiny, fleshy; seeds numerous, black.
Type species: Cereus assurgens Grisebach.
This genus is composed of eight species, six of them Cuban, one Santo Domingan, and
one Porto Rican. Some are weak and clambering; others develop woody trunks. The
branches are strongly ribbed and armed with clusters of long acicular spines. The earliest
species were referred to Cereus. Leptocereus assurgens and L. quadricostatus, the only
species known to Schumann, were placed by him in different sections of the genus Cereus,
the former in his series Tortuosi and the latter in his series Oligogoni. A. Berger in his
treatment of Cereus proposed the subgenus Leptocereus, which we afterward raised to
generic rank. Cereus gonzalezi and C. tonduzii, also referred here by Berger, we have
referred to other genera.
The generic name is from the Greek, signifying thin-cereus, referring to the thin ribs.
Key to Species.
Ultimate joints slender, 1 to 2 cm. thick.
Vine-like, elongated; ultimate joints 1 cm. thick, 4 to 7-ribbed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ultimate joints 2 cm. thick, 6 to 8 ribbed.
Tree-like, 5 meters high, the trunk 3 cm. in diameter at the base; flowers 3.5 cm. long,
sparingly short-spiny . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Prostrate, creeping; flowers 1.5 cm. long, densely long-spiny . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ultimate joints stout, 2 to 6 cm. thick.
Fruit densely long-spiny.
Bush-like, 1 to 3 meters high; ultimate joints 2 to 3 cm. thick; f ruit 3 to 6 cm. long.
Joints 4-ribbed; spines brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Joints 5 to 7-ribbed; spines yellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tree-like, 5 to 6 meters high; ultimate joints 5 to 6 cm. thick; f ruit 8 to 10 cm. long . .
Fruit sparingly short-spiny; tree-like species.
Joints 5 to 7-ribbed, the ribs very broad; f ruit 7 to 8 cm. long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
joints 3 to 4-ribbed, the ribs low; f ruit 3 to 5 cm. long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 1. L. weingartianus
. 2. L. leonii
. 3. L. prostratus
. 4. L. assurgens
. 5. L. maxonii
. 6. L. arboreus
. 7. L. sylvestris
. 8. L. quadricostatus
1. Leptocereus weingartianus (Hartmann).
Cereus weingartianus Hartmann in Dams, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 14: 155. 1904.
Roots in clusters, tuberous, thick; stems becoming terete and woody below, the branches creeping or climbing among shrubs and trees, sometimes to the height of 8 to 10 meters; stems 4 to
7-ribbed, at first slender and weak, 1.5 to 2 cm. in diameter; areoles 1 to 1.5 cm. apart, circular,
Fig. 112.—Part of branch of L. weingartianus.
×0. 7.
small, at first filled with short, whitish wool (afterwards disappearing) and acicular spines at first
brownish or yellowish brown but in age becoming gray; radial spines 10 to 12, spreading; central
spines a little stouter than the radials, a little spreading, often as many as 6, bulbose at base, 1 to
1.5 cm. long; flowers small, about 4 cm. long; fruit about 2 cm. long, covered with clusters of small,
deciduous spines.
Type locality: Haiti.
Distribution: Hispaniola.
This species has heretofore been known only from the type material from “Haiti.”
In 1913 Dr. Rose collected an abundance of both living and herbarium material near
78
THE CACTACEAE.
Azua, Santo Domingo, and a little later received living specimens from Father M. Fuertes,
of Barahona, Santo Domingo. Dr. Rose’s material showed for the first time the peculiar
root system of this species. With it also were old flowers and fruit, heretofore unknown.
The species is rare about Azua, only two stations being found in the lower foothills north
of the town (No. 3941). Dr. Paul Bartsch collected specimens in Haiti in 1917 (No. 221).
Illustration: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 14: 155, as Cereus weingartianus.
Figure 112 shows part of a branch of a plant collected by Dr. Rose at Azua, Santo
Domingo, in 1913.
2. Leptocereus leonii Britton and Rose, Torreya 12: 15.
1912.
Cereus leoni Vaupel, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 22 66. 1912.
Plant up to 5 meters high, repeatedly branching, the rounded trunk 3 cm. in diameter at the
base, the cortex scaly-roughened; ultimate branches about 1.5 cm. in diameter, slender, elongated,
6 to 8-ribbed; old areoles 1 to 1.5 cm. apart in vertical rows, bearing acicular spines; ribs crenate,
with the areoles borne at the depressions; spines 6 to 12 at an areole, long, yellowish when young,
gray when old, 2 to 9 cm. long; flower 3.5 cm. long, campanulate; inner perianth-segments pink,
about 15, withering-persistent; tube of flower bearing scattered areoles each with 1 to 4 short spines
or some of them spineless; fruit globose-ovoid, 2 cm. in diameter, with a few scattered spine-bearing
areoles; seeds black.
Type locality: Sierra de Anafe, near Guayabal, Cuba.
Fig. 113.—Leptocereus leonii.
LEPTOCEREUS
79
Distribution: On limestone rocks, Sierra de Anafe and Sierra de Guane, western Cuba.
The wood is very hard; the flowers appear from August to November.
At the type locality this tree-like species inhabits a steep rocky slope and cliff, difficult of access, growing as a colony.
Figure 113 is from a photograph of the type plant, obtained by Brother Leon, of the
Colegio de la Salle, Habana, in whose honor the species was named.
3. Leptocereus prostratus sp. nov.
Plant prostrate, bright green, 7-ribbed, 1.5
to 2 cm. thick, the ribs scarcely crenate; areoles elevated, about 1 cm. apart; spines 15 to
20 at an areole, acicular, 1 to 2 cm. long, yellow when young, gray when old; ovary densely
covered with yellow spines; perianth about
1.5 cm. long; fruit about 1.5 cm. in diameter.
On high, dry, exposed rocks, La Guira,
north of Sumidero, Pinar del Rio, Cuba
(Shafer, No. 13754, August 17, 1912).
Leptocereus prostratus is related to
L. leoni, which differs in having an erect
trunk, the ribs of the branches deeply
crenate, the areoles depressed in the crenatures, and larger flowers and, fruit.
4. Leptocereus assurgens (C. Wright) Britton
and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12:
433. 1909
Cereus assurgens C. Wright in Grisebach,
Cat Pl. Cub 116. 1866.
Plant 2 to 3 meters high, not much
branched, the ultimate joints 3 cm. in diameter or less; ribs 4; areoles 1 to 2.5 cm. apart;
spines acicular, brown, 2 to 8 cm. long; flowers 4 to 5 cm. long; tube and ovary bearing
scattered clusters of spines inner perianth segments short numerous spreading or even
turned backward; stamens and style pale
greenish white; fruit covered with clusters of
short spines.
Type locality: Western Cuba
Distribution: On limestone, near
Fig. 114.—Leptocereus assurgens.
northern coast of Habana Province, Cuba.
This species was long known only from the collections of Charles Wright, but has been
rediscovered by collectors connected with the New York Botanical Garden.
The name Cereus pellucidus (Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 108. 1837) belongs to this species
or to some other Cuban member of the genus; the published description is not sufficiently
complete to enable us to identify the plant more accurately.
Illustration: Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen f. 33, as Cereus assurgens.
Plate viii, figure 4, shows a plant collected by Britton and Cowell at Cojimar, Cuba,
in 1911, which flowered in the New York Botanical Garden in July 1915. Figure 114 is
from a photograph obtained by Brother Leon at the same locality.
80
THE CACTACEAE.
5. Leptocereus maxonii sp. nov.
Stems 1 to 1.5 meters high, more or less branched, erect or sometimes with recurved branches;
ribs 5 or 7, usually 6, thin, 6 to 15 mm. deep, scalloped; areoles 1.5 to 2 cm. apart, circular; spines
when young of a decided yellowish-brown color, dark brown or sometimes whitish in age, about 20
from an areole, needle-shaped, the longer ones 3 cm. long; flowers 5 to 6 cm. long; inner perianthsegments about 32, spreading at right angles to the tube, linear-oblong, yellowish green inside, the
outer obtuse, the inner acute; stamens cream-colored; ovary and flower-tube densely covered with
yellowish spines; immature fruit bur-like, 4 cm. long, densely covered with yellow or brownish spines.
Fig. 115.—Leptocereus maxonii.
Collected by Wm. R. Maxon at Berraco, 8 miles east of Daiquiri, Cuba, April 13, 1907
(No. 4023), and by Britton and Cowell at the same locality, March 1912 (No. 12657, type).
This species differs from L. assurgens in habit, in having more ribs, and in the flowers
and young shoots being covered with yellow spines and bristles instead of dark brown ones.
Figure 115 is from a photograph of a branch of the plant collected by Mr. Maxon as
above cited.
6. Leptocereus arboreus Britton and
Rose, Torreya 12: 15. 1912.
Cereus arboreus Vaupel, Monatsschr.
Kakteenk. 22: 65. 1912.
Plants up to 6 meters high, erect,
much branched; joints 3 to 10 dm. long, 5
to 6 cm. in diameter, narrowed at base;
ribs 4, narrow, thin, 1.5 to 2 cm. deep,
somewhat depressed between the areoles;
areoles 2.5 to 4 cm. apart or less; spines
To or fewer, acicular, yellowish, becoming
gray, radiating, the longer up to 5 cm.
long; flower short, campanulate, 2 to 3
cm. long; inner perianth-segments short,
spreading, greenish white to cream-colored;
ovary and flower-tube very spiny; fruit
ellipsoid, 8 to 10 cm. long, 5 to 6 cm. in
diameter, its areoles bearing tufts of numerous light-yellow spines.
Fig. 116.—Fruit of Leptocereus arboreus.
Fig. 117.—Fruit of Leptocereus sylvestris.
×0.7.
×0.7.
Type locality: Punta Sabanilla, Santa Clara, Cuba.
Distribution: Near southern coast of the Province of Santa Clara, Cuba.
Plate xiii, figure 1, shows the plant collected by Britton, Cowell, and Earle at Castillo de Jagua, Cuba, in 1911, which flowered in the New York Botanical Garden in 1913.
Figure 116 shows a fruit of the type specimen.
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
PLATE XIII
M. E. Eaton del.
A HOEN & CO
1. Top of flowering branch of Leptocereus arboreus.
2. Top of stem of Lemaireocereus griseus.
3. Fruiting branch of Mediocactus coccineus.
(All natural size.)
LEPTOCEREUS
81
7. Leptocereus sylvestris sp. nov.
Tree-like, up to 5 meters high; joints 2 to 3 cm. in diameter, 5 to 7-ribbed; ribs strongly crenate;
areoles 1 to 1.5 cm. apart; spines light brown, long and acicular, the longest ones 9 cm. long; fruit
subglobose, 7 to 8 cm. long, bearing clusters of short spines, these early deciduous.
Collected by Britton, Cowell, and Shafer in coastal woods, Ensenada de Mora, Province
of Oriente, Cuba, March 20 to 29, 1912, No. 13060.,
Figure 117 shows a fruit of the type specimen and figure 118 a branch.
Fig. 118.—Top of branch of
Leptocereus sylvestris. ×0.6.
Fig. 119.—Leptocereus quadricostatus.
8. Leptocereus quadricostatus (Bello) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 16: 242.
1913.
Cereus quadricostatus Bello, Anal. Soc. Esp. Hist. Nat. 10: 276. 1881.
Plants erect or arching, up to 4 meters high, with numerous
lateral, usually elongated branches, often forming thickets; branches
dull, dark green, usually 4-ribbed, sometimes 3-ribbed, the ribs thin
and low; spines acicular, 1 to 4 cm. long; flowers 4 cm. long, 2 cm.
wide at the mouth; outer perianth-segments green; inner perianthsegments greenish white or yellowish white, truncate, the apex
lacerate or erose; ovary and flower-tube bearing a few clusters of
short spines; style and filaments greenish; fruit subglobose to obovoid,
3 to 5 cm. long, not very spiny, red.
Type locality: Porto Rico.
Distribution: Southwestern Porto Rico.
Figs. 120 and 121.— Fruit and
flower of L. quadricostatus.
This plant inhabits hillsides and plains in the dry south×0.7.
western part of Porto Rico, sometimes forming dense thickets,
penetrable only by the use of the machete; it is known as sebucan.
82
THE CACTACEAE.
Figure 119 is from a photograph taken by Frank E. Lutz at Ensenada, near Guanica,
Porto Rico, in 1915; figure 120 shows a fruit collected by Dr. Britton and Dr. Shafer at
Guanica in 1913; figure 121 shows a flower from a plant at the same locality.
PUBLISHED SPECIES, PERHAPS OF LEPTOCEREUS.
Cereus paniculatus De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 466.
1828.
Cactus paniculatus Lamarck, Encycl. 1: 540. 1783.
This has long been in doubt and is known only from imperfect description and illustration. Lamarck states that it is from Santo Domingo, in a region called cul-de-sac, and
is based on Burmann’s plate 192 of Plumier. It is apparently a Leptocereus, perhaps L.
weingartianus.
11. EULYCHNIA Philippi, Fl. Atac. 23. 1860.
Stout, erect or procumbent and ascending, green cacti, usually with many branches, the
branches parallel-ribbed, armed with spines; perianth white to pinkish, withering and persisting on
the ovary; flowers single at the areoles, opening during both day and night, short and broad for
the group, with an open throat, the tube very short if not wanting altogether; scales on ovary and
flower-tube numerous, their axils usually with bristles or long hairs; filaments very short, covering
the face of the throat; style short and thick; fruit globular, fleshy, somewhat acid, hardly edible;
seeds small, dull black, containing endosperm (according to Mr. Söhrens).
Type species: Eulychnia breviflora Philippi.
This genus as here defined contains 4 species found along the coast and central valleys
of the provinces of Aconcagua, Coquimbo, Atacama, Antofagasta, and Tarapaca, Chile.
To this group, treated as a subgenus of Cereus by Mr. Berger, has been referred a number of anomalous species which we place elsewhere; they are similar to this genus in the
fact that they have very short flower-tubes, but in habit, fruit, and other characters they
are quite distinct. These species will be discussed in this work under other genera.
The genus Eulychnia was first established in 1860 by Rudolph Philippi, who based it
upon a single species, E. breviflora. In 1864 two other species, E. acida and E. castanea,
were described, while the fourth is transferred by us from Cereus.
The plants are usually found on dry hills, and are often associated with other cacti
and other desert plants. In many regions they form the dominant feature in the vegetation.
At least two species are commonly used for fuel, and one (E. acida) is used for hedge fences.
The generic name is from the Greek, signifying a candlestick.
Key to Species.
Areoles of the ovary and perianth-tube without stiff bristles.
Areoles of the ovary and perianth-tube with long wool.
Wool chestnut-brown; areoles of the joints small, little felted . . . . . . . . . .
Wool white; areoles of the joints large, approximate, densely felled . . . . . .
Areoles of the ovary and perianth-tube with very short wool . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Areoles of the ovary and perianth-tube with stiff brownish bristles and short wool .
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4.
E.
E.
E.
E.
spinibarbis
iquiquensis
acida
castanea
1. Eulychnia spinibarbis (Otto).
Cereus spinibarbis Otto in Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 86. 1837.
Cereus panoplaeatus Monville, Hort. Univ. 1: 220. 1840.
Eulychnia breviflora Philippi, Fl. Atac. 24. 1860.
Echinocereus spinibarbis Schumann, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 5: 124. 1895.
Cereus breviflorus Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen Nachtr. 23. 1903.
Stems 2 to 4 meters high, much branched; branches 7.5 cm. in diameter; ribs 12 or 13; spines
about 20 from an areole, usually 18 mm. long, but the longest one at times 15 cm. long; flowers 3
to 5 cm. long; scales on ovary and flower small, bearing in their axils long brown wool; outer perianthsegments short, acuminate; inner perianth-segments white to pinkish, oblong, 2 cm. long, acute;
style short, 1.5 cm. long including the stigma-lobes; scales on the ovary small, their axils filled
with long brown wool.
Type locality: Near Coquimbo, Chile.
Distribution: Along the coast of the province of Coquimbo, Chile.
83
EULYCHNIA
The only difference Dr. Rose was able to observe in the field between this species and
E. acida is the very woolly flower and fruit of E. spinibarbis. The flowers seemed to be
identical in form, size, and color and at La Serena the two were growing side by side; the
form with long silky wool on the flowers was never seen in the interior valleys, although
thousands of flowers were there observed.
Cereus tortus (Förster, Handb. Cact. 391. 1846) may belong here.
Cereus chilensis breviflorus (Hirscht, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 8: 159. 1898) doubtless
belongs here, but has not been described.
Illustrations: Fl. Atac. pl. 2, f. A, as Eulychnia breviflora; Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 16:
pl. 4, f. 1, as Cereus breviflorus; Schumann,
Gesamtb. Kakteen f. 11, as C. coquimbanus.
Figure 122 is from a photograph of a
plant brought by Dr. Rose to the New York
Botanical Garden from the Botanical Garden
of Santiago, Chile, under the name Eulychnia
breviflora, in 1914.
2. Eulychnia iquiquensis (Schumann).
Cereus iquiquensis Schumann,
Kakteenk. 14: 99. 1904.
Monatsschr.
Plant 2 to 7 meters high, when old quite
spineless below, but very spiny toward the top; trunk
usually very short, 2 to 2.5 cm. in diameter, its
outer layers pulpy and yellow, terete, with many
branches from near the base, these nearly erect
or more or less spreading and again branching;
ribs 12 to 15, 110 broader at base than above, somewhat tuberculate, separated by acute intervals;
areoles approximate, sometimes with only a very
little space between them, 5 to 10 mm. in diameter,
with short white wool, on many old stems and
branches the areoles die and fall, leaving a row of
indentations along the top of the rib; spines various, on vigorous sterile shoots about 12 to 15 at an
areole, most of them about 1 cm. long, while 1 or 2
are very stout, porrect, elongated, and sometimes
12 cm. long; on flowering branches the spines
numerous, soft and hair-like or some of them
bristle-like; flowers borne near the tops of branches,
6 to 7 cm. long including the ovary; flower-buds
globular, covered with long, white, silky hairs;
inner perianth-segments white, short; fruit globular, 5 to 6 cm. in diameter, fleshy, said to be acid,
densely clothed with white hairs; seeds not known.
Fig. 122.—Eulychnia spinibarbis.
Type locality: Iquique, Province of Tarapaca, Chile.
Distribution: On top and slopes of the coastal hills in the Provinces of Atacama,
Antofagasta, and Tarapaca, Chile.
According to published records, this species is known only from the original collection
made by Carlos Reiche in 1904, and has never been in cultivation. Dr. Rose collected
living, herbarium, and formalin specimens in 1914 not only at Iquique, but also at Antofagasta. It grows only on the coastal hills, which at both towns come down almost to the
sea or rise from a narrow coastal plain, and is not found on the pampas, which extend east
of the coastal hills to the Andes. In both the Provinces of Antofagasta and Tarapaca, it
is the most conspicuous plant seen, in fact it is the only woody plant met with on their
western borders. It is called by the natives copado, and the old dead branches are carried
84
THE CACTACEAE.
to the towns and used for firewood. The flowers begin to appear late in October; the fruit
is eaten by animals, doubtless by birds, as all old fruits had large holes on one side, and no
seeds remained.
Plate xv, figure 1, shows the top of plant collected by Dr. Rose at Antofagasta, 1914.
3. Eulychnia acida Philippi, Linnaea 33: 80.
1864.
Cereus acidus Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen Nachtr. 22. 1903.
Plant various in habit, usually 3 to 7 meters high, with a definite trunk 1 meter long and then
more or less branching, forming a more or less rounded top, but sometimes without trunk, forming
a low mass 1 meter high or less, with branches often procumbent or ascending; ribs 11 to 13, broad
and low; spines various, nearly porrect, grayish in age but brownish when young, sometimes 20 cm.
long; flowers 5 cm. long, turbinate, 13 cm. in circumference at top; ovary and tube covered with
small, ovate, imbricating scales, fleshy at base but with acute, callous tips; limb somewhat oblique;
inner perianth-segments at first pale rose-colored, then white, 20 to 22 mm. long; throat very short,
covered with stamens; stamens white, 1 to 1.5 cm. long, included; style 2 cm. long, stiff, white, with
12 to 15 stigma-lobes; fruit fleshy, somewhat acid.
Type locality: Near Illapel and Choapa, Chile.
Distribution: From near Choapa to Copiapo, in western Chile.
This species is called tuna de cobado by the natives, according to Philippi.
This species was originally described from material, obtained by Landbeck near Illapel
and Choapa, but nothing of the type has been preserved in the Philippi herbarium at Santiago. Dr. Rose, however, visited both Illapel and
Choapa in 1914, and was able to decide definitely
upon the species described by Philippi. At both
places E. acida was quite common, usually growing with Cereus chiloensis, but from which it differs
so much in habit and flowers that one is soon able
to distinguish the two readily.
It is sometimes referred to as Cereus chilensis
acidus (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 8: 159. 1898), but
the name has never been formally published.
Figure 123 shows a flower collected by Dr.
Rose at Illapel, Chile, in 1914.
4. Eulychnia castanea Philippi, Linnaea 33: 80.
1864.
Cereus castaneus Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen Nachtr.
22. 1903.
Fig. 123.—Flower of Eulychnia acida.
Fig. 124.—Flower of Eulychnia castanea.
×0.7
×0.7.
Forming dense thickets sometimes 20 meters broad; branches 6 to 8 cm. in diameter, spreading
at base or decumbent, with ascending tips, reaching a height of 1 meter or less; ribs 9, 10, or 11, low
and rounded; areoles about 1 cm. apart, large and circular; spines, when young, yellow with brown
tips, gray or nearly white in age; radial spines 8 to 10, unequal but short, usually 5 to 20 cm. long;
central spine 1, 6 to 10 cm. long, stout, porrect; flowers borne near the tips of the branches, 3 to 5
cm. long; ovary tuberculate, its numerous areoles with short brown wool and slender brown bristles
1 to 1.5 cm. long, resembling somewhat a chestnut bur; areoles subtended by minute scales each
with a callous tip; inner perianth-segments 1 to 1.5 cm. long, broad, with mucronate tips, white or
pinkish; fruit globular, said to be insipid, 5 cm. in diameter, fleshy, the small scales persistent, but
nearly devoid of bristles except near the top, crowned by the withering perianth; seeds 1.5 mm. long,
dull black.
Type locality: Near Los Molles, Province of Aconcagua, Chile.
Distribution: On bluffs near and facing the sea along the shores of Aconcagua from
Los Molles to Los Vilos.
The history of this species, though short, is interesting. It was collected by Landbeck, at Los Molles, Chile, in November 1862, and was described by Rudolph Philippi in
1864. The type material, consisting of two flowers and a few bunches of spines, is preserved
in the Museo Nacional de Santiago. Unfortunately, the original material and labels
85
LEMAIREOCEREUS
had been mixed with other species, but Dr. Rose, who studied the Philippi collection in
1914, was able to make the separation, and through the kindness of the Director, brought
back a flower and cluster of spines, which are now preserved in the United States National
Herbarium in Washington. From 1862 to 1914 there is no record that this species has been
seen by botanists. Dr. Rose, while exploring in Chile, after several efforts was finally
successful in obtaining living, herbarium, and formalin material (No. 19393), and also a
fairly good photograph.
Figure 124 shows a flower collected by Dr. Rose at the type locality in 1914.
12. LEMAIREOCEREUS Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 424.
1909.
Stenocereus Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 253. 1909.
Plants usually large, tall, and branching, but rarely low, nearly prostrate, simple, forming
thickets; areoles rather large, felted; spines usually stout and numerous; flowers diurnal or in some
species nocturnal, one at an areole, tubular-funnelform or campanulate, the short tube tardily
separating with the style from top of the ovary; stamens numerous, borne in many rows all along
the inner surface of the throat; ovary more or less tubercled, bearing scales felted in the axils, the
areoles at first spineless or nearly so, soon developing a cluster of spines; fruit globular to oval, often
edible, irregularly bursting when old, exposing the seeds, at first very spiny, but when ripe the
spines are often deciduous; seeds many, black.
The genus commemorates Charles Lemaire (1801-1871), a distinguished French
cactologist and horticulturist; it consists of about 21 species, distributed from southern
Arizona and Cuba to Peru and Venezuela.
Type species: Cereus hollianus Weber.
Key to Species.
A. Ribs 6 to 20, separated by deep intervals.
B. Areoles with white, brown, or gray felt, not glandular.
Spines slender, acicular to subulate.
Spines not appressed to the joints, a central one usually evident.
Ribs 6 to 12.
Areoles borne on ribs, when these are crenate borne on elevations.
Joints green, not glaucous.
Flowers 10 cm. long; central spine long, reflexed . . . . . . . 1.
Flowers 7 to 9 cm. long; central spine spreading or
ascending . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.
Young growth glaucous, the bloom persistent as curved,
whitish streaks.
Spines subulate; plants relatively light green.
Ribs 8 to 10; young growth slightly glaucous . . . . . . . 3.
Ribs 6 or 7; young growth definitely glaucous.
Spines terete, 5 cm. long or less . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.
Spines flattened above, up to 8 cm. long . . . . . . 5.
Spines acicular; plants dark green . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.
Areoles borne in depressions of the crenate ribs.
Plants bright green.
Flowers greenish yellow to rose.
Ribs 9 to 12; flowers greenish yellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.
Ribs 7 to 9; flowers rose-colored . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.
Flowers white . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.
Plants glaucous, the bloom persistent as whitish streaks.
Ribs 6 to 8, bluntly acute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.
Ribs 8 to 12, rounded . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.
Ribs about 20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.
Spines usually all radial, appressed to the joints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.
Spines very stout, at first reddish brown or nearly black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.
BB. Areoles with dark brown or black felt, glandular.
Ribs 6 to 8.
Scales of the ovary 2 mm. long or less . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.
Scales of the ovary 4 to 6 mm. long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.
Ribs 12 to 17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.
A. Ribs 3 to 7, separated by broad and shallow intervals.
Areoles large, widely separated.
Stems very stout, erect.
Stems bluish gray; spines of f ruit brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.
Stems green; spines of f ruit yellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.
Stems slender, weak, usually 3 or 4-ribbed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.
Areoles small, nearly contiguous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.
L. hollianus
L. hystrix
L. griseus
L. pruinosus
L. longispinus
L. eichlamii
L. chichipe
L. chende
L. godingianus
L.
L.
L.
L.
L.
aragonii
stellatus
treleasei
def iciens
weberi
L. queretaroensis
L. montanus
L. thurberi
L.
L.
L.
L.
laetus
cartwrightianus
humilis
dumortieri
86
THE CACTACEAE.
1. Lemaireocereus hollianus (Weber) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 425.
1909.
Cereus hollianus Weber in Coulter, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 3: 411. 1896.
Cereus bavosus Weber in Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 84. 1897.
Stem simple or branching only at base, 4 to 5 meters high; ribs 8 to 12, acute; areoles 1 to 3
cm. apart; spines at first bright red, but soon gray; radial spines about 12, very unequal, 1 to 3 cm.
long, mostly spreading; centrals 3 to 5, swollen at base, unequal, the lower ones much longer than
the others, sometimes 10 cm. long, strongly deflexed; flowers borne at the upper areoles, 10 cm. long,
white; scales on ovary and flower-tube with lanate and bristly axils; fruit “as large as a goose egg,”
dark purple to red, covered with clusters of spines and bristles; seeds black, shining.
Type locality: Tehuacán, Puebla, Mexico.
Distribution: Puebla, Mexico.
This is a remarkable species, with
unusually large fruit. It is called by the
Mexicans bavoso.
The two names C. hollianus and C.
bavosus are based on Weber’s collection of
1864-66, and hence the latter is a synonym.
About the town of Sebastian in
southern Puebla it is used as a hedge
plant as well shown in our illustration.
Cereus brachiatus Galeotti (SalmDyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 195. 1850)
must be very close to L. hollianus, if not
identical, although Schumann did not
believe they were the same; both came
from near Tehuacán, Mexico. Cereus militaris californicus (Schumann, Gesamtb.
Kakteen 85. 1897) is said to be a horticultural form of Cereus bavosus.
Illustrations: Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb.
10: pl. 19, as Cereus hollianus; Möllers
Fig. 125.—Lemaireocereus hollianus.
Deutsche Gärt. Zeit. 29: 438. f. 14, as
Cereus bavosus.
Figure 125 is from a photograph by Dr. Rose at Sebastian, Puebla, Mexico, in 1905
2. Lemaireocereus hystrix (Haworth) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 425.
1909.
Cactus hystrix Haworth, Suppl. Pl. Succ. 73. 1819.
Cereus hystrix Salm-Dyck, Observ. Bot. 3: 7. 1822.
Echinocactus hystrix Haworth, Phil. Mag. 7: 116. 1830.
Plant often 8 to 12 meters high and then with 10 to 50 erect branches; trunk short, often indefinite, sometimes 3 dm. in diameter; branches 7 to 10 cm. in diameter, with 9 or 10, rarely 12,
ribs separated by V-shaped intervals; spines gray with brown tips, acicular, the radials about 10; central
spines usually 3, one often longer than the others, often 4 cm. long; flower, including the ovary,
8 to 9 cm. long; tube 5 cm. long, broadly obconic, 3 cm. broad at mouth, spineless, purplish to
dark green, bearing few short broad scales; inner perianth-segments white, spreading or recurved;
stamens numerous, erect, white; style white, slender, club-shaped; ovary tuberculate, spineless,
bearing small ovate scales; fruit 5 to 6 cm. long, longer than broad, scarlet, covered with clusters
of deciduous spines, when mature breaking open and exposing the dark red pulp.
Type locality: West Indies.
Distribution: Dry parts of Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, and the Porto Rican islands
Desecheo and Cayo Muertos.
On, the outskirts of Kingston, Jamaica, the stout branches are planted close together,
forming a fence or an almost impenetrable hedge about fields, especially along the roadsides.
87
LEMAIREOCEREUS
The flowers of this species open at about 7 o’clock in the evening in Jamaica. The
style is exserted from the tip of the bud several days before the flower opens, but it
seems to be withdrawn before the flower is ready to expand. The flower-tube cuts off from
Fig. 126.—Lemaireocereus hystrix.
the ovary as is done in Cereus, except that the style comes off with the perianth. Numerous
wasps visit the flowers to gather the nectar which oozes from the back of the scales on the
flower-tube.
The plant is called Spanish dildos in Jamaica. On hillsides at the United States Naval
Station, Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, this cactus occurs in great abundance, forming large
colonies, individual plants differing much in the length of their spines, which in some are all
less than 1 cm. long.
Illustrations: Journ. N. Y. Bot. Gard. 10: f. 20,
as Cereus hystrix; Gard. Chron. II. 10: 18185. f. 37; Möllers Deutsche Gärt. Zeit. 18: 34.2, as Cereus swartzii.
Figure 126 is from a photograph taken by Marshall A. Howe near Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, in
1909; figure 127 shows a flower collected by William
Harris in Jamaica and figure 128 a fruit from the
same source.
Here is probably to be referred Descourtilz’s
plate 419 (F l. Med. Antill., vol. 6), which he supposed to be Cactus f imbriatus Lamarck. This plate
seems to be based largely on Burmann’s
plate of Plumier 195, f. 2. This latter
plate was made the type of Haworth’s
Cereus grandispinus (Phil. Mag. 7: 113.
1830; Pilocereus grandispinus Lemaire, Rev.
Hort. 1862: 427. 1862).
3. Lemaireocereus griseus (Haworth) Britton and
Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 425. 1909.
Fig. 127.—Flower of Lemaireocereus hystrix.
Fig. 128.—Fruit of same.
Cereus griseus Haworth, Syn. Pl. Succ. 182.
1812.
Cereus eburneus Salm-Dyck, Observ. Bot. 3: 6. 1822.
Cereus crenulatus griseus Salm-Dyck in Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 85. 1837.
Cereus eburneus polygonus Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 91. 1837.
Cereus resupinatus Salm-Dyck, Allg. Gartenz. 8: 10. 1840.
Cereus gladiger* Lemaire, Hort. Univ. 6: 60. 1845.
×0.7.
*At place cited, by error spelled gladiiger, which some have cited as gladilger, thus making another error.
88
THE CACTACEAE.
Plant 8 meters high or less, sometimes branching at the base, sometimes with a definite trunk
up to 3.5 dm. in diameter, smooth when old; branches 8 to 10-ribbed, more or less glaucous; spines
acicular, gray, the longer ones 4 cm. long; flower-bud obtuse or rounded at apex, covered with
overlapping scales, these obtuse and brown; flowers pinkish, 7 cm. long; inner perianth-segments
white; style exserted before the flower opens; fruit subglobose, about 5 cm. in diameter, spiny,
edible, the pulp red.
Type locality: South America, but no definite locality cited.
Distribution: Northern coast of Venezuela and adjacent islands; Curacao; Aruba;
Bonaire; Margarita; Patos Island, Trinidad; and now cultivated in many parts of tropical
America for its delicious fruits.
Cereus polygonatus (Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 91. 1837) was given as a synonym of C.
eburneus polygonus.
Cactus coquimbanus, a Chilean species, has sometimes been confused with this species.
Cereus gladiger, sometimes referred to Cels and sometimes to Lemaire as the author,
seems to have come originally from Colombia.
In this species as well as in many others, abnormal forms occur, among which is C.
eburneus monstrosus Salm-Dyck (De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 465. 1828).
Cereus enriquezii (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 19: 92.
1909) was sent to Europe from Jalapa, Mexico, by
Señor Murrilo. It is considered by W. Weingart to
be C. eburneus monstrosus.
The common cultivated species of Mexico seems to
belong here.
According to Boldingh, this cactus is known in
the Dutch West Indies as daatoe, kadoesji, and jaatoe.
It is widely grown on Curaçao Island as a hedge plant,
where the branches are planted close together in rows.
According to Captain Lens, poor people of Curaçao
use the fleshy branches as a vegetable. Mr. Harold G.
Foss states that in the region of Coro, Venezuela, the
natives use the wood in making the roofs and walls of
their houses. The heart wood is split into two pieces
and then tied to the rafters so as to form the support
for the mortar and tiles. The wood is rich in potash,
and the ash from it is shipped in large quantities to the
Fig. 129.—Lemaireocereus griseus.
United States for use as a fertilizer.
Illustration: Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: pl. 67
Plate xiii, figure 2, shows the top of a plant collected on Curaçao. Figure 129 is from
a photograph taken by Mrs. J. N. Rose on the same island in 1916.
4. Lemaireocereus pruinosus (Otto).
Echinocactus pruinosus Otto in Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 54. 1837.
Cactus pruinosus Monville in Steudel, Nom. ed. 2. 1: 246. 1840.
Cereus pruinosus Otto in Förster, Handb. Cact. 398. 1846.
Cereus laevigatus Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 204. 1850.
Plant usually tall, with a more or less definite trunk; ribs 5 or 6, very high, separated by broad
intervals; spines few, the radial ones 5 to 7, brownish; central spine solitary, 3 cm. long; flowering
areoles large, brown-felted; flowers about 9 cm. long; upper scales and outer perianth-segments 1
cm. long or less, rounded at apex; inner perianth-segments longer and thinner than the outer ones.
ovary with numerous brown-felted areoles; fruit ovoid, spiny, 6 to 7 cm. long.
Type locality: Mexico.
Distribution: South-central Mexico.
89
LEMAIREOCEREUS
This plant is certainly native in south-central Mexico, and
distinguishable from the related cultivated L. griseus by fewer
ribs, larger flowers, and ovoid fruit.
Cereus roridus (Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 54. 1837) was given
as a synonym of Echinocactus pruinosus.
Cereus edulis Weber (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 10: 55. 1900)
is another name for this species, never described.
Illustrations: Bull. Soc. Acclim. France 52: f. 1, as Cereus
pruinosus; Bradley, Hist. Succ. Pl. ed. 2. pl. 12, as Cereus americanus octangularis; Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 18: 171, in part; 21:
37; U. S. Dept. Agr. Bur. Pl. Ind. Bull. 262: pl. 8; pl. 13, f. 2;
MacDougal, Bot. N. Amer. Des. pl. 23; Journ. N. V. Bot. Gard.
8: f. 6, all these as Cereus eburneus.
Figure 130 shows a fruit collected by H. H. Rusby in
Oaxaca in 1910.
Fig. 130.— Fruit of Lemaireocereus pruinosus. × 0.7.
5. Lemaireocereus (?) longispinus sp. nov.
Erect, rather stout, light green, the young growth more or less glaucous; ribs 6, broad at base,
somewhat acute, more or less undulate; areole borne at the tops of the undulations; radial spines
about 10, spreading or even reflexed, acicular; central spine elongated, porrect, flattened above, up
to 8 cm. long, gray; flowers and fruit unknown.
Collected by F. Eichlam in Guatemala in 1909.
Figure 131 is from a photograph of the type specimen in the collection of the New York
Botanical Garden.
6. Lemaireocereus eichlamii nom. nov.
Cereus laevigatus guatemalensis Eichlam in Weingart, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 22: 182.
guatemalensis Vaupel.
1912.
Not C.
Cylindric, simple in cultivation, deep green except for narrow glaucous bands showing the
commencement of new growth; ribs 8 to 10, rather broad and rounded, with acute intervals between;
areoles large, brown-felted at first, soon gray; spines 4 to 6, acicular, nearly porrect, 2 cm. long or
less; flower-buds obtuse; flower 6 to 7 cm. long; outer perianth-segments greenish purple, obtuse,
with serrulate margins; inner perianth-segments purple, 10 to 15 mm. long, widely spreading or even
rolled backward; tube proper 15 to 18 mm. long, ribbed within; tube funnelform, 2.5 cm. long, its
surface covered with stamens; filaments unequal, white, numerous; style slender, white below, orange
above, included; ovary tuberculate, each tubercle crowned by a minute scale; areoles on the ovary
bearing brown felt but no spines.
Type locality: Guatemala.
Distribution: Guatemala.
Illustration: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 22: 183, as Cereus laevigatus guatemalensis.
Figure 132 shows a plant in the collection of the New York Botanical Garden.
7. Lemaireocereus chichipe (Gosselin).
Cereus chichipe Gosselin, Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 11: 507. 1905.
Cereus mixtecensis J. A. Purpus, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 19: 52. 1909.
Lemaireocereus mixtecensis Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 425. 1909.
Tree-like, up to 5 meters high, with a short trunk 8 to 10 dm. in diameter and a large very
much branched top; branches 9 to 12-ribbed, undulate, acutish, 2 cm. high; areoles 1 to 1.5 cm.
90
THE CACTACEAE.
apart; radial spines 6 or 7,5 to 10 cm. long, grayish; central spine 1; flowers small, yellowish green;
fruit spiny, globose, 2 to 2.5 cm. in diameter, red both within and without; seeds small, black, with a
basal hilum.
Type locality: Cerro Colorado, near Tehuacán, Mexico.
Distribution: Puebla and Oaxaca, Mexico.
The plant is known as chichipe, or, according to Dr. C. A. Purpus, chichibe. The
fruit, which is sold in the Mexican markets, like many other Mexican cactus fruits, has a
different name from the plant; it is called chichituna.
Illustrations: Bull. Soc. Acclim. France 52: f. 7, as Cereus chichipe; Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 19: 53, as Cereus mixtecensis.
Fig. 131.—Lemaireocereus longispinus.
Fig. 132.—L. eichlamii.
8. Lemaireocereus chende (Gosselin).
Cereus chende Gosselin, Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 11: 506. 1905.
Cereus del moralii J. A. Purpus, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 19: 89. 1909.
Plant 5 to 7 meters high, with a short indefinite trunk, very much branched above, forming
a large top; branches rather slender, ascending or erect; ribs 7 to 9, rather sharp; areoles on old
branches 1.5 cm. apart, on young branches perhaps closer together; radial spines usually 5, the
centrals when present a little longer than the radials, brown to bright yellow, in age grayish, acicular;
flowers small, about 3 to 4 cm. long including the ovary; fruit said to be deep red, very spiny.
LEMAIREOCEREUS
91
Type locality: In the Cerro Colorado, near Tehuacán, Mexico.
Distribution: Puebla and Oaxaca, Mexico.
According to Roland-Gosselin, the Mexican name for this species is chende; according
to J. A. Purpus, chente; and according to Dr. Rose, chinoa. Dr. Rose collected this species
between Tehuacán and Esperanza in 1912 (No. 11429) arid Dr. C. A. Purpus sent a living
plant to Washington in 1909 from San Luis, Oaxaca, Mexico. Dr. Purpus’s plant has 7
acute ribs.
Illustrations: Bull. Soc. Acclim. France 52: f. 6, as Cereus chende; Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 19: 87, as Cereus del moralii; Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: pl. 68, as Lemaireocereus
mixtecensis, in error.
Figure 133 is from a photograph taken by Dr. MacDougal near Tehuacán in 1906.
Fig. 133.—Lemaireocereus chende.
9. Lemaireocereus godingianus sp. nov.
Large plant 3 to 10 meters high with a short, thick, woody trunk 2 to 5 dm. in diameter, becoming smooth; joints bright green when young, grayish afterwards; ribs 7 to 11; spines acicular,
2 to 4 cm. long, brownish when young; flowers large, white, 10 to 11 cm. long; tube proper 2 cm.
long with walls 1 cm. thick or more; areoles on flower-tube and ovary closely set, large, bearing
brown wool and yellow bristles; fruit large, 10 cm. long or more, covered with yellow spines.
92
THE CACTACEAE.
Collected by J. N. Rose and George Rose at Huigra, Ecuador, August to November
1918 (No. 22127).
This species is very common on the dry hills both below and above Huigra, Ecuador,
ranging from about 3,500 to 6,000 feet, where it is the most conspicuous plant in the landscape. It is associated with a Furcraea, several
species of Opuntia, a Bauhinia, and a Zanthoxylum.
It is frequently overrun by vines, such as species
of Passiflora and Ipomoea.
It overlaps the lower range of an undescribed
species of Trichocereus and has been frequently
confused with that species. (See page 135.)
This plant is named for Dr. F. W. Goding,
United States Consul-General at Guayaquil,
Ecuador, a well-known entomologist, who assisted
Dr. Rose in his botanical explorations in Ecuador.
Illustration: Smiths. Misc. Coll. 70: f. 48, as
giant cactus.
Figure 134 is from a photograph taken by
George Rose at Huigra.
10. Lemaireocereus aragonii (Weber).
Cereus aragonii Weber, Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 8:
456. 1902.
Columnar, 5 to 6 meters high, dark green with
glaucous bands at intervals of growth; terminal branches
about 3 meters long, 12 to 15 cm. in diameter; ribs 6 to 8,
Fig. 134.—Lemaireocereus godingianus.
very large, 2 to 3 cm. high, rounded; areoles about 2 cm.
apart, large, brown-felted; spines gray, about 8 to 10,
but new ones developed from time to time, acicular, the radial ones about 1 cm. long, one of the
centrals 2 to 3 cm. long; flowers 6 to 8 cm. long; ovary tuberculate, bearing clusters of spines;
flesh of the fruit white; seeds large, black, to 6 mm. long.
Type locality: Western Costa Rica.
Distribution: Costa Rica.
This cactus is used a good deal as a hedge plant in Costa Rica, much as is Pachycereus
marginatus on the table-lands of Mexico. It is the only columnar cactus in Costa Rica.
We have had living specimens of it in Washington since 1907, but they have never grown
very much.
A cristate form of Cereus aragonii was named as a variety (palmatus) by Weber
(Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 8: 456. 1902).
Illustrations: Boletin de Fomento Costa Rica 4: 117; Iberica 48: 339, both illustrations
from the same source as the one used as figure 135.
Figure 135 is from a photograph taken by Otto Lutz at Tres Rios, Costa Rica, 1,350
meters altitude.
11. Lemaireocereus stellatus (Pfeiffer) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 426.
1909.
Cereus stellatus Pfeiffer, Allg. Gartenz. 4: 258. 1836.
Cereus dyckii Martius in Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 87. 1837.
Cereus tonelianus Lemaire, Illustr. Hort. 2: Misc. 63. 1855.
Stenocereus stellatus Riccobono Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 253. 1909.
Stenocereus stellatus tonelianus* Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 254. 1909.
Plant 2 to 3 meters high, branching at base, rarely branching above, pale bluish green; ribs 8
to 12, low, obtuse; radial spines 10 to 12; centrals several, often much longer than the others, some*Riccobono in error spells it “tenellianus.”
93
LEMAIREOCEREUS
times 5 to 6 cm. long; areoles 1 to 2 cm. apart; flowers appearing at or near the top of the plant,
red, small, narrowly campanulate, about 4 cm. long; ovary bearing small scales subtending wool
and bristly spines; fruit red, spiny, globular, about 3 cm. in diameter; spines deciduous; seeds dull,
pitted.
Type locality: Mexico.
Distribution: Southern Mexico.
The fruit is known in the markets as joconostle and sometimes as tuna.
The above description is drawn from Dr. Rose’s specimens, which seem to represent
L. stellatus, but the identification has not been confirmed by reference to the type specimen.
Cereus joconostle Weber (Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 79. 1897) 15 known only as a
synonym of this species.
Fig. 135.—Lemaireocereus aragonii.
Illustrations: Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 10: pl. 20; Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 16: pl. 3, f. 1 to 4;
U. S. Dept. Agr. Bur. Pl. Ind. Bull. 262: pl. 12, as Cereus stellatus; Bull. Soc. Acclim. France
52: f. 3, as Cereus dyckii; Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: pl. 69.
Figure 136 is from a photograph taken by Dr. MacDougal at Tomellín, Mexico, in 1906.
12. Lemaireocereus treleasei Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 426.
1909.
Cereus treleasei Vaupel, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23 37. 1913.
Plant 5 to 7 meters high, simple or with a few strict branches; ribs about 20; areoles approximate with a peculiar V-shaped depression just above each one; spines rather short, yellowish;
flowers pinkish, 4 to 5 cm. long, diurnal; scales on ovary and flower-tube subtending slender whitish
bristles; fruit red, about 5 cm. in diameter, covered with clusters of deciduous spines; seeds black
with a dull, rugose surface and a large oblique basal hilum.
94
THE CACTACEAE.
Type locality: Road between Mitla and Oaxaca, Mexico.
Distribution: Oaxaca, Mexico.
In flower and fruit this much resembles L. stellatus, but has a different habit, more ribs,
and different areoles. This plant is not common in the deserts about Oaxaca, but when
it does occur is found in clumps. It is characterized by its strict elongated stems, which
seldom branch.
Illustration: Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: pl. 70.
Figure 137 is from a photograph taken by Dr. MacDougal at the type locality in 1906.
Fig. 136.—Lemaireocereus stellatus.
13. Lemaireocereus deficiens (Otto and Dietrich).
Cereus def iciens Otto and Dietrich, Allg. Gartenz. 6: 28. 1838.
Cereus clavatus Otto and Dietrich, Allg. Gartenz. 6: 28. 1838.
Cereus eburneus clavatus Fobe, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 18: 78. 1908.
A tall tree-like plant, with a more or less definite trunk and many stout erect branches, the
old trunk often spineless; branches somewhat glaucous; ribs 7 or 8, very broad at base; areoles
borne at the depressions on the ribs, large, white or brown-felted; spines about 8, grayish with black
tips, more or less spreading, sometimes appressed, 1 to 1.5 cm. long, the clusters either with or without central ones, these, when present, 3 cm. long and a little flattened; flowers only 5 to 6 cm. long;
ovary without spines, the areoles felted; fruit very spiny, edible, its flesh either red or white, juicy.
Type locality: Caracas, Venezuela.
Distribution: Central part of coast of Venezuela.
LEMAIREOCEREUS
95
This species is common on all the hills about La Guayra, is less common in the mountains toward Caracas, and is also to be found along the coast at Puerto Cabello. About
towns it is much used as a hedge plant.
Figure 138 is from a photograph taken by Mrs. J. N. Rose near Puerto Cabello,
Venezuela, in 1916.
Fig. 137.—Lemaireocereus treleasei.
14. Lemaireocereus weberi (Coulter) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 426.
1909.
Cereus weberi Coulter, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 3: 410. 1896.
Cereus candelabrum Weber in Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 106. 1897.
Plant very large, 10 meters high or more, with a trunk short but thick and often with hundreds
of nearly erect branches arising from near the base, dark bluish green, slightly glaucous; ribs usually
10, rounded; areoles large; radial spines usually 6 to 12, spreading, more or less acicular, 1 to 2 cm.
long; central spine usually up to 10 cm. long, solitary, flattened, often more or less deflexed, except
those of the upper areoles, at first brown to blackish, much longer than the laterals; areoles whitefelted; flowers 8 to 10 cm. long; scales on flower-tube narrow, thin, bearing long brown hairs in their
axils; inner perianth-segments oblong, 2 cm. long; ovary globular, covered by the dense brown felt
of its areoles; fruit oblong, edible, 6 to 7 cm. long, very spiny, the spine-clusters deciduous in
ripening.
Type locality: A few miles south of Tehuacán, Puebla, Mexico.
Distribution: Puebla and Oaxaca, Mexico.
96
THE CACTACEAE.
This plant is called cardon and candebobe.
Cereus belieuli and C. pugionifer are two garden names referred here by Schumann
(Gesamtb. Kakteen 107. 1897).
Illustrations: Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 10: pl. 21; MacDougal, Bot. N. Amer. Des.
pl. 21; Nat. Geogr. Mag. 21: 705; Journ. Intern. Gard. Club 3: 16; U. S. Dept. Agr. Bur. Pl.
Ind. Bull. 262: pl. 11, all as Cereus weberi; Schelle, Handb. Kakteenk. f. 37; Schumann,
Gesamtb. Kakteen f. 24; Möllers Deutsche Gärt. Zeit. 29: 352. f. 7; 353. f. 8, as Cereus
candelabrum; Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: pl. 71.
Figure 139 is from a photograph taken by Dr. Rose at Tomellín, Mexico, in 1905;
figure 140 shows clusters of spines and figure 141 a fruit collected by H. H. Rusby at
Cuicatlan, Oaxaca, in 1910.
Fig. 138.—Lemaireocereus deficiens.
Fig. 139.—Lemaireocereus weberi.
15. Lemaireocereus queretaroensis (Weber) Safford, Ann. Rep. Smiths. Inst. 1908: pl. 6, f. 2. 1909.
Cereus queretaroensis Weber in Mathsson, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 1: 27. 1891.
Pachycereus queretaroensis Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 422. 1909.
Plant 3 to 5 meters high, with a short woody trunk, much branched above; ribs 6 to 8, prominent,
obtuse; areoles about 1 cm. apart, large, brown-woolly, very glandular; spines 6 to 10, at first red,
becoming grayish in age, acicular, rather unequal, sometimes only 15 mm. long, at other times 5 cm.
long; flowers 7 to 8 cm. long; ovary with many woolly areoles subtended by ovate scales 2 mm. long
or less; fruit spiny, edible.
Type locality: Querétaro, Mexico.
Distribution: Central Mexico.
This species was formerly referred by us to the genus Pachycereus, but it has since been
learned that the fruit is not dry, but juicy and edible, and therefore the plant is more properly a Lemaireocereus. Its peculiar glandular areoles are like those of L. thurberi, although
otherwise the two species are quite different. This plant is said to be cultivated in Jalisco
and Querétaro, Mexico, doubtless for its edible fruits, which are also called pitahaya. We
have had the plant in cultivation in Washington since 1907, but it has made little or no
growth.
97
LEMAIREOCEREUS
Dr. Rose has collected the species at several localities in central Mexico, including the
type locality (No. 11133).
Illustrations: Bull. Soc. Acclim. France 52: 18. f. 2, as Cereus queretaroensis; Ann.
Rep. Smiths. Inst. 1908: pl. 6, f. 2.
Figure 142 shows the spine-bearing stem-areoles of an herbarium specimen collected
by Dr. Rose near Querétaro, Mexico, in 1906.
Fig. 140.—Cluster of spines of Lemaireocereus weberi. × 0.7.
Fig. 141.—Fruit of same. × 0.7.
Fig. 142.—Part of rib, showing spine-clusters of Lemaireocereus queretaroensis.
× 0.7.
16. Lemaireocereus montanus sp. nov.
Tree-like, 6 to 7 meters high, with a definite smooth trunk 1 meter long or more, with few
branches, at first spreading, then nearly erect; ribs few, usually 8, prominent areoles 1 to 1.5 cm.
apart, large, filled with short brown wool; spines few, 6 or less, pale in color, rather stout, one of them
longer, sometimes 3 cm. long; flowers 6 to 7 cm. long, opening during the day; outer perianth-segments purplish; scales on the ovary ovate, 4 to 6 mm. long, imbricated, acuminate, with erose margins.
This species was found well up on the side of Alamos Mountain, associated with
Lemaireocereus thurberi, but usually at a higher altitude than that at which that species is
generally found. It differs from L. thurberi in its habit, number of ribs, armament, and
flowers. Like L. thurberi it has brown areoles, which are not found in any of the other
species except L. queretaroensis of the table-land region of central Mexico.
Collected by Rose, Standley, and Russell above Alamos, Mexico, March 18, 1910
(No. 13039).
17. Lemaireocereus thurberi (Engelmann) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 426. 1909.
Cereus thurberi Engelmann, Amer. Journ. Sci. II. 17: 234. 1854.
Pilocereus thurberi Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 689. 1885.
Cereus thurberi littoralis K. Brandegee, Zoe 5: 191. 1904.
Usually without a definite trunk, sending up from the base 5 to 20, or even more, erect or ascending branches 3 to 7 meters high, 15 to 20 cm. in diameter, the basal ones usually simple but occasionally with lateral branches, this doubtless being caused by injuries to the growing tips; ribs numerous,
12 to 17, rather low but sometimes 2 cm. high, rounded, separated by narrow intervals; areoles 10
to 15 or rarely 30 mm. apart, large, sometimes becoming 1 cm. in diameter, circular, brown-felted,
more or less glandular, the whole areole becoming a wax-like mass; spines numerous, acicular to
subulate, unequal, brownish to black, becoming gray in age, the longest ones sometimes 5 cm.
long; flowers mostly borne near the top of the stem but sometimes 3 dm. below the top, 6 to 7.5
cm. long including the ovary, opening during the day; outer perianth-segments broad, reddish, imbricated, gradually passing into the scales on the tube; inner perianth-segments light purple with
98
THE CACTACEAE.
nearly white margins, widely spreading or even turned back at the apex, broad, obtuse; filaments
short, numerous, erect, white, borne all over the throat, 2 to 2.5 cm. long; lower part of flower-tube
or tube proper smooth within; ovary tuberculate, bearing small, ovate, acute scales, these with
white and brown hairs in their axils; fruit globular, 4 to 7.5 cm. in diameter, edible, very spiny, but
in age naked, olive without, crimson within; seeds black, shining, 1.8 to 2 mm. long.
Type locality: Canyon near the mountain pass of Bachuachi, Sonora, Mexico.
Distribution: Southern Arizona, in the Comobabi, Quijotoa, and Ajo Mountains,
throughout western Sonora, and on both coasts of Lower California. The Index Kewensis says it is from New Mexico, doubtless an error for northern Mexico. In the cape
region of Lower California a slender form is found which has been described as a variety.
The flowers, which appear from March
to August, are followed by the large delicious
fruit much prized by the native, who knows
it as pitahaya or pitahaya dulce.
Fig. 143.—Lemaireocereus thurberi.
Fig. 144.—L. thurberi: a, flower; b, f ruit.
×0.7.
The species was named for George Thurber (1821-1890), one of the collectors on
the first Mexican Boundary Survey.
The habit of branching just at the base is unusual in this genus, in which most of the
species have definite, though often short, trunks.
This is the only species of Lemaireocereus which reaches the United States and is the
only one found in northwestern Mexico or Lower California. Two other species were
credited to Lower California in our former treatment (Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 425),
but these we now refer to another genus (see pages 1115, 116).
Whether the flowers open at night or during the day has been in dispute. Dr. Rose,
who studied the species in Lower California, observed the flowers widely expanded at 2
o’clock on a bright sunny day. F. E. Lloyd, in a letter dated September 6, 1909, says,
“I notice that what we have hitherto called Cereus thurberi is stated by you as having a
day-blooming flower. You may recall that I made a special study with reference to this
point at the Quijotoa Mountains and found it strictly night-blooming. The photograph
which you have of the flower I made between 4 and 5 o’clock in the morning, just before
sun-up.”
Cereus thurberi monstrosus (E. Dams, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 14: 182. 1904) is not an
unusual form.
99
LEMAIREOCEREUS
Illustrations: Bull. Soc. Acclim. France 52: f. 4; Cact. Mex. Bound. pl. 74, f. 15;
Hornaday, Campfires on Des. and Lava opp. 68, 136; MacDougal, Bot. N. Amer. Des.
pl. 8; Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 17: 105, as Cereus thurberi.
Figure 143 is from a photograph taken by Dr. MacDougal at Torres, Sonora, in 1902;
figure 144a shows a flower of the plant collected by F. E. Lloyd on the Quijotoa Mountains, Arizona, in 1906; and figure 144b shows a fruit of the same.
18. Lemaireocereus laetus (HBK.) Britton and Rose, Journ. N. Y. Bot. Gard. 20: 157.
Cactus laetus Humboldt, Bonpland, and Kunth, Nov. Gen. et Sp. 6: 68. 1823.
Cereus laetus De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 466. 1828.
1919.
Plant 4 to 6 meters high, much branched, bluish gray but not glaucous; ribs 4 to 8, prominent;
areoles 2 to 3 cm. apart; spines brown when young, becoming gray to nearly white in age, usually
1 to 3 cm. but sometimes 8 cm. long, subulate; flowers 7 to 8 cm. long; inner perianth-segments
white, 2 cm. long; fruit green without, very spiny, splitting down the side when ripe, white within;
pulp edible; seeds black.
Type locality: Near Sondorillo, formerly in Ecuador but now in Peru.
Distribution: Central Peru and southern Ecuador.
Dr. Rose found the species in Catamayo Valley in southern Ecuador, where it is very
common (No. 23340); it was, however, seen only in this one locality in Ecuador. We also
refer here the plant collected by Dr. and Mrs. Rose along the Rimac River below Matucana,
Peru, July 9, 1914 (No. 18650).
Fig. 145.—Lemaireocereus laetus.
Fig. 146.—Lemaireocereus laetus.
We have referred here the plant from Catamayo, as it is the only wild one we know
in this region which could possibly have been described as Cactus laetus. It is such a conspicuous plant that we do not believe Humboldt would have passed it by without some
reference. Through the kindness of Dr. Charles Wood we were able to send to the
Natural History Museum of Paris specimens of this Catamayo plant in order to have it
compared, if possible, with Humboldt’s type. M. Lecomte, however, informs us that no
specimen can be found. It is of interest to note that in 1825 Sprengel, who redescribed
this species in his edition of the Systema, placed it next to Cereus eburneus and questions
whether it is not the same as C. hystrix.
The original description of Cactus laetus is very brief and unsatisfactory.
100
THE CACTACEAE.
Figure 145 shows a plant, growing on the flats of the Catamayo Valley, southern
Ecuador, photographed by George Rose in 19 18; figure 146 is from a photograph taken by
Mrs. J. N. Rose at Matucana, Peru; figure 147 shows its flower and figure 148 its fruit.
19. Lemaireocereus cartwrightianus sp. nov.
Plant 3 to 5 meters high, with woody
trunk, much branched; branches consisting
of short stout joints, 15 to 60 cm. long, 8 to 15
cm. in diameter; ribs 7 or 8; areoles large, brownfelted; young spines white, brown, black, or
variegated, about 20, 1 to 2 cm. long, except on
the old trunk and here 12 cm. long or more;
flowers slender, 7 to 8 cm. long, opening in
the early evening; outer perianth-segments narrow, 1 to 1.5 cm. long, reddish, erect; inner
perianth-segments small, white except at the
spreading tips; filaments numerous, short,
included; fruit globular to oblong, 8 to 9 cm.
long, covered with clusters of weak spines, deciduous when ripe, red without, white within.
Very common on the flats near Guayaquil; collected by J. N. Rose, J. H. Burns,
and George Rose, north of the city, August
11, 1918 (No. 21118). It is characterized
by very narrow flowers.
Fig. 147.—Flower of Lemaireocereus laetus.
Fig. 148.—Fruit of same. ×0.6.
×0.6.
Fig. 149.—Lemaireocereus humilis.
It is named for Mr. Alfred Cartwright who has for many years been connected with
the British Consular Service at Guayaquil and who has aided many visiting scientists.
Mr. Cartwright first described this plant to us and directed us to its peculiar habitat.
LEMAIREOCEREUS
101
20. Lemaireocereus humilis sp. nov.
Stems weak, forming dense thickets, dark green, 1 to 4 meters long, about 4 cm. thick, usually
with few branches or none; ribs 3 or 4, sometimes 6, more or less interrupted, little undulate; areoles
borne in the depressions of the ribs, large, white-felted, bearing spines only in the lower part; spines
5 to 8, brown, becoming white, acicular, 1 to 2 cm. long; flowers greenish white, about 6 cm. long;
outer perianth-segments linear-oblong, spreading; ovary with small scattered scales, at first without
spines; fruit very spiny, spherical, 4 cm. long.
Fig. 150.—Flowering branch of Lemaireocereus humilis.
Fig. 151.—L. humilis: a, cross-section of stem; b, longitudinal
section of rib; c, cluster of spines; d, flower; e, f ruit.
Collected by H. Pittier at Venticas del Dagua, Dagua Valley, Western Cordillera of
Colombia, altitude 700 to 1,000 meters, February 1906, and described from a plant collected by him (New York Botanical Garden, No. 34794) and from his field notes and
detailed and habit photographs. It is called tuna colorado.
This plant is quite different from the other species in its slender stems with very few
ribs and in its tendency to form dense thickets, but it has the characteristic flower and
fruit of this genus.
Figure 149 is from a photograph taken by Henry Pittier at the type locality; figure
150 shows a flowering branch, and figure 151 shows details of the type.
102
THE CACTACEAE.
21. Lemaireocereus dumortieri (Scheidweiler) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 425.
1909.
Cereus dumortieri Scheidweiler, Hort. Belge 4: 220. 1837.
Often tree-like, 6 to 15 meters high, the trunk proper short, 6 to 10 dm. long, 3 dm. in diameter
or more, woody; branches many, erect almost from the first, with numerous constrictions, very
pale bluish green or somewhat glaucous; ribs generally 6, sometimes or 7, occasionally 9 on very
old joints; areoles elliptic, approximate or often confluent, gray-felted; spines various in number
and in length, 10 to 20 radials, 1 central or more, the longer ones often 4 cm. long, all at first strawcolored but in age blackened; flowers 5 cm. long, the tube and ovary bearing small ovate scales with
bunches of felt and occasionally bristles in their axils, the limb about 2.5 cm. broad; fruit oblong,
small, 3 to 4 cm. long, reddish within, not spiny, its areoles nearly contiguous, felted; seeds brownish, 1.5 mm. long, dull, roughened.
Type locality: Incorrectly given as Buenos Aires (see note below).
Distribution: Central Mexico.
Our description is drawn from numerous specimens collected by Dr. Rose in central
Mexico. This is the plant which passes as Cereus dumortieri in collections, but from the
description alone one can hardly be certain. It ranges over a considerable territory, but is
never abundant, being found generally as large isolated individuals on the sides of rocky hills and cliffs.
Greenhouse plants much resemble Pachycereus
marginatus, and both species have small flowers;
but the wild plants are very unlike and the fruit
and seeds differ widely.
Although Scheidweiler in his original description of this species referred it to “Buenos Ayres,”
he doubtless made a mistake, as he must have done
in his reference of Mammillaria obconella in the
same publication. The original description does
not correspond to any known South American
cactus, but does represent fairly well our central
Mexican species which passes under this name.
In 1845 the species was listed by Salm-Dyck (Cact.
Hort. Dyck. 1844. 30) as f rom the Belgian Gardens (H. Belg.) . In 1850 (Cact. Hort. Dyck.
1849. 210) he published an original description
apparently based on the Belgian specimens; but
evidently he had forgotten the older publication.
Schumann and most writers since 1850 have
assigned Prince Salm-Dyck
as the author of this speFig. 153.—Lemaireocereus dumortieri.
cies. Weber (Dict. Hort.
Bois 279. 1895) seems to
have been the first botanist to refer the species to Mexico.
Cereus anisacanthus De Candolle (Mém. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris
17: 116. 1828) is doubtfully referred here by Schumann. If it
Fig. 152.—Fruit of Lemaire- should prove to be the same, it would, of course, supplant the
ocereus dumortieri. × 0.8.
present name. Its two varieties, ortholophus and subspiralis (De
Candolle, Mém. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 17: 117. 1828), so far as we can determine, belong
here also.
This species is anomalous in Lemaireocereus, having very small flowers and spineless
fruit, but the scales of the ovary sometimes subtend bristles, if not spines, in their axils.
Illustration: Hort. Belge 4: pl. 15, as Cereus dumortieri.
LEMAIREOCEREUS
103
Plate xv, figure 2, shows the top of a plant brought by Dr. Rose from Cuernavaca,
Morelos, Mexico, in 1906. Figure 152 shows the fruit of a plant from Hidalgo; figure
153 is from a photograph taken by him in Hidalgo, Mexico, in 1905.
SPECIES NOT GROUPED.
Lemaireocereus schumannii (Mathsson) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 425. 1909.
Cereus schumannii Mathsson in Schumann, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 9: 131. 1899.
Plants tall and stout, 15 meters high, with few branches; ribs 8, thick and high, very obtuse,
somewhat pruinose; spines 6 or 7, radial, 1 central, all white with brown tips; flowers and fruit unknown.
Type locality: Honduras.
Distribution: Known only in cultivation.
Little is known regarding this species and from the brief description we are unable to
place it definitely in our key. It may be only a form of L. griseus so widely cultivated in
Mexico and Central America and is near L. aragonii and possibly not specifically distinct.
Lemaireocereus sp.
Cereus rigidispinus Monville, Hort. Univ. 1: 223. 1840.
“Erect, stout, dark green, somewhat glaucous; ribs thick, rounded; sinuses open, deep, acute.
Spines very strong and stiff, whitish, divaricate. Trunk 2 feet in diameter, having 7 ribs about
9 lines by 5 lines thick at the middle. Areoles 6 to 10 lines apart, a little sunken, subovate, a little
convex, covered with a very short grayish nap, bearing 6 to 8 very unequal spines, the strongest,
as well as the weakest, arising from no particular point, 3 to 13 lines long and 1/4 to 1 line in diameter,
all exceedingly stiff, whitish and black at the tip, sometimes 2 centrals or larger ones united along
their entire length. Habitat: Mexico. Flowers and fruit unknown. This plant should be placed
in Cat. Monv. between Cer. Hystrix and eburneus. In spite of its peculiar appearance, it shows some
similarities to them, especially to the latter.” (Translated from De Monville, Hort. Univ. 1: 223.
1840.)
Type locality: Mexico.
Schumann refers Cereus hildmannii Hortus (Gesamtb. Kakteen 57. 1897) here as a
synonym.
Lemaireocereus sp.
Cereus conformis Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 203. 1850.
Stems erect, robust, 3 dm. high, 10 cm. in diameter, glaucous, green; ribs 7, crenate; areoles
18 mm. apart, orbicular, densely grayish, tomentose; radial spines 7 to 9, 6 to 8 mm. long; central
spines 1 to 3, a little stouter than the radial; flowers and fruit unknown.
Type locality: Mexico.
It was sent from Mexico by Ehrenberg to the Berlin Botanical Garden in 1840, but
has doubtless long since disappeared. Schumann did not know the species, but Weingart
(Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 15: 79. 1905) considers it identical with Cereus aragonii. It may
be a Lemaireocereus, but we doubt its being L. aragonii, which is a native of Costa Rica.
Lemaireocereus sp.
Joints bright green, not at all glaucous; ribs about 2 cm. high, separated by V-shaped intervals; margin of ribs somewhat crenate with the areoles borne at the top of the crenations; radial
spines about 8, 1 to 2 cm. long; central spine usually solitary, erect or porrect, sometimes 10 cm.
long.
This plant was sent to the New York Botanical Garden by Dr. George F. Gaumer in
1918, but it has not yet flowered (New York Botanical Garden No. 46120). Dr. Gaumer
has also sent from Yucatan two other plants which are of this relationship which we are
unable to place. His No. 23941 has 7 ribs and numerous short spines; it did not live. His
No. 23922 has 10 ribs and also short spines.
104
THE CACTACEAE.
13. ERDISIA gen. nov.
Stems much branched at base, sometimes mainly subterranean, the branches slender, erect,
ascending, or pendent; ribs few, crenate, with spiny areoles; flowers small, funnelform-campanulate,
the tube short; throat short, funnelform, covered with stamens; outer perianth-segments obtuse
or sometimes with acute tips; filaments numerous, white, about half the length of the inner
perianth-segments; style stout, a half longer than the stamens; ovary tuberculate, bearing minute
ovate scales with spines and felt in their axils; fruit juicy, small, globular, bearing clusters of deciduous
spines; seeds numerous, minute.
The genus consists of 4 species, so far as known; Cereus squarrosus Vaupel is the
type species. It is named in honor of Ellwood C. Erdis, who was in charge of the topographical work of the Yale University Peruvian Expedition, 1914.
The plants resemble in habit some of the bushy Cuban species of the genus Leptocereus.
In the shape of the flowers, the spiny ovary, and the deciduous spines on the fruit, some
of them suggest Echinocereus, but the habit is very different, and no Echinocereus is known
to be of South American origin.
Key to Species.
Stem and branches cylindric.
Flowers bright red or scarlet; inner series of stamens not united
Flowers yellow; inner series of stamens united into a tube . . . . .
Branches clavate; stem more or less subterranean.
Flowers yellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Flowers purple. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. E. squarrosa
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. E. philippii
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. E. meyenii
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. E. spiniflora
1. Erdisia squarrosa (Vaupel).
Cereus squarrosus Vaupel, Bot. Jahrb. Engler 50: Beibl. 111: 21. 1913.
Stems 1 to 2 meters long, 1 to 3 cm. in diameter; ribs 8 or 9; areoles 1 to 1.5 cm. apart; spines
about 15, yellowish, very unequal, somewhat swollen at base, the longest ones 4 cm. long; flowers
borne toward the ends of branches, 2.5 to 4 cm. long including the ovary, sometimes as much as 5
cm. broad; inner perianth-segments 1.5 cm. long; filaments 1 cm. long or less; style stout, 1.5 cm.
long; fruit 1.5 to 2 cm. in diameter, juicy, spiny, the clusters of spines falling off early; seeds minute.
Fig. 154.—Erdisia squarrosa.
Type locality: Tarma, Department of Junin, Peru.
Distribution: The highlands of eastern Peru.
This species was collected by Dr. J. N. Rose below Cuzco, Peru, in 1914, when flowers and stems were obtained. Some of the living plants which were sent to the New York
105
ERDISIA
Botanical Garden survived. It was first seen by him about 10 miles below Cuzco, along
the railroad running to Juliaca, and was frequently observed a long distance below Cuzco,
being easily recognized by its scarlet flowers, which in September were just appearing.
In June 1914, Ellwood C. Erdis collected living specimens 40 miles west of Cuzco, at
2,450 meters altitude, but these died. In November of the same year he again collected
the species, this time in flower.
In May 1915, 0. F. Cook and
G. B. Gilbert collected the plant at
Ollantaytambo, Peru, at an altitude
of about 3,000 meters. These specimens were accompanied by both
flowers and f ruit, and some good
habit and detail photographs were
taken.
Figure 154 is from a photograph taken by 0. F. Cook at
Ollantaytambo, Peru, in 1915;
figure 155 shows portions of the
plant photographed.
2.
Erdisia philippii
Schmidt).
(Regel
and
Cereus philippii Regeland Schmidt,
Gartenflora 31: 98. 1882.
Echinocactus philippii Schumann,
Gesamtb. Kakteen 427. 1898.
Echinopsis philippii
Nicholson,
Dict. Gard. Suppl. 338. 1901.
Stems slender, cylindric; ribs 8 to
10, strongly tubercled; radial spines
about 8, 10 to 12 mm. long; central
spines much stouter and longer, 2.5
cm. long; flowers 4 cm. long, campanulate, yellow below, reddish above;
outer segments ovate, acuminate; inner
segments oblong, acute; stamens in two
distinct series, the outer arising from
the base of the segments, the inner
series united into a tube around the
style; style included; stigma-lobes very
short; ovary globular, bearing clusters
of acicular spines.
Fig. 155.—Erdisia squarrosa.
Type locality: Chile.
Distribution: Known only from the type collection.
This species has been described in turn under Cereus, Echinocactus, and Echinopsis,
from all of which it is distinct. It is remarkable in having the lower series of stamens
united into a tube.
Illustrations: Gartenflora 31: pl. 1079, f. 1, a, b, as Cereus philippii.
3. Erdisia meyenii nom. nov.
Cereus aureus Meyen, Allg. Gartenz. 1: 211. 1833. Not Salm-Dyck, 1828.
Cactus aureus Meyen, Reise 1: 447. 1834.
Echinocactus aureus Meyen in Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 68. 1837.
Cleistocactus aureus Weber in Gosselin, Bull. Mens. Soc. Nice 44: 39. 1904.
Stems subterranean, often forming large colonies sending up short, usually unjointed branches;
joints 10 to 20 cm. long, 3 to 5 cm. in diameter, more or less clavate; ribs 5 to 8, high (1 cm. high or
106
THE CACTACEAE.
more), somewhat undulate; spines several, subulate, unequal, brown to blackish, the longest 5 to
6 cm. long; flowers small, about 4 cm. long, yellow; scales on ovary and flower-tube small, 3 to 4
mm. long, acute, bearing felt and spines in their axils; fruit 2 cm. in diameter, reddish.
Type locality: Cordilleras de Tacna, Chile (formerly Peru), 600 meters altitude.
Distribution: Northern Chile and near Arequipa, Peru.
Dr. Rose found this plant (No. 18801) very common on the dry hills just below
Are-quipa, Peru, growing mostly underground. The separated branches at first seemed to
represent distinct plants; it is inconspicuous, its purple stems with black spines resembling a dead plant.
Meyen’s Travels is usually cited as the original place of publication for this species,
but it was published a year earlier as Cereus aureus. This last combination has usually
been credited to Schumann (Gesamtb. Kakteen 124. 1897). The name assigned to this
plant being a homonym, we have renamed it for its discoverer, Franz Julius Ferdinand
Meyen (1804-1840), a celebrated traveler and writer.
Figure 156 shows a branch collected by Dr. Rose near Arequipa, Peru, in 1914.
Fig. 156.—Branch of E. meyenii.
× 0.5.
Fig. 157.—Erdisia spiniflora.
4. Erdisia spiniflora (Philippi).
Opuntia spiniflora Philippi, Linnaea 30: 211. 1859.
Opuntia bicolor Philippi, Linnaea 33: 83. 1864.
Opuntia clavata Philippi, Anal. Univ. Chile 41: 722. 1872. Not Engelmann, 1848.
Cereus hypogaeus Weber in Regel, Gartenflora 31: 165. 1882.
Echinocereus hypogaeus Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 784. 1885.
Eulychnia clavata Philippi in Engler and Prantl, Pflanzenfam. 3 6a: 185. 1894, as synonym.
Echinocereus clavatus Schumann, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 5: 123. 1895.
107
BERGEROCACTUS
Underground stems slender, spineless, branching near the surface of the ground; branches somewhat clavate, becoming bronzed, 6-ribbed; spines all black at base, brown at tip; radial spines about
6, acicular, central spine solitary, porrect, slender; flowers probably purplish, 5 to 6 cm. long, with
a rather broad throat; fruit fleshy, spiny; seeds not known.
Type locality: Near Aranas, Santiago, Chile.
Distribution: High mountains of Chile, near Santiago.
This species has been described under four specific names, and has been referred to
four genera. We refer it to Erdisia on account of floral similarity to E. squarrosa.
Illustrations: Gartenflora 21: pl. 721, f. 3, as Opuntia clavata; Gartenflora 31: pl. 1085,
as Cereus hypogaeus.
Figure 157 is a copy of the first illustration above cited.
PUBLISHED SPECIES, PERHAPS OF THIS GENUS.
Cereus apiciplorus Vaupel, Bot. Jahrb. Engler 50: Beibl. 111: 15. 1913.
Prostrate or ascending, the stems 2 to 2.5 cm. thick, about 10, spreading; central spine solitary,
2 to 3 times as long as the radials; flowers numerous, forming a crest at the top of the plant, 4 cm.
long; ovary terete, 1 cm. long, covered with numerous small lanceolate scales bearing brown felt
and reddish-brown bristles in their axils.
Type locality: Valley of Puccha River, Department of Ancachs, Peru.
The author compares the flowers of this plant with those of Cereus aureus Meyen.
14. BERGEROCACTUS Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 435.
1909.
Low, much branched cactus, with stout, cylindric, spreading or ascending branches; ribs many,
low; areoles approximate; spines many, yellow, acicular; flower small, pale yellow, with short tube
and widely expanded limb; scales on ovary and flower-tube small, bearing felt and spines in their
axils; perianth-segments small, obtuse; fruit globose, densely spiny; seeds obovate.
Fig. 158.—Bergerocactus emoryi.
108
THE CACTACEAE.
The genus is monotypic; it is named in honor of Alwin Berger, author of an excellent
discussion of the genus Cereus, who was long in charge of the garden of Sir Thomas Hanbury
at La Mortola, Italy.
1. Bergerocactus emoryi (Engelmann) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 435,* 474.
1909.
Cereus emoryi Engelmann, Amer. Journ. Sci. II. 14: 338. 1852.
Echinocereus emoryi Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 804. 1885.
Branches 2 to 6 dm. long, 3 to 6 cm. in diameter, entirely covered with the dense spiny,
ment; ribs 20 to 25, very low, only a few millimeters high, somewhat tuberculate; spines 10
yellow to yellowish brown, acicular, 1 to 4 cm. long; flowers about 2 cm. long and about as
when expanded; outer perianth-segments obovate, obtuse; inner perianth-segments oblong,
1 cm. long.
armato 30,
broad
about
Type locality: “About the boundary line” of
California and Lower California.
Distribution: Near the coast of southwestern
California and northwestern Lower California and
adjacent islands.
Illustration: Engelmann, Cact. Mex. Bound. pl.
60, f. 1 to 4, as Cereus emoryi.
Figure 158 is from a photograph taken by E.
O. Wooton on San Clemente Island, California, in
Fig. 159.—Flower of B. emoryi. × 0.8.
1912; figure 159 shows a dried flower collected by
Le Roy Abrams at Tia Juana, San Diego County, California, in 1903.
15. LEOCEREUS gen. nov.
Stems long and slender, nearly terete, somewhat vine-like in habit; ribs numerous, but low and
indistinct; areoles approximate, bearing acicular spines and felt, but no wool or hairs; flowers
axillary, solitary, small, narrowly campanulate, with a short limb; ovary and flower-tube very scaly,
the scales bearing numerous silky hairs and bristly spines in their axils; fruit small, globular; seeds
black, shining, pitted.
In its narrow flower, in the hairs in axils of the scales on the ovary and tube, this genus
suggests Oreocereus, but is very different in habit. The flower of Leocereus is different from
that of Nyctocereus in its narrow throat, short perianth-segments, hairy and bristly areoles.
The genus is named for Señor A. Pacheco Leão, Director, Jardim Botanico, Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil. The first of the 3 species here described is taken as the type.
Flowers 4
Flowers 6
Axils
Axils
Key to Species.
cm. long; spines yellowish brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. L. bahiensis
to 7 cm. long; spines dark chestnut-brown.
of scales on ovary densely lanate; f ruit villous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. L. melanurus
of scales on ovary sparsely lanate; f ruit nearly naked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. L. glaziovii
1. Leocereus bahiensis sp. nov.
Somewhat branched, sometimes erect, sometimes clambering, up to 2 meters long, 1 to 1.5
cm. in diameter; ribs 12 to 14, low; areoles close together, circular, bearing white felt and spines;
spines numerous, the central ones much longer than the radials, often 3 cm. long, acicular, yellowish,
spreading; flowers 4 cm. long, densely woolly and spiny; inner perianth-segments small, white; fruit
10 to 12 mm. in diameter; seeds 1.5 mm. long.
Living and dried flowers of this species were obtained from the Horto Florestal,
Joazeiro, Brazil, through Dr. L. Zehntner (No. 266, type); later Dr. Rose obtained more
material at Barrinha, Bahia, Brazil, and living plants were sent to the New York Botanical
Garden; in October 191 7 Dr. Zehntner obtained fruit in the Chique-Chique district of Bahia.
*By typographical error Bergerocereus.
LEOCEREUS
109
It is called, in Bahia, rabo de raposa and tail of the fox.
Figure 160 is from a photograph of a plant collected by Dr. Rose in Bahia in 1915;
figure 161 shows a flower of an herbarium specimen received from Dr. Zehntner
2. Leocereus melanurus (Schumann).
Cereus melanurus Schumann in Martius, Fl. Bras. 4 2: 200. 1890.
Stems more or less cespitose from fibrous roots, slender, 1 meter long
or more, 2 to 2.5 cm. in diameter; ribs 12 to 16, low, only 2 to 3 mm. high;
branches 10 to 40 cm. long, often short-jointed, 2 to 2.5 cm. in diameter;
areoles approximate, 2 to 5 mm. apart, white-felted when young; spines
numerous, very unequal; lower radials about 20, white, bristle-like, 5 to 8
mm. long; upper radial spines and centrals about 15, all brown, stouter
than the lower radials and a little longer, except that 1 or sometimes 2
of the centrals are much elongated (3 to 5 cm. long); flower narrow, 5
to 6 cm. long, somewhat enlarged above, appearing in December; flowertube 4 to 5 cm. in diameter, covered with closely appressed hairs; perianthsegments narrow, erect, acute; seeds 1.5 mm. long, brownish.
Type locality: Serra de S. João del Ray, Brazil.
Distribution: Minas Geraes, Brazil.
The above description is drawn from the original of Schumann,
supplemented by notes from specimens collected in Minas Geraes,
Brazil, by Campos Porto and sent to Washington by Dr. A. Löfgren
in 1917. These specimens differ considerably in habit from the
plant as originally described, but since they come from near the
type locality and have the same ribs and spines we believe we are
justified in so referring them.
Illustration: Martius, Fl. Bras. 42: pl. 39, as Cereus melanurus.
Figure 162 is copied from the illustration above cited.
Fig. 160.—Leocereus
bahiensis.
3. Leocereus glaziovii (Schumann).
Cereus glaziovii Schumann in Martius, Fl. Bras. 4 2: 200. 1890.
Stems erect, with somewhat spreading branches, 1.5 to 2 cm.
in diameter; ribs 12, low; areoles a little longer than broad; spines
20 to 30, subulate, brownish, 1.5 to 2.5 cm. long; flowers 6 cm. long,
funnelform; inner perianth-segments white, 2.5 to 3.5 cm. long, 5
mm. broad, acuminate; stamens included; scales of the ovary
woolly in their axils; fruit narrowly oblong, 2 cm. long, 5 mm. in
diameter; seeds small, black.
Type locality: Near Pico d’Itabira do Campo.
Distribution: Known only from the type locality.
Fig. 161.—Flower of L. bahiensis.
Cereus glaziovii Schumann was placed by K. Schumann
× 0.9.
next to C. melanurus Schumann, and is probably congeneric
Fig. 162.—Flower of L. melanurus.
× 0.9.
with it; its flowers are similar, but the ovary and fruit are
not spiny. It is known only from the collection made by Glaziou in the State of Minas
Geraes, Brazil, near Pico d’Itabira do Campo.
Leocereus ? sp.
Rootstock 1 to 2 dm. broad, flattened, shallow-seated; stems several, erect or ascending unbranched, up to 1 meter long or more, 3 to 4 cm. in diameter; ribs 13 to 15, low, 3 to 4 mm. high;
areoles close together, 3 to 4 mm. apart, brown-felted when young; spines yellowish, 20 or more
acicular, about 1 cm. long; flowers said to be tubular, 2.5 to 3 cm. long, somewhat hairy; perianthsegments white.
Collected by Campos Porto, on the Serra do Ouro Branco, Minas Geraes, Brazil,
December 1916.
110
THE CACTACEAE.
This plant was collected for Cereus melanurus, but it is too tall and stout and has
different spines and smaller flowers. We have living specimens of this plant collected by
Señor Porto, but they have not yet flowered in cultivation.
16. WILCOXIA Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12 434. 1909.
Plants usually low and weak, producing a cluster of dahlia-like roots; stems very slender, more
or less branched, the branches often only the diameter of a lead pencil; ribs few and low; spines of
all the areoles similar; flowers diurnal, funnelform-campanulate, red or purple, large for the size of
the plant, only 1 from an areole, the tube rather short, its areoles bearing spines or bristles and wool;
areoles of the ovary and fruit bearing spines or bristles and wool; seeds black; aril large, basal.
Type species: Echinocereus poselgeri Lemaire.
Four species, of Texas and Mexico, compose the genus as known.
The type species has been included in Echinocereus, but its habit is very unlike that
genus, while the second and third species have been considered as belonging to Cereus
proper.
The genus was named for General Timothy E. Wilcox, U. S. A., who for many years
has been an enthusiastic student of plants.
Key to Species.
Areoles on ovary and flower-tube bearing long bristles.
Stems puberulent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Stems glabrous.
Corolla about 5 cm. long; tube indefinite; seeds dull; spine-clusters approximate, 3 to 5 mm. apart
Corolla 10 to 12 cm. long; tube definite; seeds shining; spine-clusters distant, 7 to 15 mm. apart .
Areoles on ovary and lower part of flower-tube without long bristles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1. Wilcoxia viperina (Weber) Britton
and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb.
16: 242. 1913.
Cereus viperinus Weber in Gosselin, Bull.
Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 10: 385. 1904.
Stems elongated, branching, the
largest ones seen 1 cm. in diameter and
becoming spineless; branches densely
velvety-puberulent, 8 mm. in diameter
or less; ribs about 8, inconspicuous;
spines about 8, appressed, dark, about
5 mm. long; flowers red, about 3 cm.
long; spines of ovary and corolla-tube
black, bristle-like, intermixed with long
white wool.
Fig. 163.—Sections of stem of W. viperina.
×0.8.
Type locality: Zapotitlan, Mexico.
Distribution: Southern Puebla, Mexico.
The type of this species was collected by L. Diguet and is now in the
Fig. 164.—Wilcoxia poselgeri.
. . . . 1. W. viperina
. . . . 2. W. poselgeri
. . . . 3. W. striata
. . . . 4. W. papillosa
111
WILCOXIA
Herbarium of the Museum of Paris, where it was examined by Dr. Rose in 1912. It is
the same as C. A. Purpus’s No. 3301 collected at the type locality in 1908 and distributed
in his sets of specimens. It is called in Mexico organito de vibora.
The plant is remarkable among Cereeae in having puberulent stems. We include it in
Wilcoxia, but are uninformed as to the characters of the roots, which are tuberous in the
other species.
Figure 163 shows pieces of the stem, from an herbarium specimen collected by C. A.
Purpus at the type locality.
2. Wilcoxia poselgeri (Lemaire) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12 434.
1909.
Cereus tuberosus Poselger, Allg. Gartenz. 21: 135. 1853. Not Pfeiffer, 1837.
Echinocereus poselgeri Lemaire, Cact. 57. 1868.
Echinocereus tuberosus Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 783. 1885.
Cereus poselgeri Coulter, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 3: 398. 1896.
Roots tuberous, black, several, near the surface of the ground; stems 60 cm. high or less, 6 to
10 mm. thick, with 8 to 10 inconspicuous ribs, the lower and older parts naked, spiny above, the
spines almost hiding the ribs; radial spines 9 to 12, appressed, 3 to 5 mm. long, delicate, puberulent;
central one ascending, black-tipped, about 1 cm. long, stouter than the radials; flowers purple or
pink, 5 cm. long, spines of ovary and flower-tube intermixed with white hairs; perianth-segments
linear, acuminate, about 2.5 cm. long, widely spreading or strongly recurved; style pale green;
stigma-lobes slender, green; seeds pitted or rugose, 8 mm. long.
Type locality: Texas.
Distribution: Southern Texas and Coahuila.
This cactus does not grow well on its own roots in greenhouse cultivation, but gradually loses its vitality; we have had
plants, however, to persist in cultivation for ten years. If
grafted on cuttings of Selenicereus pteranthus, very vigorous
plants can be developed, which will flower each year. It is
sometimes called sacasil.
The flowers open in the afternoon, but close at night,
opening and closing in this way for from 5 to 9 days. They
have a pleasing odor.
Illustrations: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 13: 77; Knippel,
Kakteen pl. 15; Blühende Kakteen 1: pl. 38; Schelle, Handb.
Kakteenk. f. 53, as Echinocereus tuberosus; Engelmann, Cact.
Mex. Bound. pl. 59, f. 12; Goebel, Pflanz. Schild. 1: pl. 4, f. 1;
Blanc, Cacti 38. f. 348, 349, as C. tuberosus.
Fig. 165.—Cluster of tuberous
roots of W. poselgeri. × 0.6.
Figure 164 is from a photograph of a flowering plant in the
collection of the New York Botanical Garden; figure 165 shows
the cluster of tuberous roots of a plant grown at Floral Park, New York, in 1890.
3. Wilcoxia striata (Brandegee) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 434.
1909.
Cereus striatus Brandegee, Zoe 2: 19. 1891.
Cereus diguetii Weber, Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 1: 319. 1895.
Roots brownish, deep-seated; stem vine-like, very slender, usually with 9 indistinct ribs, grayish;
spines about 9, 1.5 to 3 mm. long, acicular, weak, appressed, brownish, the areoles rather distant;
flowers 10 to 12 cm. long, purple, the areoles bearing slender, bristle-like spines and long wool; fruit
pyriform, 3 to 4 cm. long, scarlet, spiny, the spines deciduous; seeds minutely pitted.
Type locality: San José del Cabo, Lower California.
Distribution: Lower California and Sonora, Mexico.
The natives call it pitayita, pitahayita, sacamatraca, saramatraca, and jaramataca.
This differs from the type species of the genus in its much larger, funnelform flowers.
112
THE CACTACEAE.
4. Wilcoxia papillosa sp. nov.
Tap-root spindle-shaped, fleshy, 4 to 7 cm. long, 2 cm. in diameter, this giving off long fibrous
roots; stems slender with few branches, 3 to 4 dm. long, perhaps longer, 3 to 5 mm. in diameter,
glabrous, but the whole surface covered with minute papillæ; ribs low, indistinct, perhaps 3 to 5;
areoles small, distant, 1 to 3 cm. long, white-woolly; spines in clusters of 6 to 8, minute, yellowish
brown, bulbose at base, 1 to 3 mm. long; flowers scarlet, 4 to 5 cm. long; scales on the ovary and
flower-tube small, linear-cuspidate, the lower ones naked or nearly so, those at the top of the tube
with long white wool and several brown bristles (8 to 12 mm. long) in their axils; perianth-segments
2 cm. long; fruit probably spineless.
Collected by C. A. Purpus at Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, October 1, 1904, and now
deposited in the Herbarium of the University of California (No. 160654), and in the same
State at Tinamaxtita, San Ignacio, altitude 1,340 meters, May 20, 1919, by a Mexican
Commission which was studying the natural resources of Sinaloa (No. 848).
The plant is called cardoncillo.
17. PENIOCEREUS (Berger) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 428. 1909.
Plants low, slender, from an enormous, fleshy, turnip-shaped root; stems and branches usually
4 or 5-angled, rarely 3 or 6-angled; spines of all the areoles similar; flowers very large for the size
of the plant, funnelform, nocturnal, white, the outer perianth-segments tinged with red; tube of
flower long, slender, with long hairs in the axils of the upper scales, but with clusters of spines on
the lower part as also on the ovary; fruit spiny, ovoid, long-pointed, bright scarlet, fleshy, and
edible; seeds black, rugose, with a large oblique hilum.
A monotypic genus of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.
The generic name is from the Greek, signifying thread-cereus.
1. Peniocereus greggii (Engelmann) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 428.
Cereus
Cereus
Cereus
Cereus
Cereus
1909.
greggii Engelmann in Wislizenus, Mem. Tour North. Mex. 102. 1848.
pottsii Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 208. 1850.
greggii transmontanus Engelmann, Proc. Amer. Acad. 3: 287. 1856.
greggii cismontanus Engelmann, Proc. Amer. Acad. 3: 287. 1856.
greggii roseiflorus Kunze, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 20: 172. 1910.
Root often very large, sometimes 6 dm. in diameter, weighing 60 to 125 pounds, usually 15
to 20 cm. long by 5 to 8 cm. in diameter; stems 3 dm. to 3 meters high, 2 to 2.5 cm. in diameter,
the young parts pubescent; spines small, blackish; radials 6 to 9; central usually 1, sometimes 2;
flower 15 to 20 cm. long, the tube slender and terminating in a short funnelform throat, covered with
stamens; inner perianth-segments lanceolate, acute, 4 cm. long, spreading, or the outer ones reflexed; filaments erect, exserted; style slender, the stigmalobes about 1 cm. long; fruit tuberculate, 12 to 15 cm. long,
including the elongated beak.
Type locality: Near Chihuahua, Mexico.
Distribution: Western Texas, southern New Mexico
and Arizona to Sonora, Chihuahua, and Zacatecas.
Fig. 166.—Peniocereus greggii.
Fig. 167.—Flower of Peniocereus greggii.
Fig. 168.—Fruit of same. × 0.5.
× 0.5.
DENDROCEREUS
113
In the southwest it is called deerhorn cactus or night-blooming cereus.
The petals were first described as pale purple, but this was probably incorrect.
The species is found occasionally in valleys and on mesas in its range, but is never
abundant. It is hard for the novice to find, as the short, dull-colored stems resemble dead
sticks or the common sage bush, while the large flowers appear only at night.
Mrs. W. R. Klitt informs us that in cultivation this plant sometimes reaches a height
of 6 feet. About Tucson, Arizona, it flowers usually between June 12 and 16 and many of the
flowers appear on the same night everywhere throughout the desert. The flowers are extremely fragrant and collectors are thus guided when searching for the plants.
Illustrations: Gard. Chron. III. 34: f. 43; Cact. Emory’s Exped. 157. b 6; Förster,
Handb. Cact. ed. 2. f. 14, 94; Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 5: 150, 151; 14: 135 Schumann,
Gesamtb. Kakteen f. 18; Cact. Mex. Bound. pl. 63, 64; Schelle, Handb. Kakteenk. f.
23, as Cereus greggii; Cact. Mex. Bound. pl. 65, as Cereus greggii transmontanus; Contr.
U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: pl. 74, 75.
Figure 166 is from a photograph taken at night by F. E. Lloyd at Tucson, Arizona;
figure 167 shows a flower and figure 168 a fruit collected by F. E. Lloyd near Tucson.
18. DENDROCEREUS gen. nov.
Tree-like, with a thick, upright, terete trunk crowned with numerous erect or pendent branches;
branches 3 to 5-flanged; ribs thin and high, very spiny; areoles without long hairs; flowers nocturnal,
broadly funnelform, the perianth finally falling from the ovary by abscission; tube of flower subcylindric, narrowed below, bearing short, often reflexed scales, the lower ones subtending short spines;
perianth-segments numerous, spreading; stamens numerous, somewhat exserted; ovary with few
areoles, these often bearing a few spines; fruit indehiscent, globular, naked, green, hard, with a
very thick outer wall; seeds brownish, roughened, truncate at base.
A monotypic genus of Cuba. The name is from the Greek, meaning tree-cereus, this
cactus being, in outline, more like a tree than any other.
1. Dendrocereus nudiflorus (Engelmann).
Cereus nudiflorus Engelmann in Sauvalle, Anal. Acad. Cienc. Habana 6: 98. 1869.
Plant often 7 to 10 meters high, with a definite woody trunk and a very large, much branched
top; trunk 1 meter long or more, up to 6 dm. in diameter, with a solid wood core, the bark close,
grayish brown, armed with 3 to 5 rows of clusters of spines, sometimes borne on rounded knobs;
spines pale gray, stout but acicular, 8 cm. long or less; branches dull green, when young weak,
3 to 5-winged, made up of numerous short joints, with a very slender woody axis, about 12 cm. thick;
ribs or wings 4 to 7 cm. high, with low crenate margins; areoles 5 to 50 mm. apart, felted, on branches
rather large, sometimes spineless, sometimes bearing 2 to 15 spines, these acicular, sometimes 4 cm.
long, with black tips; flowers 10 to 12 cm. long, borne near the tops of the terminal joints, the wall
of the flower-tube thick and firm; the flower-bud nearly erect, subcylindric, narrowed at base, with
a few scattered areoles below the middle, ovoid-conic, blunt-pointed, viscid, shining, green streaked
with brown; areoles of the ovary bearing tufts of white wool and usually 1 to 3 short black spines;
outermost segments of the perianth triangular, reflexed; outer segments linear-oblong, greenish
yellow, blunt, 2 to 3 cm. long, the inner narrowly oblong, white, cm. long; stamens numerous,
borne on the elongated throat, slightly exserted; style very thick, to 6 mm. in diameter, entirely
filling the tube proper, 2.5 cm. long; stigma-lobes numerous; fruit globular or longer than thick,
sometimes pointed, 8 to 12 cm. long, smooth, greenish, naked, with a very thick tough rind 10
to 15 mm. thick; seeds 3 mm. long.
Type locality: Flats around Habana, Cuba.
Distribution: Coast of Habana, Matanzas, Santa Clara, and Oriente provinces, Cuba.
Dendrocereus nudiflorus is one of the most striking and interesting of all cacti. Many
individuals have the general aspect of apple trees and one realizes that it is a cactus only
by rather close observation. It grows in level ground, wherever observed by us, often
densely surrounded by trees and bushes of various kinds. Dr. Howe’s photograph, here
114
THE CACTACEAE.
reproduced (see fig. 169), was obtained only after cutting away a large number of bushes
in order to place the camera.
The Cuban name for this plant is flor de copa.
Illustrations: Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 1: pl. 49 to 51; Journ. N. Y. Bot. Gard. 10: f.
19; Roig, Cact. Fl. Cub. pl. 2, as Cereus nudiflorus.
Plate xiv, figures 1 and 2, show branch and flower of the plant as it flowered at the
New York Botanical Garden in 1911. Figure 169 is from a photograph taken by Marshall
A. Howe at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, in 1909 figure 170 shows a fruit collected by N. L.
Britton and Percy Wilson at Punta Colorado, Cienfuegos Bay, Cuba, in 1910.
Fig. 170.—Fruit of D. nudiflorus.
× 0.5.
Fig. 169.—Dendrocereus nudiflorus.
19. MACHAEROCEREUS gen. nov.
Plants prostrate or low and bushy, often with long horizontal or prostrate stout branches, very
spiny throughout; ribs low; areoles large, felted, and spiny; spines numerous, the centrals flattened
and dagger-like; flowers diurnal, 1 at an areole, long, slender, funnelform, the perianth persisting
on the fruit; stamens numerous, borne on the narrow elongated throat; ovary and lower part of
flower-tube bearing many small scales, these subtending felted areoles which afterwards bear clusters
of spines; fruit globular, edible when young, covered with clusters of spines, but when fully mature
becoming naked; seeds dull black, somewhat punctate, acute on the back.
In its fruit this genus is nearest Lemaireocereus, to which we once referred its two
species; the perianth, however, is much more elongated and more persistent; in habit and
shape of spines the species are very different from any of Lemaireocereus.
Two species, natives of Lower California, are recognized, of which Cereus eruca Brandegee is the type.
The generic name is from the Greek, signifying dagger-cereus, with reference to the
dagger-like spines.
Key to
Species.
Prostrate, the tips ascending; flowers yellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. M. eruca
Bushy, erect, 1 meter high or less; flowers purple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. M. gummosus
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
M. E. Eaton del.
PLATE XIV
1. Part of branch of Dendrocereus nudiflorus.
2. Flowering branch of the same.
3. Flowering branch of Nyctocereus guatemalensis.
(Natural size.)
A HOEN & CO
MACHAEOCEREUS
115
1. Machaerocereus eruca (Brandegee).
Cereus eruca Brandegee, Proc. Calif. Acad. II. 2: 163. 1889.
Lemaireocereus eruca Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 425. 1909.
Prostrate, except the erect or ascending tips; branches 1 to 3 meters long, 4 to 8 cm. in diameter,
usually simple, rooting on the under surface, dying at the older end and growing forward at the other;
sometimes several plants starting as branches from a common parent as a center and first radiating out, then dying at the rear; ribs about 12; areoles large, 2 cm. apart; spines about 20, very
unequal, pale gray, the outer ones terete, the inner ones stout and flatter, the longest about 3 cm.
long; flowers 10 to 12 cm. long, described as yellow; tube about 10 cm. long, nearly 6 mm. in
diameter; limb 4 to 6 cm. broad; ovary very spiny; fruit spiny, 4 cm. long; seeds black.
Type locality: Magdalena Island, Lower California.
Distribution: Lower California.
The plant is known in Lower California as chirinola and creeping devil cactus. Mr.
Brandegee describes it as follows:
“Its manner of growth with uplifted heads and prominent reflexed spines gives the plants a
resemblance to huge caterpillars.”
While this resemblance is true of the plants when growing in the open, it is especially
striking when the plant meets with some obstruction such as a log or large stone. Then it
raises its head, crawls up one side and down the other, and finally by the dying of the rear
virtually passes over the obstruction.
Fig. 171.—Machaerocereus eruca.
Mr. E. A. Goldman (Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 16: 352, 353. 1916) speaks of it as follows:
“We first saw this remarkable cactus on the coastal plain near Santo Domingo, about 30 miles
north of Matancita and here made a collection. From this point southward it was noted at intervals
on the plains as far as the Llano de Yrais and on the lower and more sandy parts of Magdalena
Island. The stems grow 1 to 3 meters in length and are nearly prostrate, and from this habit
and their long whitish recurved spines have aptly been likened to huge caterpillars. The growing
ends of the branches stand up from the ground, but progressive growth leaves the main body lying
prostrate. The stems become rooted along the lower sides and gradually die behind, resulting in
a slow progression of the living portion along the ground. Multiplication of individuals frequently
results from the decay of connecting parts. In some places disconnected plants forming a hollow
circle can be traced by the remains of dead trunks to a common center. The plants show a
116
THE CACTACEAE.
preference for soft parts of the coastal plain and grow usually in groups, often topping a slight
eminence formed of wind-drifted material. These cactuses serving as a sand binder and preventing
erosion tend to favor further accumulations. The desert foxes (Vulpes macrotis devius) of the region
find congenial burrowing places among the procumbent trunks.”
Illustrations: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 5: 71; Proc. Calif. Acad. II. 2: pl. 7; Schumann,
Gesamtb. Kakteen f. 29; Nat. Geogr. Mag. 22: 466, as Cereus eruca; Contr. U. S. Nat.
Herb. 16: pl. 127, as Lemaireocereus eruca.
Figure 171 is from a photograph taken by E. A. Goldman at Santo Domingo, Lower
California; figure 172 5 from a photograph of a plant collected by C. R. Orcutt at Magdateria Bay, Lower California.
Fig. 172.—Machaerocereus eruca.
2. Machaerocereus gummosus (Engelmann).
Cereus gummosus Engelmann in Brandegee, Proc. Calif. Acad. II. 2: 162. 1889.
Cereus cumengei Weber, Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 1: 317. 1895.
Cereus flexuosus Engelmann in Coulter, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 3: 411. 1896.
Lemaireocereus cumengei Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb.
12: 424. 1909.
Lemaireocereus gummosus Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. 12: 425.
1909.
Erect or ascending, but usually not a meter high, or with long,
spreading, sometimes prostrate, branches, the whole plant sometimes
having a spread of 6 to 7 meters; branches 4 to 6 cm. in diameter;
ribs usually 8, rarely 9, low and obtuse; areoles rather large, about
2 cm. apart; spines stout, the radials 8 to 12, somewhat unequal,
about 1 cm. long; central spines 3 to 6, stout, flattened, one much
longer than the others and about 4 cm. long; flowers 10 to 14 cm.
long, the tube long and slender; inner perianth-segments 2 to 2.5
cm. long, purple; stamens about as long as the segments; fruit subglobose, 6 to 8 cm. in diameter, spiny; skin of fruit bright scarlet;
pulp purple; seeds rugose, pitted, 2.5 mm. long.
Type locality: Lower California.
Distribution: Lower California and adjacent islands.
Dr. Rose, who visited Lower California in 1911, found
this the most widely distributed there of all the cacti. He
observed it at all stations visited on the main peninsula and
on all the islands of the Gulf of California except Tiburon
and Estaban. The plant is rather diverse in its habit; it
often sends out long horizontal branches which take root and
start other colonies. In habit it much resembles Rathbunia
alamosensis, but is usually stouter and less gregarious. The
Fig. 173.—M. gummosus.
117
NYCTOCEREUS
f ruit is called pitahaya agre or pitahaya agria and is probably the most valuable f ruit of
Lower California. A fish poison is prepared by bruising the stems. The mashed pulp
is then thrown into a running stream.
Fig. 174.—Machaerocereus gummosus.
Fig. 175.—Flower
of M. gummosus. × 0.6.
Cereus gummatus, C. gumminosus, and C. pfersdorff ii Hildmann (Schumann, Gesamtb.
Kakteen 125. 1897) are only garden names of this species.
Illustrations: Grässner, Haupt-Verz. Kakteen 3; Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 13: 105,
both as Cereus gummosus; Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 16: pl. 126 a, as Lemaireocereus
gummosus.
Figure 173 is from a photograph of a plant collected by Dr. Rose at Santa Maria Bay
in 1911; figure 174 is from a photograph taken by E. A. Goldman on Esperito Santo
Island, Lower California, in 1906; figure 175 shows a flower drawn from an herbarium
specimen obtained from C. R. Orcutt, collected in northern Lower California.
20. NYCTOCEREUS (Berger) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 423.
1909.
Erect or clambering, slender, sparingly branched cacti, with cylindric, ribbed stems and branches;
ribs numerous, low; areoles each bearing a tuft of short white wool and small radiating acicular
bristles or weak spines; flowers large, white, nocturnal; ovary bearing small scales, short or long wool,
and tufts of weak spines or bristles*; perianth funnelform, gradually expanding above, bearing scales
and tufts of weak bristles below the middle, above the middle bearing narrowly lanceolate scales
distant from each other and grading into the blunt outer perianth-segments; inner perianth-segments
widely spreading, obtuse or acutish; stamens numerous, shorter than the perianth; style about as
long as the stamens; fruit fleshy, scaly, spiny or bristly; seeds large, black.
Type species: Cereus serpentinus De Candolle.
Nyctocereus was considered by A. Berger a subsection of his subgenus Eucereus but his
conception of it was of a complex, from which we would exclude all but three of the species
which he referred to it. He speaks of certain forms in the type species which have smaller
flowers and no fruit; this variation we have also noticed in N. guatemalensis.
The name is from the Greek, meaning night-cereus. Five species are here recognized,
natives of Mexico and Central America.
118
THE CACTACEAE.
Flower-tube longer than the limb . . . . . . . . . .
Flower-tube not longer than the limb.
Flowers 4 to 7 cm. long.
Spines acicular; ribs acute . . . . . . . .
Spines subulate; ribs obtuse . . . . . . .
Flowers 9 cm. long or more.
Perianth-segments long-acuminate .
Perianth-segments acute or obtusish
Key to Species.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. N. serpentinus
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. N. hirschtianus
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. N. guatemalensis
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. N. neumannii
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5. N. oaxacensis
1. Nyctocereus serpentinus (Lagasca and Rodrigues) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb.
12: 423. 1909.
Cactus serpentinus Lagasca and Rodrigues, Anal. Cienc. Nat. Madrid 4: 261. 1801.
Cactus ambiguus Bonpland, Descr. Pl. Rares 90. 1813.
Cereus serpentinus De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 467. 1828.
Cereus ambiguus De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 467. 1828.
Cereus serpentinus stellatus Lemaire, Cact. Gen. Nov. Sp. 78. 1839.
Cereus serpentinus splendens Salm-Dyck in Lemaire, Cact. Gen. Nov. Sp. 79. 1839.
Cereus splendens* Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 214. 1850.
Echinocereus serpentinus Lemaire, Cact. 57. 1868.
Echinocereus splendens Lemaire, Cact. 57. 1868.
Cereus serpentinus albispinus† Weingart, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 18: 30. 1908.
Stems growing in a cluster or clump, at first erect, then clambering through bushes or over
walls or, when without support, creeping or hanging, often 3 meters long, 2 to 5 cm. in diameter;
ribs 10 to 13, low and rounded; areoles close together, felted and with acicular or bristle-like spines;
spines about 12, white to brownish, the tips usually darker, the longest about 3 cm. long; flowers
borne at the upper areoles, sometimes terminal, 15 to 19 cm. long, the limb 8 cm. broad; areoles
on ovary and flower-tube bristly; inner perianth-segments white, spatulate, obtuse; fruit red, covered
with deciduous spines, 4 cm. long; seeds black, 5 mm. long.
Type locality: Not cited; described from a garden plant.
Distribution: Mexico, probably native near the eastern coast.
Cereus serpentinus strictior Walpers (Repert. Bot. 2: 278. 1843) is only a published name.
Cereus ambiguus strictior (Weingart, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 19: 9. 1909) seems never
to have been published.
Cereus kalbreyerianus Wercklé (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 17: 38. 1907) is known only
from its flowers, which, from the description,
closely resemble those of N. serpentinus and
it is said to resemble this species in its habit.
It was found near Bogota, Colombia.
Although Mexico is given as the home
of this species, no wild specimens have been
collected there in recent times; it is now
widely cultivated in that country, or is halfwild in hedges or running over walls about
Fig. 176.—Fruit of Nycto- Fig. 177.—Flower of Nyctoyards. A. Berger (Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard.
cereus serpentinus. × 0.7. cereus hirschtianus. × 0.7.
16: 75, 76, 1905) has this interesting note:
“Cereus serpentinus P. DC. possesses the largest seeds of Cereus known to me. There are only
a few in each fruit, bedded in the crystalline red pulp. Several varieties of this species occur in
gardens. There are two very pronounced forms at La Mortola. One has weaker and more serpentine stems, with smaller spines and smaller flowers. This never produces any fruit. The other form
has stronger, upright stems with longer spines. Its flowers are remarkably larger and produce a
great quantity of fruits. The former variety seems to have undeveloped stigmata, and it may
prove to be the male plant. Similar cases of heterogamy are known in Opuntia and Mammillaria,
but nothing of the kind has ever been shown in Cereus. This male form at La Mortola corresponds
well with the figure in the Botanical Magazine, pl. 3566. Strictly terminal flowers, as shown in this
plate, are also occasionally produced by our plant.”
*We have followed Weingart (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 18: 30. 1908) in referring this name here rather than to
Monvillea cavendishii.
†Weingart states that this and Cereus albispinus are identical with Cereus splendens.
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
M. E. Eaton del.
PLATE XV
1. Top of branch of Eulychnia iquiquensis.
2. Top of stem of Lemaireocereus dumortieri.
3. Part of flowering stem of Nyctocereus serpentinus.
(Natural size.)
A HOEN & CO
119
NYCTOCEREUS
Known in Mexico as junco or junco espinoso.
Illustrations: Link and Otto, Ic. Pl. Select. Pl. 42, as Cactus serpentinus; Bonpland,
Descr. Pl. Rares pl. 36; Van Geel, Sert. Bot. 3: pl. 17, the last two as Cactus ambiguus;
Abh. Bayer. Akad. Wiss. München 19: pl. 2; Cact. Journ. 1: 59; Curtis’s Bot. Mag. 64:
Pl. 3566; Dict. Gard. Nicholson 1: f. 410; Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. f. 95; Gartenflora
31: pl. 1079, f. 2. c; Mém. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 17: pl. 12; Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 16: pl.
11, f. 1 to 3; Rümpler, Sukkulenten f. 65, as Cereus serpentinus.
Plate xv, figure 3, shows the flower of a plant in the collection of the New York Botanical Garden. Figure 176 shows the fruit collected in Mexico by H. H. Rusby in 1910.
2. Nyctocereus hirschtianus (Schumann) Britton and Rose, Contr. 15. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 424. 1909.
Cereus hirschtianus Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 130. 1897.
Stems columnar, erect, slender, 10 mm. in diameter; ribs 10, somewhat acute, 3 mm. high;
radial spines 7 to 9, slender, 4 to 5 mm. long; central spines 1 to 5, the lower one stouter and porrect;
flowers probably white, 5 to 6 cm. long, funnelform; perianth-segments spreading, acute; stamens
numerous, somewhat exserted; ovary and tube very spiny; fruit not known.
Type locality: Nicaragua.
Distribution: Known only from the type locality.
This species differs from N. guatemalensis in its habit, more slender stem, its spines,
which are much more slender and delicate but not as long, and its smaller flowers. Weingart has written extensively (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23: 108 to 111. 1913) about this
species, reaching the conclusion that it and N. guatemalensis are the same. We have both
types before us, and feel convinced that the species are distinct.
Illustration: Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen f. 31, as Cereus hirschtianus.
Figure 177 shows the flower of a cotype specimen in the herbarium of the United
States National Museum.
3. Nyctocereus guatemalensis Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 16: 240.
1913.
Cereus guatemalensis Vaupel, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23: 86. 1913.
Stems half erect, arching, creeping, or even prostrate, 1 meter long or longer, 3 to 6 cm. in
diameter; ribs 8 to 12, very low; radial spines about 10; central spines 3 to 6, usually much longer
than the radials, the longer ones 3 to 4 cm. long; flowers very fragrant, 4 to 7 cm. long; ovary somewhat tuberculate, each tubercle crowned by an areole bearing a bunch of pinkish or brownish spines;
outer perianth-segments brownish; inner perianth-segments lanceolate, acute, nearly white; stamens
much shorter than the perianth, attached all along the surface of the wide throat; style stout, 3 cm.
long; fruit about 2 cm. long, spiny; seeds black, shining, 3 mm. in diameter.
Type locality: El Rancho, Guatemala.
Distribution: Guatemala.
Illustrations: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 19: 167, as Cereus hirschtianus; Contr. U. S.
Nat. Herb. 16: pl. 70, 71.
Plate xiv, figure 3, shows a part of the type specimen, which flowered at the New York
Botanical Garden in 1915. Figure 178 is from a photograph of another part of the type
specimen.
4. Nyctocereus neumannii (Schumann) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 424.
1909.
Cereus neumannii Schumann in Loesener, Bot. Jahrb. Engler 29: 99. 1900.
Stems columnar, up to 1 meter long, 3 cm. in diameter, ascending or decumbent; ribs 13, somewhat crenate; spines 10 to 14, radials and centrals similar, acicular, up to 4 cm. long, grayish, brownish
when young; flower 10 cm. long; ovary tuberculate, bearing felt and brown or reddish spines in its
areoles; inner perianth-segments white, lanceolate, long-acuminate.
Type locality: Near Chiquitillo, Metagalpa, Nicaragua.
Distribution: Known only from the type locality.
The plant is known to us only from description.
120
THE CACTACEAE.
5. Nyctocereus oaxacensis sp. nov.
Stems branching, slender, 2 to 3 cm. in diameter; ribs 7 to 10, rather low; areoles 10 mm apart;
radial spines 8 to 12, 4 to 15 mm. long, slender, brownish; centrals 3 to 5; flowers 8 to 10 cm. long,
“whitish inside, dirty purplish or reddish outside”; perianth-segments linear to oblong, rounded at
apex; stamens not extending nearly as far as the perianth-segments; ovary densely covered with
brownish bristly spines.
Collected by E. W. Nelson about Lagunas, Oaxaca, Mexico, altitude 255 meters,
June 5, 1895 (No. 2543, type).
We refer here tentatively another specimen also collected by Mr. Nelson near Huilotepec, Oaxaca, altitude 30 meters, May 4 to 11, 1895 (No. 2585).
Fig. 178.—Nyctocereus guatemalensis, as it flowered in Washington.
21. BRACHYCEREUS gen. nov.
Stems low, forming candelabrum-like masses; branches numerous, cylindric; ribs many, low,
with closely set areoles bearing felt and numerous acicular spines; flowers narrow-funnelform, bearing small scales which subtend large spiny areoles; outer perianth-segments lanceolate; inner perianthsegments very narrow, long-acuminate, described as possibly white but more likely yellow; filaments
very short; ovary obliquely subglobose, bearing scattered spiny areoles; fruit ellipsoid, very spiny,
but in age probably naked.
The name is from the Greek, meaning short-cereus.
Only one species is known, native of the Galapagos Islands.
1. Brachycereus thouarsii (Weber).
Cereus thouarsii Weber, Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 5: 312. 1899.
Cereus nesioticus Schumann in Robinson, Proc. Amer. Acad. 38: 179. 1902.
ACANTHOCEREUS
121
Stems 6 to 10 dm. high; branches numerous, radiating and ascending, 3 to 5 cm. in diameter,
entirely covered by a mass of yellow spines; ribs about 20, low, 3 mm. high; areoles 5 to 6 mm.
apart; spines about 40, unequal, the longer ones about 3 cm. long, bristle-like; flower 7 cm. long;
outer perianth-segments 1.5 cm. long, 2 mm. broad; inner perianth-segments longer than the outer,
narrow; filaments 1 mm. long or less; fruit 2.5 to 4 cm. long, 1.3 cm. in diameter; seeds numerous,
1.2 mm. long, ellipsoid, brownish, slightly punctate.
Type locality: Charles Island, Galapagos.
Distribution: Albemarle, Abingdon, Chatham, James, Charles, and Tower Islands,
Galápagos.
We have identified Cereus thouarsii Weber, by photographs of the specimens sent by
Professor Agassiz to Dr. Engelmann, preserved at the Missouri Botanical Garden, and
mentioned by Dr. Weber at the place of first publication.
Schumann says this species is a very peculiar one,
“from its long, brown, non-pungent spines, which clothe
the stem so densely that its surface is invisible. I have
never before seen a species of the genus with such short filaments as in this. The petals are also uncommonly narrow.”
Berger refers this species to his subsection Nyctocereus,
with which it is probably most nearly related. It was named
for Abel Aubert Du Petit-Thouars (1793-1864).
Illustration: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. IV. 1: pl. 5, as
Cereus nesioticus.
Figure 179 shows the flower of the type specimen of
Cereus nesioticus preserved in the Gray Herbarium; figure
180 shows the fruit of Brachycereus thouarsii collected
Fig. 179.—Flower
Fig. 180.—Fruit
by A. Stewart, preserved in the herbarium of the Calof B. thouarsii.
of same species.
ifornia Academy of Sciences.
× 0.8.
× 0.8.
22. ACANTHOCEREUS (Berger) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 432.
1909.
Weak, elongated, many-jointed cacti, at first erect but soon clambering or trailing, the joints
usually strongly 3-angled, sometimes 4 or 5-angled, in one species sometimes 7-angled, the seedlings
and juvenile branches not as strongly angled, with more ribs and with different spines; areoles
bearing short wool or felt and several stiff spines; flowers funnelform, nocturnal, 1 at an areole;
flower-tube remaining rigid after anthesis, gradually drying and remaining on the ripe fruit, green,
rather slender, expanded toward the summit, bearing a few areoles similar to those of the branches,
subtended by small scales; limb somewhat shorter than the tube, widely expanded; outer perianthsegments narrowly lanceolate to linear, acuminate, green, shorter than the white, inner segments;
stamens not extending as far as perianth-segments, attached all along the upper half of the tube or
throat; style very slender, divided at the apex into several linear stigma-lobes; fruit spiny or naked,
with a thick, dark-red skin breaking irregularly from top downward; flesh red; seeds numerous,
black.
This genus has a wide distribution; its species are usually found at low altitudes in
semiarid regions, especially about the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea; although
occurring on the coasts of Texas and Florida and recorded from Cuba, it has not been
reported from any of the other larger Antilles, but is represented on the Venezuelan and
Colombian coasts and also in Central America and Brazil. It is found not only on the
east and west coasts of Mexico but also in the interior.
The type of this genus is based on the Cactus pentagonus of Linnaeus. Linnaeus in his
Species Plantarum cites no definite habitat for it, while his description is very meager. His
earlier reference in Hortus Cliffortianus (182. 1737), although somewhat fuller, is still
uncertain. It is there stated that the ribs are 5, sometimes 6. Most of the species of this
genus, especially those which would have been known in Linnaeus’s time, usually have 3
ribs, occasionally 4, rarely 5. The young plants and the young growth, however, often
have 5 and 6 ribs, which would account for variations in descriptions of the same species.
122
THE CACTACEAE.
Curiously enough, the type species is one of the species of Linnaeus which Miller omits
in his Gardener’s Dictionary (1768).
Cereus pellucidus Pfeiffer (Enum. Cact. 108. 1837), which we formerly referred to this
genus (Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 432), following previous authors, is to be looked for in
Leptocereus. Both Schumann and Berger regard this group as consisting of but a single
species, the former placing it with Cereus greggii in his series Acutangules, and the latter in a
subsection Acanthocereus; Pfeiffer, on the other hand, recognized several species as belonging
to this group; we distinguish at least 7. The name is from the Greek, meaning thorn-cereus.
Key to Species.
Ribs usually 3, rarely 4, thick.
Joints 8 to 10 cm. wide, deeply crenate; spines very stout, subulate.
Spines 1 to 6; perianth-tube about 7 cm, long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Spines about 10, the outer 5 to 8, very short; perianth-tube about 12 cm. long
Joints 2 to 8 cm. wide, low-crenate; spines slender.
Spines well developed, subulate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Spines short or none, when present acicular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ribs 4 to 7, mostly thin.
Plants green.
Spines up to 7 cm. long; ribs 3 to 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Spines 3 cm. long or less; ribs 5 to 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Plants bluish white; joints 4-angled; spines 2 to 6, the longest 2 cm. long . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . .1. A. horridus
. . . . . . . . . .2. A. colombianus
. . . . . . . . . .3. A. pentagonus
. . . . . . . . . .4. A. subinermis
. . . . . . . . . .5. A. occidentalis
. . . . . . . . . .6. A. brasiliensis
. . . . . . . . . .7. A. albicaulis
1. Acanthocereus horridus sp. nov.
Plants stout, the joints strongly 3-angled or 3-winged, the young growth 5 or 6-angled; wings
with deep undulations; areoles large, 3 to 6 cm. apart; spines brown or blackish when young; radial
spines 1 to 6, very short, conic, less than 1 cm. long; central spine usually 1, sometimes 2, often very
stout and elongated, sometimes 8 cm. long; flower, including the ovary, 18 to 20 cm. long; tube 4
cm. long, including the funnelform throat 12 cm. long; throat 4 cm. broad at mouth; outer perianthsegments linear, brown or greenish, 6 cm. long; inner perianth-segments 3 to 4 cm. long; stamens
white; style thick, cream-colored; fruit 3.5 cm. long, light red, glossy, covered with large areoles
bearing white felt; skin thick, finally splitting as the
fruit ripens; pulp red.
Collected in Guatemala by F. Eichlam in
1909 (New York Botanical Garden No. 34788).
It has frequently flowered in cultivation, both
at Washington and at New York.
Here we are disposed to refer E. W. Nelson’s
plant from San Juan Guichicovi, Oaxaca, Mexico, collected June 21 to 24, 1895 (No. 2729).
Figure 181 shows a part of a joint of the
type specimen.
2. Acanthocereus colombianus sp. nov.
Erect, branching dichotomously, 2 to 3 meters
high; joints about 9 cm. wide, strongly 3-winged;
areoles large, 5 cm. apart; radial spines 5 to 8, very
short, less than 5 mm. long; central spines 1 or 2,
very stout, 4 to 5.5 cm. long; flower 25 cm. long,
white, with a rather stout tube 12 cm. long, the
gradually expanded throat 5 to 6 cm. long.
Collected by Francis W. Pennell and Henry
H. Rusby near Calamar, Colombia, July 10,
Fig. 181.—Part of joint of A. horridus. × 0.4.
1917 (No. 23, type), and by Herbert H. Smith
near Bonda, Colombia, in 1898-1899 (No. 2423). According to Mr. Smith this species
grows in dry forests and thickets at low altitudes; here it is known as pitahaya.* His
*Pitahaya is a well-known name in tropical America for many species of cacti, especially of Cereus and its
relatives, of which there are various spellings, such as pitajaya, pitajuia, pitalla, pitaya, and pithaya. Several suffixes are sometimes used with it, as pitahaya agre, pitahaya agria, pitahaya de San Juan, and pitahaya dulce, and
it has the diminutives pitayita and pitahayita.
123
ACANTHOCEREUS
plant comes from near the type locality of Cactus pitaiaya Jacquin, but we refer that species
to A. pentagonus, also found in northern Colombia.
The species is near A. horridus, but has a much longer flower-tube.
3. Acanthocereus pentagonus (Linnaeus) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 432. 1909.
Cactus pentagonus Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 467. 1753.
Cactus pitajaya Jacquin, Enum. Pl. Carib. 23. 1761.
Cereus pentagonus Haworth, Syn. Pl. Succ. 180. 1812.
Cactus prismaticus Willdenow, Enum. Pl. Suppl. 32. 1813.
Cereus prismaticus Haworth, Suppl. Pl. Succ. 77. 1819.
Cereus pitajaya De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 466. 1828.
?Cereus undulosus De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 467. 1828.
?Cactus undulosus Kosteletzky, Allg. Med. Pharm. Fl. 4: 1393. 1835.
Cereus cognatus Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 106. 1837, as synonym.
Cereus acutangulus Otto in Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 107. 1837.
Cereus princeps Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 108. 1837.
Cereus ramosus Karwinsky in Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 108. 1837.
Cereus baxaniensis Karwinsky in Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 109. 1837.
Cereus variabilis Engelmann, Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist. 5: 205. 1845. Not Pfeiffer, 1837.
Cereus nitidus Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 211. 1850.
Cereus vasmeri Young, Fl. Texas 276. 1873.
Cereus dussii Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 89. 1897.
Cereus sirul Weber in Gosselin, Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 10: 384. 1904.
Stem clambering, usually 2 to 3, sometimes 7 meters high, but when growing in the open
more or less arched and rooting at the tips, then making other arches and thus forming large colonies;
old trunk becoming nearly round, 5 cm. in diameter or more, covered with a thick mucilaginous,
spineless cortex and a hard-wood axis with only a small pithy cavity; joints 3 to 8 cm. broad, 3 to
5-angled, low-crenate; juvenile growth nearly terete, with 6 to 8 low ribs, approximate areoles and
numerous short acicular spines; areoles on normal branches 3 to 5 cm. apart; spines gray, acicular to
subulate, various; radials at first 6 or 7, 1 to 4 cm. long; central spine often solitary, longer than the
radials; spines of old areoles often as many as 12, of which several are centrals; flowers 14 to 20
cm. long; tube and ovary bearing conspicuous areoles with brown felt and several subulate spines;
outer perianth-segments green; inner perianth-segments white, acuminate: fruit oblong. red, edible:
cotyledons broadly ovate, 5 to 8 mm. long, thick, united at base,
gradually passing below into the spindle-shaped hypocotyl.
Type locality: America, but no definite locality cited.
Distribution: Keys of southern Florida; coast of
Texas. south along the eastern coast of Mexico to Gua-
Fig. 182.—Acanthocereus pentagonus.
Fig. 183.—Acanthocereus pentagonus.
temala and Panama; the coasts of Colombia and Venezuela and Guadeloupe. Introduced
on St. Thomas and St. Croix. Recorded from Cuba.
124
THE CACTACEAE.
As understood by us this species varies greatly in the relative thickness of its branches,
in armament, and in the size of its flowers. Its geographical range is, in our conception,
greater than that of mot cacti.
Cereus baxaniensis ramosus (Salm-Dyck in Walpers, Repert. Bot. 2: 277. 1843) is
published only as a synonym. Cereus arcuatus Zuccarini (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 14: 55.
1904) from its description is of this relationship. It was originally collected at Totolapa,
Mexico, by Zuccarini.
Cereus bajanensis Wercklé (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 15: 166. 1905) was never described
but belongs here. Cereus quadrangularis Haworth (Syn. Pl. Succ. 181. 1812; C. trigonus
quadrangularis Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 118. 1837; Cactus quadrangularis Loudon, Encycl.
Pl. 412. f. 6876. 1829) may belong here, but Pfeiffer referred it with a question to Cereus
caripensis De Candolle (Prodr. 3: 467. 1828; Cactus caripensis Humboldt, Bonpland, and
Kunth, Nov. Gen. et Sp. 6: 66. 1823), but this species was referred by Schumann to the
genus Rhipsalis.
Fig. 184.—Acanthocereus pentagonus in cactus plantation of Charles Deering at Buena Vista, Florida, May 1918.
Cereus undulatus Pfeiffer (Enum. Cact. 107. 1837), based on a specimen in the Dresden
Garden, is usually referred to Cereus acutangulus, but was not described by Pfeiffer at the
place here cited.
A specimen in the Berlin Garden also was called Cereus undulatus by D. Dietrich (Syn.
Pl. 3: 104. 1843) and described, but should be referred elsewhere. It is of quite different
relationship, being very slender, dull green, 10-ribbed. The flowers are large, 12.5 cm. in
diameter, white. Its native habitat is unknown.
Illustrations: Cact. Journ. 1: 125; Cact. Mex. Bound. pl. 60, f. 5, 6, all these as Cereus
variabilis; Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 13: 158; Rev. Hort. Belge 40: after p. 184; Tribune
Hort. 4: pl. 140, as Cereus baxaniensis.
Plate xvi, figure 1, shows a flower and part of a joint of a plant sent from the Berlin
Botanic Garden to the New York Botanical Garden. Figure 182 is from a photograph
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
PLATE XVI
M. E. Eaton del.
A HOEN & CO
1. Top of flowering branch of Acanthocereus pentagonus.
2. Top of flowering branch of Acanthocereus subinermis.
3. Top of a fruiting branch of Acanthocereus subinermis.
(All natural size.)
ACANTHOCEREUS
125
taken by Marshall A. Howe on Boot Key, Florida, in 1909; figure 183 shows the fruit and
withering perianth of a specimen collected by Dr. Rose at Laredo, Texas, in 1906; figure
184 is from a photograph by J. K. Small of a plant in the cactus plantation of Charles
Deering, Buena Vista, Miami, Florida, May 1918, originally brought from Sands Key in
1917.
4. Acanthocereus subinermis sp. nov.
Plants 1 meter high or higher; joints stout, 5 to 7 cm. broad, strongly 3 or 4-angled, bright
green, somewhat shining, usually short; areoles 3 to 4 cm. apart; spines either wanting or short, when
present 6 to 10 at an areole, acicular, usually less than 1.5 cm. long; flowers various in size, 15 to 22
cm. long; outer perianth-segments narrow, reddish, acute; inner perianth-segments white; areoles of
ovary and flower-tube somewhat spiny; fruit globular to short-oblong, 4 cm. long, dull red.
Collected by J. N. Rose between Mitla and Oaxaca City, Mexico, September 6, 1908
(No. 11304). It has since been grown in Washington and in the New York Botanical
Garden, where it has frequently flowered and fruited.
Plate xvi, figure 2, represents a flowering joint of the type
specimen, and figure 3 shows its fruit.
5. Acanthocereus occidentalis sp. nov.
Stems rather weak, forming dense thickets; branches slender, 4
to 5 cm. in diameter, 3 to 5-angled, dull green, often bronzed; margins
of ribs slightly sinuate; areoles 1 to 3 cm. apart, filled with short brown
wool; spines numerous, nearly equal, yellowish, acicular, up to 7 cm.
long; flowers 14 to 18 cm. long; fruit unknown.
Common on the western coast of Mexico, where it was
frequently collected by Rose, Standley, and Russell at the
following places: San Bias, Sinaloa, March 24, 1910 (No. 13431,
type); Mazatlan, April 4, 1910 (No. 14050); Guadalupe, April 18,
1910 (No. 14752); and by Dr. Rose at Rosario in 1897 (No.
3170).
This species is widely separated geographically from the
others of this genus, being confined to low thickets along the
coast of Sinaloa, western Mexico.
Figure 185 shows part of a joint of a plant brought by Dr.
Rose from Sinaloa in 1910.
Fig. 185.—Joint of Acanthocereus occidentalis. × 0.5.
6. Acanthocereus brasiliensis sp. nov.
Stems weak, at first erect but soon prostrate or clambering over bushes, usually much branched
at base, bright green, somewhat shining; ribs 5 to 7, high and thin, slightly undulate; areoles small,
2 to 4 cm. apart; spines numerous, acicular, white with brown tips, 3 cm. long or less; flowers about
15 cm. long; buds acuminate; outer perianth-segments linear; ovary bearing clusters of acicular
spines; fruit globular, slightly tuberculate, 8 cm. in diameter, green, covered with clusters of acicular
deciduous spines; pulp greenish white; seeds few, large, brownish.
Common in thickets in the subarid parts of Bahia, Brazil, where it was frequently
observed by Dr. Rose in 1915; the type is from Machado Portella (No. 19903).
This species not only is out of the range of the preceding species of this genus, but is
otherwise somewhat anomalous, for it normally has more ribs and these of different texture.
The fruit, too, is much larger than that of the other species, is covered with deciduous
spines, and has a greenish white pulp.
Figure 186 is from a photograph taken by Paul G. Russell at the type locality in 1915.
7. Acanthocereus (?) albicaulis sp. nov.
A low, weak plant, although erect at first, a meter high or less, afterward elongating and arching; branches few, usually sharply 4-angled, 1 to 3 cm. broad, bluish white, the margins only slightly
126
THE CACTACEAE.
undulate; areoles 2 to 3 cm. apart, small, brown-felted; spines 2 to 6, acicular, brown, swollen at
base, unequal, the longest 2 cm. long; flowers and fruit unknown.
Collected near Barrinha, Bahia, Brazil, by Rose and Russell, June 8, 1915 (No. 19808).
This is a very distinct and remarkable plant. In the shape and color of the branches
it suggests some species of Hylocereus such as H. ocamponis, but it is a true terrestrial and
never develops aerial roots. It is inconspicuous, growing in the bushy flats, and easily
overlooked. Numerous cuttings were sent to the New York Botanical Garden by Dr.
Rose, but only one of these lived, and this has not yet made any new growth. It may not
be of this genus, for it does not resemble closely any of the described species.
Figure 187 is from a photograph taken by Paul G. Russell in 1915 at the type locality.
Fig. 186.—Acanthocereus brasiliensis.
Fig. 187.—Acanthocereus (?) albicaulis.
DESCRIBED SPECIES, PERHAPS OF THIS GENUS.
Cereus tenellus Salm-Dyck in Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 109. 1837.
Suberect, slender, 8 to 12 mm. in diameter; ribs 4 or 5, thin, compressed; areoles 8 to 10 mm.
apart; spines setiform, brown, short, 6 to 8 mm. long; flowers and fruit unknown.
Type locality: Brazil.
This species is not known to us from the incomplete description.
Pfeiffer refers here as a synonym C. candelabrius (Enum. Cact. 109. 1837).
HELIOCEREUS
127
23. HELIOCEREUS (Berger) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 433. 1909.
Stems usually weak, procumbent or climbing over rocks and bushes, in cultivation often bushy
and erect; branches strongly angled or ribbed; ribs or angles usually 3 or 4, sometimes up to 7;
spines of all areoles similar; flowers diurnal, large, funnelform, only 1 at an areole, usually scarlet,
sometimes white; tube short but definite; inner perianth-segments elongated; stamens numerous,
declined; ovary spiny.
Type species: Cactus speciosus Cavanilles.
Heliocereus was considered a subsection of Cereus by Berger and, as stated by him, the
species are closely related, the chief differences being in the flowers; they are all confined
to Mexico and Central America. We recognize 5 species.
The plants are easily propagated by cuttings, but it has been our experience that they
are among the most difficult cacti to grow under glass. It is said, however, if plants are
grown out of doors during the summer, they make strong branches and flower abundantly
during the winter. H. speciosus has been much used in hybridizing with various species of
Epiphyllum, resulting in many types, some of which are greatly admired, and for which
new specific, varietal, and form names have been proposed.
The name is from the Greek, meaning sun-cereus.
Key to Species.
Flowers red.
Inner perianth-segments acuminate.
Style not longer than the stamens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Style definitely longer than the stamens . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Inner perianth-segments apiculate, rounded or abruptly tipped.
Perianth-segments apiculate or rounded . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Perianth-segments abruptly tipped . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Flowers white . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. H. elegantissimus
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. H. schrankii
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. H. speciosus
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. H. cinnabarinus
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5. H. amecamensis
1. Heliocereus elegantissimus nom. nov.
Cereus coccineus Salm-Dyck in Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 122. 1837. Not C. coccineus De Candolle, 1828.
Cereus speciosissimus coccineus Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 773. 1885.
Cereus speciosus coccineus Graebener, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 19: 137. 1909.
Heliocereus coccineus Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 433. 1909.
Stems at first erect, low, 1 to 2 dm. high; branches often decumbent, light green, 3 to 5 cm. broad,
mostly 3 or 4-angled; ribs strongly undulate; areoles large, 1.5 to 2 cm. apart, yellow-felted; spines
acicular, short, 1 cm. long or less, the radial ones bristly and white, the inner ones stiff and recurved;
flowers scarlet, 10 to 15 cm. broad; perianth-segments lanceolate, acuminate, 7 cm. long or less;
ovary 3 to 4 cm. long, oblong, with a few scattered spreading scales; style red, slender, not longer
than the stamens; stigma-lobes white.
Type locality: Mexico.
Distribution: Mexico.
Illustrations: Blühende Kakteen 2: pl. 118; Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 5: 135; Pfeiffer
and Otto, Abbild. Beschr. Cact. 1: pl. 15, all three as Cereus coccineus.
Plate xvii, figure 1, shows a flowering branch of a plant in the collection of the New
York Botanical Garden.
2. Heliocereus schrankii (Zuccarini) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 434.
1909.
Cereus schrankii Zuccarini in Seitz, Allg. Gartenz. 2: 244. 1834.
Stems ascending, branching; joints 1 to 2 cm. broad, 3 or 4-angled, somewhat winged, when
young reddish, in age green; areoles 1.5 to 2 cm. apart, somewhat elevated; spines 6 to 8, acicular,
white when young, yellowish brown in age; flowers dark red, large, 14 cm. broad; stamens numerous;
style stout, red, longer than the stamens; stigma-lobes white; ovary oblong, 4 cm. long, spiny.
Type locality: Zimipan, Mexico.
Distribution: Known only from the type locality.
We know this plant only from descriptions and the cited illustration. It must be
closely related to the preceding species and may not be specifically distinct from it.
Illustration: Pfeiffer and Otto, Abbild. Beschr. Cact. 1: pl. 27, as Cereus schrankii.
128
THE CACTACEAE.
3. Heliocereus speciosus (Cavanilles) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 434.
1909.
Cactus speciosus Cavanilles, Anal. Cienc. Nat. Madrid 6: 339. 1803.
Cactus speciosissimus Desfontaines, Mém. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 3: 193. 1817.
Cereus bifrons Haworth, Suppl. Pl. Succ. 76. 1819.
Cereus speciosissimus De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 468. 1828.
Cereus speciosus Schumann in Engler and Prantl, Pflanzenfam. 3 6a: 179. 1894. Not Sweet, 1826.
Stems clambering or hanging, strongly 3 to 5-ribbed, old parts bright green, young parts
reddish; ribs strongly undulate; areoles distant, often 3 cm. apart, usually large, with felt and
acicular spines; spines numerous, yellow or brownish in age, 1 to 1.5 cm. long; flowers scarlet, 15
to 17 cm. long, lasting for several days; perianth-segments oblong, 10 to 12 cm. long, with rounded,
often apiculate tips; filaments weak, red; style little longer than the stamens; stigma-lobes white;
ovary bearing scattered minute scales; fruit ovoid, 4 to 5 cm. long.
Type locality: Described from a garden plant.
Distribution: Central Mexico and reported from Central America.
Dr. Rose found this species very common on the pedregal near the City of Mexico. It
there forms large masses, usually growing in the pot holes and at the mouths of dark caves,
clambering over the rocks and occasionally giving off roots. Mr. Pringle found it at high
elevations on the mountain ranges south of the City of Mexico.
Cereus speciosissimus grandiflorus (Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 122. 1837) is a hybrid with
Selenicereus grandiflorus.
Cereus speciosissimus hansii Baumann (Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 773. 1885; C.
hansii Haage in Förster, Handb. Cact. 428. 1846) is a hybrid with Epiphyllum ackermannii.
Cereus jenkinsoni (Sweet, Hort. Brit. ed. 2. 237. 1830; C. speciosissimus jenkinsonii
Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 121. 1837) is a hybrid obtained in 1824. Cereus jenkinsonii verus
Haage (Förster, Handb. Cact. 429. 1846) is another hybrid. Here also belongs Cereus
speciosissimus lateritius Pfeiffer (Enum. Cact. 121. 1837), which was earlier described and
figured as Cactus speciosissimus lateritius (Edwards’s Bot. Reg. 19: pl. 1596. 1833) and,
afterwards, as Cereus lateritius Salm-Dyck (Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 53. 1850). The
variety of Cereus speciosissimus, albiflorus (Cereus albiflorus Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen
Nachtr. 54. 1903), though first mentioned in 1837, was without description, but was taken
up and described along with coccineus, hoveyi, and peacocki by Rümpler (Förster, Handb.
Cact. ed. 2. 772, 773) in 1885.
Cereus speciosissimus aurantiacus (Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 122. 1837; C. aurantiacus
Förster, Handb. Cact. 428. 1846) is very briefly described.
The following are some of the hybrids of Cereus speciosissimus with Epiphyllum phyllanthoides which are listed by Walpers (Repert. Bot. 2: 278. 1843): bodii, bollwillerianus,
bowtrianus, curtisii, eugenia, guillardieri, ignescens, kiardii, longipes, lothii, maelenii, mexicanus Salm-Dyck, roidii, sarniensis, superbus, unduliflorus, vandesii, vitellinus, and
suwaroff ii. Some of these names had been previously used by Pfeiffer (Enum. Cact. 121.
1837) as varieties of this species, as follows: var. curtisii, eugenia, guillardieri, ignescens,
kiardii, lothii, and roydii.
Among other named hybrids, Pfeiffer gave var. devauxii (Cereus devauxii Förster,
Handb. Cact. 428. 1846). Förster (Handb. Cact. 428 to 431. 1846) also mentioned 66
hybrids with this species, among which are: blindii Haage, colmariensis Haage, danielsii
Haage, edesii Booth, elegans Booth, f inkii Salm-Dyck, gebvillerianus Haage, gloriosus Haage,
hitchensii and its varieties hybridus and speciosus, kampmannii Haage, kobii, latifrons,
loudonii, macqueanus Salm-Dyck, maurantianus, merckii Booth, mittleri Salm-Dyck,
muhlhausianus, peintneri Haage, rintzii Salm-Dyck and the two varieties roseus albus and
roseus superbus, seidelii Booth, seitzii, selloii, smithii (Epiphyllum smithianum Marnock,
Floricult. Mag. 8: pl. 13), suwarowii, and triumphans. In addition to these there are
many hybrids with only an English name. There are also many quadrinomials.
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
PLATE XVII
M. E. Eaton del.
A HOEN & CO
1.
2.
3.
End of flowering branch of Heliocereus elegantissimus.
End of flowering branch of Heliocereus speciosus.
A tip of a fruiting branch of Harrisia portoricensis.
(All natural size.)
HELIOCEREUS
129
Cereus setiger Haworth, Phil. Mag. 7: 110. 1830, although said to have come originally from Brazil, probably belongs here. Cereus aurantiacum superbus Haage (Labouret,
Monogr. Cact. 428. 1853), a hybrid of this species, is only mentioned.
Cereus josselinaeus D. Gaillard (Rev. Hort. 5: 56. 1841) is probably only a form.
Cereus serratus Weingart (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 22: 185. 1912) is of this relationship.
Rother believed it was of hybrid origin and Weingart at first agreed, but afterwards considered it distinct.
Cereus mexicanus Lemaire (Förster, Handb. Cact. 430. 1846) is a hybrid of which Heliocereus speciosus is one parent.
Illustrations: Blühende Kakteen 1: pl. 17; Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen f. 36, as
Cereus speciosus; Herb. Génér. Amat. 5: pl. 351; Curtis’s Bot. Mag. 49: pl. 2306; Loddiges,
Bot. Cab. 10: pl. 924; Mém. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 3: pl. 9; Edward’s Bot. Reg. 6: pl. 4;
28: pl. 49; Loudon, Encycl. Pl. 410. f. 6857, as Cactus speciosissimus; Schelle, Handb.
Kakteenk. f. 35, as Cereus speciosissimus.
Plate xvii, figure 2, shows a flowering joint of a plant in the collection of the New York
Botanical Garden.
4. Heliocereus cinnabarinus (Eichlam).
Cereus cinnabarinus Eichlam in Weingart, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 20: 161. 1910.
Stems erect or in time creeping and more or less rooting, very slender, 1 to 1.5 cm. in diameter;
ribs few, sometimes only 3 or 4; areoles 2 to 3 cm. apart; spines about 10, bristle-like, 6 to 8 mm.
long; flowers about 1 cm. long, the tube bent just above the ovary, more or less funnelform; outer
perianth-segments narrow, acute, green; inner perianth-segments oblong to spatulate, sometimes
2.5 cm. broad, abruptly acuminate, somewhat erose toward the apex; style rose-colored; stigmalobes 7, white.
Type locality: Vulcan Agua, Guatemala.
Distribution: Guatemala.
We know the plant from specimens collected by E. W. Nelson on the volcano of Santa
Maria, altitude 2,600 to 3,800 meters, January 24, 1896 (No. 3719).
It is like Heliocereus elegantissimus, but with slenderer stems, lower ribs, weaker
spines, and abruptly acuminate inner perianth-segments.
This must be a very beautiful species and, growing at such high altitudes in Guatemala,
suggests the possibility of its cultivation in the open in certain parts of the United States.
5. Heliocereus amecamensis* (Heese) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 433.
1909
Cereus amecamensis Heese† in Rother, Prakt. Ratgeb. 11: 442. 1896.
Cereus amecaensis Heese, Gartenwelt 1: 317. 1897.
Plant pale green when young, similar to H. speciosus in habit and spines; ribs 3 to 5; flower 11
cm. long, 8 to 12.5 cm. in diameter; flower-tube 3.5 cm. long, 1 cm. in diameter, green, with green
scales and whitish bristles; outer perianth-segments yellowish green, grading into oblanceolate white
inner segments, 7 cm. long, 2 cm. wide; stamens white except the pale-green bases, attached all
over the tube; anthers creamy white; style white, slightly exserted beyond the stamens, strongly
curved down in the tube; stigma-lobes 11, linear, light creamy white; ovary cylindric, 6 mm, long.
Type locality: Amecameca, Mexico.
Distribution: Central Mexico.
This species has been introduced into Europe by Dr. C. A. Purpus, where it is now
much cultivated.
Illustrations: Curtis’s Bot. Mag. 135: pl. 8277; Rother, Prakt. Ratgeb. 11: 442; Garden 76: 306, all as Cereus amecamensis; Blühende Kakteen 3: pl. 157; Gard. Mag. 55: 427;
Gartenwelt 1: 316, 317. f. 1 to 3, as Cereus amecaensis.
* Confusion of the type locality, Amecameca, with another Mexican town, Ameca, doubtless accounts for the
two spellings of the name of this plant.
† Rother here spells this name Hesse, doubtless erroneously.
130
THE CACTACEAE.
24. TRICHOCEREUS (Berger) Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 236.
1909.
Columnar plants, more or less branched; ribs few to numerous, either low or prominent, usually
very spiny; flowers nocturnal, large, funnelform, the perianth either persistent or separating from
the fruit by abscission; perianth-segments elongated; stamens numerous, filiform, arranged in two
groups; stigma-lobes numerous; ovary and flower-tube bearing numerous scales, their axils bearing
long hairs; fruit without bristles or spines, dull colored.
Type species: Cereus macrogonus Otto.
This genus consists of 19 species, confined to South America. It is based on the subgenus of the same name by Berger, but only 2 of Berger’s species were transferred to it by
Riccobono.
While the flowers of this genus suggest Echinopsis, we can not agree with Berger’s
suggestion that the genera might be united.
The name is from the Greek and signifies thread-cereus, referring to the hairy flowerareoles.
Key to Species.
Stems more or less branched, usually erect.
Limb of flower broad.
Joints relatively slender, 5 to 9 cm. thick.
Ribs transversely sulcate between the areoles.
Tubercles prominent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tubercles not prominent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ribs not transversely sulcate between the areoles.
Central spine solitary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Central spines 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Joints stout.
Ribs on old plants very numerous and the spines bristle-like . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ribs 4 to 17.
Spines slender, 1 to 7 cm. long.
Ribs 4 to 9.
Spines yellow, at least when young; ribs 4 to 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Spines brown f rom the first; ribs 6 to 8.
Plant dark green; spines few at each areole or wanting . . .
Plant light green; spines several at each areole.
Spines acicular, 2.5 cm. long or less . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Spines subulate, up to 7 cm. long.
Spines swollen at base; young growth green . . . .
Spines not swollen at base; young growth
glaucous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ribs 16 or 17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Spines very stout, formidable.
Spines dark brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Spines yellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Limb of flower narrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Stems usually simple, low, cespitose.
Flowers red or yellow, short, more or less campanulate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Flowers elongated, funnelform, white.
Tube longer than the limb.
Ribs few, 9 to 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ribs 12 to 18.
Stem slender, elongated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Stem stout, short . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tube about the length of the limb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . 1. T. thelegonus
. . . . . 2. T. thelegonoides
. . . . . 3. T. spachianus
. . . . . 4. T. lamprochlorus
. . . . . 5. T. pasacana
. . . . . 6. T. bridgesii
. . . . . 7. T. pachanoi
. . . . . 8. T. macrogonus
. . . . . 9. T. cuzcoensis
very
. . . . 10. T. peruvianus
. . . . 11. T. chiloensis
. . . . 12. T. coquimbanus
. . . . 13. T. terscheckii
. . . . 14. T. fascicularis
. . . . 15. T. huascha
. . . . 16. T. candicans
. . . . 17. T. strigosus
. . . . 18. T. shaferi
. . . . 19. T. schickendantzii
1. Trichocereus thelegonus (Weber).
Cereus thelegonus Weber in Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 78. 1897.
Stems procumbent or sometimes with erect branches, elongated, 4 to 10 dm. long, dark green,
cylindric, 4 to 7.5 cm. in diameter; ribs 12 or 13, broad and obtuse, divided into prominent, more or
less distinctly 6-sided tubercles; areoles circular, felted; spines at first brown, some turning gray,
others black; radial spines 6 to 8, acicular, somewhat spreading, 1 to 2 cm. long; central spine solitary,
porrect, 2 to 4 cm. long; flowers white, about 20 cm. long, funnelform; outer perianth-segments
greenish; axils of scales on flower-tube long-woolly; fruit about 5 cm. long, hairy, red, splitting on
one side; seed black.
Type locality: Tucuman, Argentina.
Distribution: Northwestern Argentina.
TRICHOCEREUS
131
This species has heretofore been unknown to us, but fine specimens, both living and
for the herbarium, were obtained by J. A. Shafer at Tapia, Tucuman, near the type locality,
February 9, 1917 (No. 98).
Illustration: Schumann, Gesamtb.
Kakteen f. 14, as Cereus thelegonus.
Figure 188 is from a photograph of
a flowering branch in the garden of Dr.
Spegazzini at La Plata, Argentina; figure 189 is from a photograph of the wild
plant taken by Dr. Shafer in 1917 at
Tapia, Argentina.
2. Trichocereus thelegonoides (Spegazzini).
Cereus thelegonoides Spegazzini, Anal. Mus.
Nac. Buenos Aires III. 4: 480. 1905.
More or less branched above; trunk 4 to
6 meters high, cylindric, 18 cm. in diameter;
branches more or less curved, ascending, 5
to 8 cm. in diameter, obtuse at apex; ribs 15,
low, obtuse, at first strongly tubercled by a
strong depression between the areoles, but
gradually disappearing in age; areoles small,
circular, felted; spines 8 to 10, yellow or
brownish, setaceous, short, 4 to 8 mm. long;
flowers 20 to 24 cm. long, greenish without;
inner perianth-segments oblanceolate, acute,
white; scales on the ovary and flower-tube
hairy in their axils.
Fig. 188.—Trichocereus thelegonus.
Type locality: Jujuy, Argentina.
Distribution: Northern Argentina.
Living specimens were brought from Argentina by Dr. Rose in 1915.
Fig. 189.—Trichocereus thelegonus.
3. Trichocereus spachianus (Lemaire) Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 237.
1909.
Cereus spachianus Lemaire, Hort. Univ. 1: 225. 1840.
Echinocereus spachianus Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 827. 1885.
Cereus santiaguensis Spegazzini, Anal. Mus. Nac. Buenos Aires III. 4: 478. 1905.
Stem upright, at first simple, later profusely branching at the base; branches ascending parallel
with the main stem, 6 to 9 dm. high by 5 to 6 cm. in diameter, columnar; ribs 10 to 15, obtuse,
132
THE CACTACEAE.
rounded; areoles about 1 cm. apart, large, covered with curly yellow wool, becoming white; radial
spines 8 to 10, 6 mm. to 1 cm. long, spreading, stiff, sharp, amber-yellow to brown; central solitary,
stronger and longer than the radials; all the spines later becoming gray; flowers about 20 cm. long
by about 15 cm. in diameter, white.
Type locality: Argentina, but definite locality not cited.
Distribution: Western Argentina.
This species was named for Edward Spach (1801-1879).
Illustrations: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 10: 93;
Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 16: pl. 8, f. 2, 3; Sunset Mag.
July 1915, p. 166; Schelle, Handb. Kakteenk. f. 18,
as Cereus spachianus.
Figure 190 is from a photograph of a plant in the
collection of the New York Botanical Garden.
Fig. 190.—Trichocereus spachianus.
Fig. 191.—Trichocereus pasacana.
4. Trichocereus lamprochlorus (Lemaire).
Cereus lamprochlorus Lemaire, Cact. Aliq. Nov. 30. 1838.
Cereus nitens Salm-Dyck, Allg. Gartenz. 13: 354. 1845.
Echinocereus lamprochlorus Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 831. 1885.
Echinopsis lamprochlora Weber, Dict. Hort. Bois 471. 1896, as synonym.
Columnar, simple or branching at base, 1.5 to 2 meters high, 7 to 8 cm. in diameter; ribs 10
to 17, low and rounded; radial spines 11 to 14, acicular to subulate, 8 to 10 mm. long; central spines
4, 2 cm. long; flowers funnelform, 20 to 24 cm. long; outer perianth-segments red; inner perianthsegments white, 2.5 cm. long, acuminate.
Type locality: Not cited.
Distribution: Northern Argentina and, according to Rümpler, Bolivia.
TRICHOCEREUS
133
Cereus lamprochlorus salinicolus Spegazzini (Anal. Mus. Nac. Buenos Aires II. 4: 286.
1902) from southern Argentina, may belong here, but it is much south of the range of this
species; Cereus chiloensis lamprochlorus Monville (Labouret, Monogr. Cact. 326. 1853) is
given as a synonym. Echinocactus wangertii (Labouret, Monogr. Cact. 326. 1853) has
been referred here as a synonym.
The type specimens were without flowers and fruit. Afterward, Schumann referred
to this species a plant collected by Otto Kuntze in Jujuy, Argentina, in October 1 892.
A specimen of this collection is now in the herbarium of the New York Botanical Garden,
and has been used in drawing up the above description, together with plants and specimens obtained by Dr. Shafer at Andalgala, Argentina, in 1917 (No. 13). A cespitose
plant with long procumbent stems is sometimes associated with this species, but whether
conspecific with it or distinct we have been unable to ascertain.
Illustration: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 26: 60, as Cereus lamprochlorus.
Figure 192 is from a photograph of plants in flower, taken by Dr. Shafer in 1917.
Fig. 192.—Trichocereus lamprochlorus.
5. Trichocereus pasacana (Weber).
Pilocereus pasacana Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 678. 1885.
Cereus pasacana Weber, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 3: 165. 1893.
Plant often 6 to 10 meters high, sometimes less than 1 meter, usually either simple or with few
branches and resembling a small Carnegiea gigantea, sometimes with a number of branches from
the base, more or less club-shaped, 3 dm. in diameter near the top, when old spineless at base; ribs
20 to 38, low, 2 cm. high; areoles large, approximate, sometimes touching one another; spines
numerous, rather variable on young plants; spines yellow, stiff, subulate, the longer ones 4 to 14
cm. long; on old plants, especially flowering ones, elongated, flexible, sometimes bristle-like, 10 to
12 cm. long, yellow or even white; flowers 10 cm. long, the ovary and tube covered with long brown
hairs; fruit globular, about 3 cm. in diameter; seeds small, dull black.
Type locality: High valleys of cordilleras of Catamarca and Salta, Argentina.
Distribution: Argentina and Bolivia.
This species is very characteristic of the high plains of northern Argentina and Bolivia,
sometimes growing in valleys, but usually along cliffs and on rocky hillsides, and often forms
the most conspicuous plant in the landscape. The woody trunks are used for making goat
corrals and rude huts. The fruit, which is said to be edible, is called pasacana.
Illustrations: Nov. Act. Soc. Sci. Upsal. IV. 1: pl. 4; pl. 5, f. 1, as Cereus pasacana.
134
THE CACTACEAE.
Figure 191 is from a photograph taken by Dr. Rose near Comanche, Bolivia, in 1914;
figure 193 shows a flower and figure 194 a fruit collected by Dr. Shafer near Andalgala,
Argentina, in 1916.
Fig. 193.—Flower of T.
pasacana. × 0.6.
Fig. 194.—Fruit of T.
pasacana. × 0.6.
Fig. 195.—Flower of T. candicans.
× 0.6.
6. Trichocereus bridgesii (Salm-Dyck).
Cereus
Cereus
Cereus
Cereus
Cereus
Cereus
bridgesii Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 208. 1850.
lagenaeformis Förster, Hamb. Gartenz. 17: 164. 1861.
bridgesii brevispinus Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 108. 1897.
bridgesii lageniformis Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 108. 1897.
bridgesii longispinus Maass, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 15: 119. 1905.
lasianthus Schumann in Rusby, Bull. N. Y. Bot. Gard. 4: 365. 1907, as hyponym.
Tall, 2 to 5 meters high, more or less branching, pale green, a little glaucous; branches 1 to 1.5
dm. in diameter, 4 to 8-ribbed; ribs obtuse, separated by broad but shallow intervals; areoles large,
about 2 cm. apart; spines 2 to 6, yellowish, acicular to subulate, very unequal, sometimes 10 cm. long,
not swollen at base; flowers large, 18 cm. long; flower-tube 5 to 6 cm. long; throat broad; inner
perianth-segments oblong, perhaps white, 5 to 6 cm. long; scales on ovary and flower-tube small,
sometimes only 3 to 4 mm. long, scattered, bearing numerous hairs in their axils; fruit scaly, longhairy, 5 to 6 cm. long.
Type locality: Not cited.
Distribution: About La Paz, Bolivia, where it is frequently grown as a hedge plant or
placed on the tops of walls for the protection of gardens.
Mr. Juan Söhrens reports a similar plant from northern Chile which may belong here,
or it may be the little-known Cereus arequipensis.
The origin of this species is unknown, but since it was named for Bridges, who collected
in Bolivia, it is probable that it came from that country. Dr. Rose’s specimens from Bolivia
(No. 18842) closely resemble living plants so named from European collections, now represented in the New York Botanical Garden, so that we have no hesitancy in referring
them here.
7. Trichocereus pachanoi sp. nov.
Plants tall, 3 to 6 meters high, with numerous strict branches, slightly glaucous when young,
dark green in age; ribs 6 to 8, broad at base, obtuse, with a deep horizontal depression above the
areole; spines often wanting, when present few, 3 to 7, unequal, the longest 1 to 2 cm. long, dark
TRICHOCEREUS
135
yellow to brown; flower-buds pointed; flowers very large, 19 to 23 cm. long, borne near the top of
branches, night-blooming, very fragrant; outer perianth-segments brownish red; inner perianthsegments oblong, white; filaments long, weak, greenish; style greenish below, white above; stigmalobes linear, yellowish; ovary covered with black curled hairs; axils of scales on flower-tube and fruit
bearing long black hairs.
Collected by J. N. Rose, A. Pachano, and George Rose at Cuenca, Ecuador, September
17 to 24, 1918 (No. 22806, type).
This species is widely cultivated throughout the Andean region of Ecuador, where it is
grown both as an ornamental and as a hedge plant. In some of the lateral valleys on the
western slope of the Andes it appears to be native, as for instance above Alausí, but as it
has doubtless long been cultivated it is impossible to be sure of its natural habitat.
It is known to the Ecuadoreans as agua-colla or giganton and has been passing in Ecuador under the names of Cereus peruvianus and Cereus giganteus. It is named for Professor
Abelardo Pachano of the Quinta Normal at Ambato, Ecuador, who accompanied Dr. Rose
in 1918 on his travels in the high Andes of Ecuador.
Fig. 196.—Trichocereus pachanoi.
This species belongs to the high Andes, ranging from 2,000 to 3,000 meters in altitude.
In the Chanchan Valley it certainly comes down to about 2,000 meters and overlaps the
upper range of Lemaireocereus godingianus, which differs from it greatly in habit and flowers.
Different as the two plants are, Richard Spruce, keen botanist as he was, confused them,
as the following quotation will show; the part in italics refers to the Lemaireocereus:
“The brown hill-sides began to be diversified by an arborescent Cactus, with polygonal stems
and white dahlia-like flowers, which, Briareus-like, threw wide into the air its hundred rude arms.
Lower down, at about 6,000 feet, I saw specimens full 30 feet high and 18 inches in diameter.”
Figure 196 shows the top of a large plant growing on the sides of a cliff on the outskirts
of Cuenca, Ecuador, photographed by George Rose in September 1918.
136
THE CACTACEAE.
8. Trichocereus macrogonus (Salm-Dyck) Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palmero 8: 236.
1909.
Cereus macrogonus Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 203. 1850.
Eriocereus tephracanthus Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 244. 1909.
Stem probably tall, stout, but in cultivation often slender, bluish green, especially on young
growth; ribs usually 7, low and rounded, 1.5 cm. high, separated by acute intervals; areoles large,
1.5 to 2 cm. apart; spines several from an areole, acicular, brown; radial spines 5 to 8 mm. long;
central spine about 2 cm. long; flowers probably large and white; fruit unknown.
Type locality: Not cited.
Distribution: South America, but not known definitely in the wild state.
This species is represented in the New York Botanical Garden by a live specimen from
Kew, which we consider typical. Salm-Dyck described it from specimens growing in the
Botanical Garden at Berlin, but did not know their origin. Schumann figured what he
supposed to be it in the Flora Brasiliensis, referring it to Brazil; his plant is from the Province of Rio de Janeiro, collected by Glaziou, and is undoubtedly Cephalocereus arrabidae.
Cereus tetracanthus Labouret (Rev. Hort. iv. 4: 25. 1855) and C. tephracanthus bolivianus
Weber (Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 81. 1897) are probably of this relationship; both
forms come from Bolivia. Rümpler (Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 712. 1885) says the
former came from Chuquisaca, Bolivia. An earlier reference (Steudel, Nom. ed. 2. 1: 336.
1840), but of slightly different spelling, cites Link and Otto as authors of this name, but the
species was not described. To one of these forms may belong the plant in the New York
Botanical Garden (No. 6231), obtained from M. Simon, St. Ouen, Paris, in 1901, which
is called Cereus bolivianus. The last name, first credited to Weber (Monatsschr. Kakteenk.
12: 21. 1902), is occasionally met in literature.
Cereus hempelianus Bauer (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 17: 55 . 1907) is, according to F. Fobe,
only a stout, bluish-green variety of C. macrogonus.
9. Trichocereus cuzcoensis sp. nov.
Plants tall, 5 to 6 meters high, much branched, the
branches somewhat spreading, light green when young;
ribs 7 or 8, low and rounded; areoles rather close together,
1 to 1.5 cm. apart; spines numerous, often 12, very stout,
rigid, sometimes 7 cm. long, swollen at base; flowers 12 to
14 cm. long, doubtless nocturnal but, sometimes at least,
remaining open during the morning, fragrant; flower-tube
green, 5 to 6 cm. long; inner perianth-segments oblong, white,
4 to 5 cm. long; filaments weak, declining on the lower side
of the throat; scales on the ovary and flower-tube small,
bearing a few long hairs in their axils; fruit not known.
Collected by J. N. Rose below Cuzco, Peru,
September 1, 1914 (No. 19022).
10. Trichocereus peruvianus sp. nov.
Plant 2 to 4 meters high with numerous erect or
ascending, stout branches, 15 to 20 cm. in diameter,
glaucous when young; ribs 6 to 8, broad and rounded;
areoles large, 2 to 2.5 cm. apart, brown-felted; spines
brown from the first, about 10, unequal, some of them 4
cm. long, rigid and stout, not at all swollen at base;
areoles on ovary and flower-tube hairy; mature flowers
not seen but evidently large and probably white.
Collected by Dr. and Mrs. Rose near Matucana,
Fig. 197.—Trichocereus peruvianus.
Peru, altitude 2,100 meters, July 9, 1914 (No. 18658).
This species resembles T. bridgesii but has stouter and darker spines. It is found on
the western slopes of the Andes at a much lower altitude than that species.
Figure 197 is from a photograph taken by Mrs. J. N. Rose at Matucana, Peru, in 1914.
137
TRICHOCEREUS
11. Trichocereus chiloensis (Colla).
Cactus chiloensis Colla, Mem. Accad. Sci. Torino 31: 342. 1826.
Cereus chiloensis De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 465. 1828.
Cereus chilensis Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 86. 1837.
Cereus panoplaeatus Monville, Hort. Univ. 1: 220. 1840.
Cereus heteromorphus Monville, Hort. Univ. 1: 221. 1840.
Cereus longispinus Salm-Dyck, Allg. Gartenz. 13: 354. 1845.
Cereus pepinianus Lemaire in Salm-Dyck, Allg. Gartenz. 13: 354. 1845.*
Cereus subuliferus Salm-Dyck, Allg. Gartenz. 13: 354. 1845.
Cereus gilvus Salm-Dyck, Allg. Gartenz. 13: 355. 1845.
Cereus quisco Remy in Gay, Fl. Chilena 3: 19. 1847.
Cereus linnaei Förster, Hamb. Gartenz. 17: 165. 1861.
Cereus funkii Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 61. 1897.
Cereus chilensis pycnacanthus Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 63. 1897.
Cereus chilensis zizkaanus Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 63. 1897.
Cereus chilensis panhoplites Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 63. 1897.
Cereus chilensis poselgeri Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 63. 1897.
Cereus chilensis heteromorphus Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 63. 1897.
Cereus chilensis polygonus Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 63, 1897.
Fig. 198.—Trichocereus chiloensis.
Fig. 199.—Trichocereus chiloensis
* Cereus pepinianus was described by Salm-Dyck in 1845 (Allg. Gartenz. 13: 354. 1845) who there credits the
name to Lemaire. Lemaire evidently had reported the name under some other genus, for in 1850 (Salm-Dyck, Cact.
Hort. Dyck. 1849. 44, 197) Salm-Dyck redescribed the species, crediting himself with the name and citing “Echinocactus
pepinianus Cat. Cels” as synonym. The name Echinocactus pepinianus Lemaire occurs first in 1846 (Förster, Handb.
Cact. 347), but without description. Labouret in 1853 takes it up as Echinocactus echinodes pepinianus (Monogr.
Cact. 178), with the statement that Salm-Dyck considered it synonymous with Cereus pycnacanthus. These two
combinations in Echinocactus, while evidently referring to Cereus pepinianus, being without description, can not be
properly referred here as synonyms. They are, however, both referred by Schumann to Echinocactus pepinianus.
The plant which he describes, however, is different f rom Cereus pepinianus. If a good Echinocactus, it should be
credited to Schumann, with the citation to his monograph (Gesamtb. Kakteen 420. 1898).
138
THE CACTACEAE.
Stems rarely single, usually of several branches, sometimes of many, arising from near the base,
starting nearly at right angles to the main trunk but soon erect, the tallest sometimes 8 meters high;
ribs usually 16 or 17, low and broad, separated by narrow intervals, divided into large tubercles
even when fully mature; radial spines when young light yellow with brown tips but soon becoming
gray, 8 to 12, slightly spreading, often stout, 1 to 2 or even 4 cm. long; central spine single, porrect,
often stout, 4 to 7 or even 12 cm. long; flowers 14 cm. long, outer perianth-segments white but tinged
with red or brown; inner perianth-segments white, acuminate; style green below, cream-colored
above; stigma-lobes cream-colored, about 18, 1.5 cm. long; fruit globular.
Type locality: Described from cultivated plants supposed to have come from Chile.
Distribution: On the hills in and about the great central valley of Chile, extending from
Curico north to Puenta Colorado in the northern part of the province of Coquimbo.
While this plant shows considerable variation in its spines, we do not believe it possible
to separate the species into varieties as Schumann has done.
Echinocactus jeneschianus Pfeiffer (Allg. Gartenz. 8: 406. 1840) and Echinocactus
pepinianus echinoides (Labouret, Monogr. Cact. 177. 1853) are referred to Echinocactus
echinoides by Labouret.
Echinocereus chiloensis Console and Lemaire
(Rev. Hort. 35: 173 . 1864) 15 only mentioned, but
Lemaire later (Cact. 61. 1868) states that it is
based on Cereus chiloensis, which definitely places
it here.
Cereus chilensis funkianus (Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 61. 1897) has never been formally
published.
Cereus polymorphus (published as a synonym
of Opuntia polymorpha in Förster, Handb. Cact.
472. 1846), referred here by Schumann, should
doubtless go elsewhere, for it is said to come f rom
Mendoza, Argentina. It may be a form of
Opuntia glomerata.
Fig. 200.—Flower of T. chiloensis.
× 0.5.
Fig. 201.—Trichocereus coquimbanus.
Cereus pycnacanthus Salm-Dyck (Allg. Gartenz. 13: 355. 1845), and Cereus panoplaeatus Cels (Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 44. 1850) published as a synonym
of the former, were both referred to Cereus chilensis by Schumann, but they came from
Bolivia and the description does not fit this species.
TRICHOCEREUS
139
Cereus fulvibarbis Otto and Dietrich (Allg. Gartenz. 6: 28. 1838; Cereus chilensis fulvibarbis Salm-Dyck in Walpers, Repert. Bot. 2: 276. 1843), said to have come from Chile,
is referred to Cereus chilensis by Schumann, but it is described as having 10 to 13 ribs.
Cereus polymorphus G. Don (Loudon, Hort. Brit. 195. 1830) and Cactus polymorphus
Gillies (published here as a synonym), referred to Cereus chilensis by Schumann, can not be
identified from the meager description. It is said to have been introduced from Chile in
1827.
The following names belong here; they have not been accompanied by descriptions.
Cereus quintero Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 86. 1837.
chilensis brevispinulus Salm-Dyck in Walpers, Repert. Bot. 2: 276. 1843.
spinosior Salm-Dyck in Förster, Handb. Cact. 377. 1846.
flavescens Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 44. 1850.
eburneus (Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 63. 1897) based on Eulychnia eburnea Philippi,
must belong here.
linnaei Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 63. 1897.
quisco Weber in Hirscht, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 8: 110. 1898.
Cereus spnibarbis var. minor Monville and var. purpureus Monville (Labouret, Monogr.
Cact. 334. 1853) have been referred here.
Cereus elegans Lemaire and C. duledevantii Lemaire (Illustr. Hort. 5: Misc. 10. 1858),
unpublished, doubtless were given to forms of this species. Echinocactus pyramidalis and
E. elegans (Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 86. 1837) were given only as synonyms of Cereus chilensis.
Illustration: Engler and Drude, Veg. Erde 8: pl. 19, as Cereus chilensis.
Figure 198 is from a photograph of a group of plants taken in Valparaiso, Chile, by
Dr. Rose in 1914; figure 199 is from a photograph of a branch from the same group as
grown in the New York Botanical Garden; figure 200 is from a drawing of a flower brought
back by Dr. Rose from La Serena, Chile, in 1914.
12. Trichocereus coquimbanus (Molina).
Cactus coquimbanus Molina, Sagg. Stor. Nat. Chil. 170. 1782.
Cereus nigripilis Philippi, Fl. Atac. 23. 1860.
Cereus coquimbanus Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 8. 1897.
Plant low, 1 meter high or more, or sometimes prostrate and forming dense thickets; branches
7 to 8 cm. in diameter, with 12 or 13 ribs; areoles large, circular, filled with short wool; spines about
20, very formidable, often 7 to 8 cm. long; central spines several, 2 to 6 cm. long; flowers large,
white, about 10 cm. long; inner perianth-segments acute; scales of ovary and tube subtending black
hairs.
Fig. 202.—Trichocereus coquimbanus.
140
THE CACTACEAE.
Type locality: Coquimbo to Paposo, Chile.
Distribution: Along the coast of the province of Coquimbo, Chile.
Cereus chilensis nigripilis (Hirscht, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 8: 159. 1898) doubtless
belongs here.
Illustrations: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 11: 27; Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen Nachtr.
f. 3, both as Cereus nigripilis.
Figure 201 is from a photograph of a plant brought by Dr. Rose from the Botanical
Garden at Santiago, Chile, in 1914; figure 202 is from a photograph taken by Dr. Rose at
Coquimbo, Chile, in 1914.
13. Trichocereus terscheckii (Parmentier).
Cereus terscheckii Parmentier in Pfeiffer, Allg. Gartenz. 5: 370. 1837.
Cereus fercheckii Parmentier, Hort. Belge 5: 66. 1838 (f ide Index Kewensis).
Cereus fulvispinus Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 46. 1850.
Pilocereus terscheckii Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 688. 1885.
At first columnar, in age becoming much branched, 10 to 12 meters high; trunk woody, up to
4.5 cm. in diameter; branches 1 to 2 dm. in diameter; ribs 8 to 14, prominent, 2 to 4 cm. high, obtuse;
areoles large, 1 to 1.5 cm. in diameter, felted, 2 to 3 cm. apart; spines 8 to 15, subulate, yellow, up
to 8 cm. long; flowers very large, 15 to 20 cm. long, 12.5 cm. broad; inner perianth-segments oblong,
7 cm. long, acute, white; scales on the ovary and flower-tube ovate, mucronate-tipped, their axils
filled with long brown wool.
Fig. 203.—Trichocereus terscheckii.
a, flower; b, f ruit. × 0.4
Fig. 204.—Trichocereus terscheckii.
Type locality: Argentina, but no definite locality cited.
Distribution: Northern Argentina.
This is a very large cactus, called in Argentina cardon grande. It has frequently been
confused with another species, T. pasacana, of the same region, but it is more branched,
with fewer ribs, different spines, and larger flowers.
141
TRICHOCEREUS
Figure 203a shows a flower and figure 203b a fruit, collected by Dr. Shafer near Salta,
Argentina, in 1916; figure 204 is from a photograph taken by Dr. Shafer at Salta, Argentina,
in 1917.
14. Trichocereus fascicularis (Meyen).
Cereus fascicularis Meyen, Allg. Gartenz. 1: 211.
1833.
Cactus fascicularis Meyen, Reise 1: 47.
1834.
Echinocactus fascicularis Steudel, Nom. ed. 2. 1:
536. 1840.
Cereus weberbaueri Schumann in Vaupel, Bot.
Jahrb. Engler 50: Beibl. 111: 22. 1913.
Growing in large clusters made up of many
slender, erect or ascending branches, 2 to 4 meters
high; ribs about 16, low, rounded, separated by
narrow intervals; areoles filled with tawny felt,
closely set, large; spines numerous, at first yellowish to brown; radial spines acicular, often only
1 cm. long or less; central spines much stouter
and often 4 cm. long; flowers 1 from an areole, 8
Fig. 205.—Trichocereus fascicularis
to 11 cm. long, slender, somewhat curved near the
base; ovary and flower-tube bearing small ovate scales, their axils filled with long white and brown
hairs; outer perianth-segments narrow, acute, passing into broader ones, simply mucronate, pinkish;
inner perianth-segments thinner and a little broader than the outer ones, obtuse, 1.5 cm. long,
greenish to brownish (not white); filaments numerous, slender, scattered over the narrow throat,
somewhat exserted; style bulbose at base, slender, 7 cm. long, exserted; stigma-lobes short, greenish; lower part of tube or tube proper 1.5 cm. long, somewhat scabrous within; fruit globular, 3 to
4 cm. in diameter, yellowish to reddish, splitting open on one side and exposing the pulp; seeds
black, shining, 2 mm. long, a little longer than broad, minutely punctate.
Type locality: Southern Peru.
Distribution: Mountains of southern Peru and northern Chile, at about 2,300 meters altitude. At Arequipa it is especially common, being found both above and below the
city, where it was collected by Dr. Rose in 1914 (No. 18781).
This species, although recently described as new under the name of Cereus weberbaueri,
is the one described by Meyen in 1833 as
Cereus fascicularis. Meyen’s description is
very unsatisfactory, but he does describe the
Fig. 206.—Flower of Trichocereus fascicularis.
Fig. 207.—Fruit of same. × 0.7.
× 0.7.
Fig. 208.—Flower of Trichocereus huascha.
Fig. 209.—Fruit of same. × 0.7.
× 0.7
habit, number of ribs, and size of flowers, all of which answer fairly well to our plant. A
translation of his brief description is as follows: Erect, 16-angled, 4 feet high, somewhat
jointed (3 to 4 joints); spines 8 or 9, in a radiating circle; flowers 9 or 10, white, 3.5
inches long, at the ends of the branches.
142
THE CACTACEAE.
The flowers of this species differ from those of typical Trichocereus in that they are very
slender, bent near the base, and have short perianth-segments.
Figure 205 is from a photograph taken by Dr. Rose at Arequipa, Peru, in 1914; figure
206 shows the flower and figure 207 the fruit of the plant photographed.
15. Trichocereus huascha (Weber).
Cereus huascha Weber, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 3: 151. 1893.
Cereus huascha flaviflorus Weber, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 3: 151. 1893.
More or less, cespitose, forming clumps 8 to 20 dm. broad; stems 8 to 16 dm. high, cylindric,
4 to 5 cm. in diameter; ribs 12 to 18, low, rounded; areoles approximate, often only 5 to 7 mm.
apart; spines numerous, acicular, unequal, the longest often 5 to 6 cm, long, yellowish to brown;
flowers very variable in color and size, red to yellow, 7 to 10 cm. long, broadly funnelform; scales
on the ovary bearing long brown hairs.
Type locality: Yacutala, Catamarca, Argentina.
Distribution: Northern Argentina.
Cereus huascha flaviformis Weber (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 3: 136. 1893) is only a name.
Figure 208 shows a flower and figure 209 a fruit collected by Dr. Shafer near Andalgala, Argentina, in 1916; figure 210 is from a photograph of the plant from which the flowers
and fruit were taken.
Fig. 210.—Trichocereus huascha.
16. Trichocereus candicans (Gillies).
Cereus candicans Gillies in Salm-Dyck, Hort. Dyck. 335. 1834.
Cereus candicans tenuispinus Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 91. 1837.
Cereus gladiatus Lemaire, Cact. Aliq. Nov. 28. 1838.
Cereus candicans robustior Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 43. 1850.
Echinocereus candicans Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 832. 1885.
Echinocereus gladiatus Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 833. 1885.
Echinopsis candicans Weber, Dict. Hort. Bois 471. 1896, as synonym.
Cereus candicans courantii Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 70. 1897.
Cereus candicans gladiatus Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 70. 1897.
Cespitose, forming large clumps often 1 to 3 meters in diameter; joints erect or spreading, 6
dm. long or less, 1 cm. in diameter or less, rounded at apex; ribs 9 to 11, low, rounded or obtuse;
areoles large, white-felted when young, 2 to 3 cm. apart; spines subulate, brownish yellow, more or
less mottled; radial spines 10 or more, more or less spreading, unequal, the longest 4 cm. long;
TRICHOCEREUS
143
central spines several, the longest nearly 10 cm. long; flowers very large, funnelform, very fragrant,
showy, 15 cm. long; scales on flower-tube ovate, acuminate, bearing long hairs in their axils; inner
perianth-segments white, oblong; fruit globose to ellipsoid, splitting on one side.
Type locality: Not cited, but doubtless Mendoza, Argentina.
Distribution: Mendoza and northward, Argentina,
Schumann describes 3 varieties, all apparently from Mendoza, which we have merged
into the species. Plants as seen in the field show even greater variation than is called for
in Schumann’s descriptions, but they all evidently grade into one another.
Cereus montezumae Hortus (Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 91. 1837, as synonym), C. dumesnilianus Haage (Schumann, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 4: 172. 1894, as a probable variety of
C. candicans), C. dumesnilianus Monville (Weber, Dict. Hort. Bois 279. 1894, as synonym),
Echinopsis dumesniliana Cels (Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 69. 1897, as synonym; C.
candicans dumesnilianus Zeissold, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 3: 140. 1893), and Echinocereus
candicans tenuispinus Pfeiffer (Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 833. 1885) are usually
referred here. Echinocactus candicans (Pfeiffer, Enum. 91. 1837) is a synonym only.
Cereus candicans spinosior Salm-Dyck (Walpers, Repert. Bot. 2: 276. 1843), undescribed, belongs here.
Schumann refers Echinocactus auratus Pfeiffer (Abbild. Beschr. Cact. 2: under pl. 14.
1846, to 1850) and its synonym Echinopsis aurata Salm-Dyck (Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 39.
1850) to Cereus candicans, but this can not be, for the descriptions are very different. The
former was described as depressed, 12 to 15 inches in diameter, only 4 to 5 inches high, and
with 28 ribs. The type locality was Bellavista, Chile. It should be compared with
Eriosyce sandillon and its relatives.* Echinopsis dumeliana Cels (Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort.
Dyck. 1849. 39. 1850) is given as a synonym only; it is doubtless the name referred to by
Schumann, but with different spelling.
Figure 195 shows a flower collected by Dr. Rose near Córdoba, Argentina, in 1915.
17. Trichocereus strigosus (Salm-Dyck).
Cereus strigosus Salm-Dyck, Hort. Dyck. 334. 1834.
Cereus intricatus Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 194. 1850.
Echinocereus strigosus Lemaire in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 826. 1885.
Echinocereus strigosus spinosior Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 827. 1885.
Echinocereus strigosus ruf ispinus Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 827. 1885.
Echinocereus intricatus Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 830. 1885.
Cereus strigosus intricatus Weber in Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 68. 1897.
Cereus strigosus longispinus Maass, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 15: 119. 1905.
Cespitose, forming clumps 2 to 10 dm. in diameter, the branches usually simple, erect, or ascending, sometimes 6 dm. high, 5 to 6 cm. in diameter, very spiny; ribs 15 to 18, very low, 4 to 5 mm.
high, obtuse; areoles circular, rather large, approximate, 4 to 8 mm. apart, densely white-felted when
young; spines numerous, very variable as to color and length, either white, yellowish, or pinkish to
nearly black, 1 to 5 cm. long, acicular; flowers white, large, 20 cm. long, funnelform, the scales on
the ovary and tube with long silky hairs in their axils; seeds black, glossy, about 2 mm. long; hilum
basal but oblique.
Type locality: Not cited.
Distribution: Western Argentina.
This species is very common in the deserts of the Province of Mendoza, especially
about the city of Mendoza, and in the mountain valleys farther to the west. The first
specimens were doubtless sent out through Chile, for before the railroads this was the most
accessible route out from Mendoza.
Cereus myriophyllus Gillies (Allg. Gartenz. 1: 365. 1833), given by Schumann as a
synonym of this species, was never described and the name was referred here originally with
* We have found that Echinocactus ceratistes Otto, one of the synonyms of Eriosyce, originally came f rom Bellavista, Chile, also.
144
THE CACTACEAE.
doubt. C. strigosus spinosior Salm-Dyck (Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1844. 27. 1845) and C.
strigosus ruf ispinus (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 7: 184. 1897) also belong here, and, perhaps, C. spinibarbis flavidus (Labouret, Monogr. Cact. 325. 1853).
Illustration: Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 16: pl. 8, f. 1, as Cereus strigosus.
Figure 211 is from a photograph taken by Dr. Shafer at Andalgala, Argentina, in 1916.
Fig. 211.—Trichocereus strigosus.
18. Trichocereus shaferi sp. nov.
Cespitose, cylindric, 3 to 5 dm. high, 10 to 12.5 cm. in diameter, light green; ribs about 14, 10
to 15 mm. high; areoles approximate, 5 to 7 mm. apart, white-felted when young; spines about 10,
acicular, 12 mm. long or less, light yellow; flowers from the top of plant, 15 to 18 cm. long; tube
slender; outer perianth-segments linear; inner segments probably white; scales of the ovary and
flower-tube bearing long brown hairs.
Collected by J. A. Shafer in wooded ravine, altitude 1,800 meters, near San Lorenzo,
Salta, Argentina, January 11, 1917 (No. 44)
19. Trichocereus schickendantzii (Weber).
Echinopsis schickendantzii Weber, Dict. Hort. Bois 473. 1896.
Plants simple or cespitose, slender, 15 to 25 cm. high, 6 cm. in diameter, dark green, shiny;
ribs 14 to 18, low, 5 mm. high, somewhat crenate; spines yellowish, flexible, 5 to 10 mm. long; radial
spines at first 9, in age more numerous; central spines 2 to 8; flower-bud pointed, covered with black
wool; flowers funnelform, several from the top of the plant, inodorous, 20 to 22 cm. long; scales on
the ovary and flower-tube with hairy axils; inner perianth-segments acute, oblong, white; fruit
edible, agreeable.
Type locality: Tucuman, Argentina.
Distribution: Northwestern Argentina.
Spegazzini thinks it is, not an Echinopsis but a Cereus, although he leaves it under the
former genus. The flowers are not those of a true Cereus.
Weber (Dict. Hort. Bois 473. 1896) gives Cereus schickendantzii Weber as a synonym.
Illustration: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 15: 125, as Echinopsis schickendantzii.
145
TRICHOCEREUS
PUBLISHED SPECIES, PERHAPS REFERABLE TO TRICHOCEREUS.
Cereus arequipensis Meyen, Allg. Gartenz. 1: 211.
1833.
This may be a Trichocereus; we give a translation of Meyen’s account of it:
“The number of cacti here, as well as in the southern provinces of Peru, is unusually large, and
only a few of them are known in our greenhouses, also it is very difficult to transport them to us,
as many of them die in the trip around Cape Horn. Cactus candelaris, which we first found in the
Cordilleras of Tacna, appears here also, in isolated examples, and its distribution appears to be
sharply confined between 7,000 and 9,000 feet altitude. However, close upon its heels comes another
Cereus which surpasses it in beauty; it is 8-angled and reaches a height of 20 to 35 feet; upon its ribs
appear at regular distances hairy areoles, from which protrude the spine clusters and the long
white flowers. There is no more beautiful plant in this remarkable family, and we name it Cereus
arequipensis.”—Meyen, Reise 2: 41. 1835.
Cereus atacamensis Philippi, Fl. Atac. 23.
1860.
Usually simple and columnar, 6 meters high or more, 5 to 7 dm. in diameter, containing
a thick woody cylinder; ribs numerous, very spiny; areoles 1.2 cm. in diameter, filled with brown
wool; spines numerous, sometimes 30 to 40, often very slender, 10 cm. long.
Type locality: Mines of “San Bartolo.”
Distribution: Province of Atacama, Chile.
The original specimen came from the desert of northern Chile, not far from the Bolivian
line; it is not unlikely that the plant extends into Bolivia and northern Argentina. Indeed,
Dr. Rose found a large woody section in the Museo Nacional del Santiago bearing this name
and coming from Argentina. This material, supplemented by the illustration by Reiche
from Chile and by Fries (Nov. Act. Soc. Sci. Upsal. IV. 1: pl. 4, 5. 1905) from Argentina,
suggests the probability of Trichocereus pasacana belonging here.
In the Museo Nacional del Santiago are two very interesting wood sections of this
species. One from Atacama is 1.55 meters long and 41 cm. in diameter, while the other,
from Argentina, is 3 meters long and 44 cm. in diameter, with a hollow center 22 cm. in
diameter. All that is left of the type material in the Philippi herbarium are two clusters of
spines, these very long, slender, numerous, and brown.
Illustration: Engler and Drude, Veg. Erde 8: pl. 9, as Cereus atacamensis.
Cereus eriocarpus Philippi, Anal. Mus. Nac. Chile 1891 2: 27.
1891.
Stems large, erect, simple below, with small branches above, 5 to 6 cm. in diameter, the upper
part densely covered with white curly hairs; ribs 27 to 29; areoles very close together, 14 mm. in
diameter, with grayish tomentum intermixed with straight spines 11 cm. long, grading into stiff
bristles 4 cm. long; expanded flowers unknown; ovary 22 mm. in diameter, densely covered with
white hairs.
Type locality: Calcalhuay, altitude 12,000 feet (3,700 meters).
Distribution: Province of Tarapaca, Chile.
We know the plant only from description and from fragments of the type specimen.
Cereus malletianus Cels in Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 120.
1897.
“Stem upright, cylindric, somewhat crooked, slightly constricted above, hardly sunken in at
the crown, exceeded by a brownish yellow thick tuft of spines which can not be seen under the
wool, up to 4 cm. in diameter, bluish green; ribs 17, separated by sharp shallow furrows, hardly
4 mm. high, rounded and lightly sinuate, disappearing at the base; areoles 6 to 8 mm. apart, circular,
3 to 3.5 mm. in diameter, covered with short yellow wool, later turning gray, which gradually disappears; radial spines about 30, radiating horizontally, the inner spreading, needle-like, so thickly
intertwined that they surround the entire body, the inner pair the longest, measuring 10 mm.;
central spines 4, in an upright cross, sometimes more, since they are not sharply distinguishable from
the radial spines, the lowermost, sometimes, however, the uppermost, the longest, measuring up to
146
THE CACTACEAE.
2 cm., this one is yellowish brown, darker above; the remaining spines are yellowish when young,
then become white, almost translucent, finally they turn gray and are knocked off.” (Translation
of Schumann’s description.)
Type locality: Not definitely cited.
Distribution: Andes, South America.
Echinopsis catamarcensis Weber, Dict. Hort. Bois 471.
1896.
Echinocactus catamarcensis Spegazzini, Anal. Mus. Nac. Buenos Aires III. 4: 500. 1905.
Stems simple, ellipsoid to shortly columnar, up to 1 meter high, grayish green; ribs 13 to 17,
high, somewhat undulate; radial spines 10, pale brown, subulate, somewhat curved; central spines
4, arranged in a single perpendicular row, somewhat curved; flowers supposed to be yellow.
Type locality: Catamarca, Argentina.
Distribution: Argentina.
Weber gives Cereus catamarcensis (Dict. Hort. Bois 471) as a synonym of this species.
25. JASMINOCEREUS gen. nov.
Stems upright and tall with a definite cylindric trunk and a much branched top; ribs numerous,
low; areoles circular, bearing felt and spines; flowers slender, salverform or perhaps funnelform,
the slender tube narrowly cylindric, the limb broad, spreading; inner perianth-segments narrow,
yellow or brownish; stamens and style exserted; ovary bearing small spreading scales with small
tufts of wool in their axils; fruit oblong, smooth, except the small scarious scales, these naked in their
axils; seeds minute, black.
A monotypic genus of the Galapagos Islands. The name signifies jasmine-like cereus,
with reference to the flowers.
Fig. 212.—Jasminocereus galapagensis.
1. Jasminocereus galapagensis (Weber).
Cereus galapagensis Weber, Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 5: 312. 1899.
Cereus sclerocarpus Schumann in Robinson, Proc. Amer. Acad. 38: 179. 1902.
Tall, often 8 meters high or more; trunk large, cylindric, 15 to 30 cm. in diameter; branches
spreading, very stout, composed of many short joints, about 14 cm. in diameter; ribs 15 to 18, low,
147
HARRISIA
about 1 cm. high, separated by broad, rounded intervals; areoles rather close together, 1 cm. apart
or less, bearing brown felt; spines various as to length, sometimes only 1 cm. long, sometimes 8 cm.
long, usually slender, sometimes bristle-like, often 10 or more at an areole; flowers various in size,
5 to 11 cm. long, “chocolate-brown with yellow stripes”; outer perianth-segments spatulate, 2 to 3
cm. long; inner perianth-segments linear, about 2.4 to 3 cm. long; ovary terete, scaly; scales few,
1 to 1.5 mm. long, ovate, acute; stigma-lobes 11; flower-tube about twice as long as the segments;
fruit greenish, short-oblong, 5 cm. long, 4 cm. in diameter, with a thin tough rind, palatable.
Type locality: St. Charles Island, Galapagos.
Distribution: Various islands of the Galapagos group.
This species and the other cacti of the Galapagos Islands were discovered by Charles
Darwin in 1835. He associated this species with Cereus peruvianus, which it resembles
only in its large cylindric trunk. The various collectors who have since visited these
islands have noted this striking plant, but little material has been collected and even to-day
our knowledge is very limited.
W. Botting Hemsley has written most interestingly of the cactus flora of the islands
(Gard. Chron. 111. 24: 265, 266. 1898; 27: 177, 178. 1900).
Mr. Alban Stewart, who made extensive collections in the Galapagos Islands in 1905
and 1906, discusses the cacti in considerable detail (Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. IV. 1: 107 to 115).
He recognizes two columnar arborescent species under the names Cereus galapagensis
Weber and Cereus sclerocarpus Schumann, and indicates that they may be distinguished by
habit characters, but remarks particularly on the great variability of the flowers of both.
Illustrations: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci.
IV. 1: pl. 6, 16, as Cereus sclerocarpus; Gard.
Chron. III. 27: 185. f. 61, as Cereus sp.;
Wolf, Geographia y Geologia del Ecuador
f. 41, pl. 11; Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. 23: pl.
16, 20.
Figure 212 is from a photograph of the
plant in its natural habitat on Charles
Island, Galapagos, contributed by the
United States Fish Commission; figures
213 and 214 show flowers drawn from an
herbarium specimen in the collection of the
California Academy of Sciences, collected
by Alban Stewart (No. 2097) in 1905 and
Figs. 213 and 214.—Flowers of J. galapagensis. × 0.6.
1906.
26. HARRISIA Britton, Bull. Torr. Club 35: 561.
1908.
Eriocereus Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 238. 1909.
Night-flowering cacti with slender, branched stems, the branches fluted or angled, each areole
with several acicular spines; flowers borne singly at areoles near the ends of the branches, funnelform, large, with a cylindric, scaly tube as long as the limb or longer; buds globose, ovoid or obovoid,
the scales subtending areoles which bear tufts of long or short hairs, persistent or sometimes deciduous
as the flower expands; outer perianth-segments mostly pink or greenish, linear to lanceolate; inner
perianth-segments white or pinkish; stamens shorter than the perianth; ovary and young fruit
tubercled; style somewhat longer than the stamens; fruit globose to obovoid-globose, spineless or
spiny, but with mostly deciduous scales, the corolla withering-persistent; seeds numerous, small.
The genus is named in honor of William Harris, superintendent of Public Gardens and
Plantations of Jamaica, distinguished for his contributions to the knowledge of the flora of
that island.
We recognize 17 species, distributed from Florida and the Bahamas and the Greater
Antilles to Argentina. The type species is Cereus gracilis Miller.
148
THE CACTACEAE.
The vegetative characters of the first 9 species here recognized, natives of Florida and
the West Indies, are very much alike; their showy yellow or orange-red fruits are edible.
The young stem-areoles are subtended by subulate small deciduous leaves in several species.
Fig. 215.—Harrisia eriophora.
Key to Species.
A. Fruit yellow or orange-red, not splitting (Euharrisia).
B. Plants erect.
Hairs of the flower-areoles white.
Perianth-segments entire.
Hairs of the flower-areoles copious, 1 to 1.5 cm. long.
Fruit yellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.
Fruit orange-red . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.
Hairs of the flower-areoles few and short.
Flower-buds depressed-truncate; f ruit yellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.
Flower-buds pointed.
F lower-buds obovoid, short-pointed; color of f ruit unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.
Flower-buds ovoid, very long-pointed; f ruit yellow . . . . . . . . . . . 5.
Perianth-segments denticulate.
Fruit yellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.
Fruit orange-red . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.
Hairs of the flower-areoles tawny or brown.
Hairs of the flower-areoles 1 to 1.5 cm. long; color of f ruit unknown;
spines up to 6 cm. long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.
Hairs of flower-areoles 7 mm. long or less; f ruit yellow; spines much
shorter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.
BB. Plants prostrate and pendent on rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.
AA. Fruit red, often splitting (Eriocereus).
Joints several-ribbed or subterete.
Ribs of the joints prominent.
Ribs not tubercled.
Plants bright green . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.
Plants bluish green . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.
Ribs of old joints strongly tubercled.
Central spine 1, much longer than radial spines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.
Spines of nearly the same length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.
Ribs of the joints low and broad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.
Joints 3 to 5-angled.
Scales of the perianth-tube copiously woolly in the axils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.
Scales of the perianth-tube scarcely woolly in the axils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.
H. eriophora
H. fragrans
H. portoricensis
H. nashii
H. brookii
H. gracilis
H. simpsonii
H. fernowi
H. aboriginum
H. earlei
H. tortuosa
H. pomanensis
H. martinii
H. adscendens
H. platygona
H. bonplandii
H. guelichii
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
M. E. Eaton del.
PLATE XVIII
1. Tip of a flowering branch of Harrisia eriophora.
2. Fruiting branch of the same.
(Natural size.)
A HOEN & CO
149
HARRISIA
1. Harrisia eriophora (Pfeiffer) Britton, Bull. Torr. Club 35: 562.
1908.
(?) Cereus cubensis Zuccarini in Seitz, Allg. Gartenz. 2: 244. 1834.
Cereus eriophorus Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 94. 1837.
Plant 3.5 dm. high or less, the young joints bright green, the main stem 4 cm. in diameter or
more, the branches nearly as thick, erect or ascending, 8 or 9-ribbed, the ribs prominent, the depressions between them rather deep; areoles 2 to 4 cm. apart; spines 6 to 9, the longer ones 2.5 to 4 cm.
long, light brown with nearly black tips; buds ovoid, sharp-pointed, their scales subtending tufts of
bright white-woolly hairs 1 to 1.5 cm. long; flowers 12 to 18 cm. long; scales of the tube lanceolate,
acuminate, appressed, 1 to 1.5 cm. long, subtending long white hairs; outer perianth-segments pale
pink outside, the outermost greenish; inner segments pure white, tipped with a hair-like cusp 5 mm.
long; filaments white; anthers oblong, yellow; pistil cream-colored; fruit subglobose, yellow, about
6 cm. in diameter, edible.
Type locality: Cuba.
Distribution: Central and western Cuba and Isle of Pines.
The names Cereus eriophorus laeteviridis and C. repandus laetevirens (Salm-Dyck, Hort.
Dyck. 335. 1834), both unpublished, may belong here.
The flower-buds, copiously covered with bright white wool, are conspicuous.
Plants grown in the Habana Botanical Garden, formerly referred to Cereus undatus
(Bull. Torr. Club 35: 564), apparently belong to this species.
Illustration: Pfeiffer and Otto, Abbild. Beschr. Cact. 1: pl. 22, as Cereus eriophorus.
Plate xviii, figure 1, shows the flower of a plant from Mariel, Cuba, painted at the
New York Botanical Garden, July 12, 1912; figure 2 shows a fruiting branch of a plant sent
by C. F. Baker in 1907. Figure 215 is from a photograph taken by C. S. Gager at Mariel,
Cuba, in 1910.
Fig. 216.—Harrisia f ragrans.
2. Harrisia fragrans Small, sp. nov.
Plants 5 meters tall or less, the stems erect, reclining or clambering prominently, 10 to 12-ridged,
the ridges more or less depressed between the areoles, the grooves rather deep and sharp; areoles
about 2 cm. apart; spines acicular, 9 to 13 in each areole, mostly grayish and yellowish at the tip,
one of each areole longer than the others, mostly 2 to 4 cm. long; young buds copiously white-hairy;
flowers 12 to 20 cm. long, odorous; ovary bearing subulate or lanceolate-subulate scales subtending
long white hairs; scales of the flower-tube few and remote, subulate, slenderly acuminate, not turgid,
150
THE CACTACEAE.
with a tuft of long white hairs in each axil; outer perianth-segments very narrowly linear, slenderly
acuminate; inner perianth-segments white or pinkish, spatulate, caudate-tipped; fruit obovoid or
globose, about 6 cm. in diameter, dull red, with tufts of long hairs persistent with the scale-bases.
Coastal sand-dunes, Brevard and St. Lucie Counties, Florida. Type collected by John
K. Small on sand-dunes 6 miles south of Fort Pierce, December 1917.
Plants, taken to the cactus plantation of Mr. Charles Deering at Miami, Florida, in
1917, flowered and fruited in April 1918.
Plate xix, figure 1, shows a flowering top of a plant from an island east of Malabar,
Florida, brought to the New York Botanical Garden by Dr. Small in 1903; figure 2 shows
its fruit. Figure 16 is from a photograph of the plant in the cactus garden of Mr. Charles
Deering, Miami, Florida, taken by Dr. Small.
3. Harrisia portoricensis Britton, Bull. Torr. Club 35: 563.
1908.
Cereus portoricensis Urban, Symb. Ant. 4: 430. 1910.
Plant slender, 2 to 3 meters high, little branched, the branches nearly erect, 3 to 4 cm. thick,
11-ribbed, the ribs rounded, the depressions between them shallow; areoles 1.5 to 2 cm. apart; spines
13 to 17, grayish white to brown with dark tips, the longer ones 2.5 to 3 cm. long; bud obovoid, depressed-truncate, its areoles with many curled white hairs 6 mm. long or less; flower about 1.5 dm.
long; outer perianth-segments pinkish green inside, the inner white; scales of the flower-tube lanceolate, appressed, 1.5 cm. long, the areoles loosely hairy, the hair completely deciduous in flakes; fruit
ovoid to globose, yellow, tubercled, becoming smooth or nearly so, 4 to 6 cm. in diameter.
Fig. 217.—Harrisia portoricensis.
Fig. 218.—Harrisia nashii.
Type locality: Near Ponce, Porto Rico.
Distribution: Type locality and vicinity, and on the islands Mona and Desecheo.
Plate xvii, figure 3, shows a fruiting branch of the plant from the type locality, painted
at the New York Botanical Garden in 1914. Figure 217 is from a photograph taken at
the type locality by Delia W. Marble in 1913.
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
M. E. Eaton del.
PLATE XIX
1. Top of flowering branch of Harrisia fragrans.
2. Top of f ruiting joint of Harrisia fragrans.
3. Fruiting branch of Harrisia martinii.
(All natural size.)
A HOEN & CO
151
HARRISIA
4. Harrisia nashii Britton, Bull. Torr. Club 35: 564.
1908.
?Cereus divergens Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 95. 1837.
Cereus nashii Vaupel, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23: 27. 1913.
Slender, erect, 2 to 3 meters high; branches widely divergent, light green, 3 to 4 cm. thick,
9 to 11-ribbed, the ribs rounded; areoles 2 to 2.5 cm. apart; spines only 3 to 6, gray, the longer ones
1,5 mm. long; bud narrowly obovoid, obtuse, very short-pointed, its scales subtending many curled
white hairs 6 mm. long or less; flower 1.6 to 2 dm. long; scales of the flower-tube linear, acuminate,
1.5 cm. long, subtending a few hairs; fruit ellipsoid, 6 to 8 cm. long, 4 to 5 cm. thick, very strongly
tubercled, at least when immature, the conic tubercles 6 to 8 mm. high.
Type locality: Between Gonaives and Plaisance, Haiti.
Distribution: Arid parts of Hispaniola.
Cereus divergens Pfeiffer is known only from the description of a sterile plant.
Cereus divaricatus De Candolle (Prodr. 3: 466. 1828; Cactus divaricatus Lamarck,
Encycl. 1: 540. 1783; Pilocereus divaricatus Lemaire, Rev. Hort. 1862: 427. 1862) is based
upon Plumier’s plate 193, which can not be certainly associated with any known cactus.
Figure 218 is from a photograph by Paul G. Russell near Azua, Santo Domingo, in 1913.
Here perhaps is to be referred Cactus f imbriatus Lamarck (Encycl. 1: 539. 1783;
Cereus f imbriatus De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 464. 1828; Pilocereus f imbriatus Lemaire, Rev.
Hort. 1862: 427. 1862) and Cereus serruliflorus Haworth (Phil. Mag. 7: 113. 1830), both of
which were based on Burmann’s plate of Plumier (pl. 195, f. 1, A, B, C, and D), found along
the coast of Haiti under the name of la bande du sud. Cactus f imbriatus Descourtilz (Fl.
Med. Antill. ed. 2. 6: 160. pl. 419), which refers to the same plate of Plumier, is really
based upon pl. 195, f. 2, of Burmann, and is probably a Lemaireocereus.
5. Harrisia brookii Britton, Bull. Torr. Club 35: 564.
1908.
Cereus brookii Vaupel, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23: 24. 1913.
Plant 5 meters high, much branched, light green; branches
3 to 4 cm. thick, 10-ribbed, the ribs sometimes prominent, with
deep depressions between them; areoles about 2 cm. apart;
spines 9 to 12, the longer ones 2 to 2.5 cm. long; young upper
spines of areoles brown, others white; bud ovoid, prominently
long-pointed, its scales with few curled white hairs 7 to 10 mm.
long; fruit yellowish, ellipsoid or subglobose, about 8 cm. in
diameter, rounded at both ends, the tubercles very low, with tips
only 1.5 mm. high, the linear scales persistent.
Type locality: Clarence Town, Long Island, Bahamas.
Distribution: Long Island, Bahamas.
Figure 219 shows a fruit of the type plant; figure 220
shows a flower-bud of the same.
6. Harrisia gracilis (Miller) Britton, Bull. Torr. Club 35: 563.
Fig. 219.—Fruit of Harrisia brookii. ×0.6.
Fig. 220.—Flower-bud of same. ×0.6.
1908.
Cereus gracilis Miller, Gard. Dict. ed. 8, No. 8. 1768.
Cactus gracilis Weston, Bot. Univers. 1: 33. 1770.
Cereus repandus Haworth, Syn. Fl. Succ. 183. 1812. Not Cactus repandus Linnaeus, 1753.
Cereus subrepandus Haworth, Suppl. Pl. Succ. 78. 1819.
Cereus undatus Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 9. 1837. Not Haworth, 1830.
Harrisia undata Britton, Bull. Torr. Club 35: 564. 1908.
Eriocereus subrepandus Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 243. 1909.
Plant much branched, often 7 meters high, dark green, its branches rather slender, somewhat
divergent, 9 to 11-ribbed, the ribs rounded, the depressions between them rather shallow; areoles 1.5
to 2 cm. apart; spines 10 to 16, whitish with black tips, the longer 2 to 2.5 cm. long; bud oblongovoid, short-pointed, its scales subtending a few straight white hairs 8 to 12 mm. long; corolla 2 dm.
long, the scales of its tube greenish brown, narrowly lanceolate, abruptly bent upward near the base,
acuminate, about 2 cm. long, subtending a few hairs, the outer perianth-segments pale brown, the
inner white, denticulate (or sometimes entire?); fruit depressed-globose, yellow, about 5 cm. long,
152
THE CACTACEAE.
6 to 7 cm. thick, the base flat, the top bluntly pointed, strongly tubercled when young, the tubercles
low-conic, about 4 mm. high, about 1.5 cm. from tip to tip, bearing a deciduous triangular-lanceolate scale 6 to 8 mm. long, becoming confluent, the fruit finally smooth or nearly so, yellow.
Type locality: British Islands of America.
Distribution: Jamaica.
The following names were referred to Cereus repandus as synonyms by Schumann:
Cereus tinei Todaro (Ind. Sem. Hort. Panorm. 39. 1857; C. cossyrensis Tineo in Todaro,
Ind. Sem. Hort. Panorm. 39. 1857), said to have come from Brazil, and Cereus erectus
Pfeiffer (Enum. Cact. 95. 1837), stated definitely to have come from Mexico.
Illustrations: Trew, Fl. Select. pl. 14, as Cereus etc.; Loudon, Encycl. Pl. 411. f.
6862; Edwards’s Bot. Reg. 4: pl. 336, as Cactus repandus; De Candolle, Mém. Mus. Hist.
Nat. Paris 17: pl. 13, as Cereus repandus; Pfeiffer and Otto, Abbild. Beschr. Cact. 1: pl.
23, as Cereus undatus.
Fig. 221.—Harrisia gracilis.
Plate xx, figure 1, shows a fruiting branch of a
plant in the New York Botanical Garden.
Fig. 222.—Flower of Harrisia gracilis.
Figure 221 is from a photograph taken in Jamaica, contributed by William Harris; figure 222 is copied from the last illustration above cited.
7. Harrisia simpsonii Small, sp. nov.
Plants up to 6 meters high, erect, reclining, or spreading, simple or more or less branched; ribs
8 to 10; areoles 1 to 2 cm. apart; spines 7 to 14, gray when mature, 1 to 2.5 cm. long; buds whitehairy; flowers 12 to 17 cm. long; scales of the ovary lanceolate-subulate, subtending few white hairs
10 mm. long or less; scales of the flower-tube lanceolate, distant; outer perianth-segments linear;
inner perianth-segments spatulate, acute or acuminate, erose-denticulate; fruit depressed-globose,
orange-red, 4 to 6 cm. in diameter.
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
M. E. Eaton del.
PLATE XX
1. Part of a f ruiting branch of Harrisia gracilis.
2. Top of flowering branch of Harrisia martinii.
(Natural size.)
A HOEN & CO
153
HARRISIA
Found on Hammocks, Keys of Florida, and southern mainland coast. Type from
between Cape Sable and Flamingo, collected by John K. Small, November 29, 1916.
The species is dedicated to Charles Torrey Simpson, naturalist, long resident in Florida.
Flowers of a plant from Pumpkin Key, grown at the cactus garden of Mr. Charles
Deering, Miami, Florida, and at the New York Botanical Garden, have the flower-tube
little, if any, longer than the limb; the
stems of this plant and its fruit are not
different from those of the type, but
are smaller, about 2 meters high.
Figure 223 is from a photograph
taken by Mr. C. L. Pollard on Key
Largo, Florida.
Fig. 224.—Harrisia taylori.
Fig. 223.—Harrisia simpsonii.
8. Harrisia fernowi Britton, Bull. Torr. Club 35: 562.
1908.
Cereus pellucidus Grisebach, Cat. Pl. Cub. 116. 1866. Not C. pellucidus Otto, 1837.
Plant 2.5 to 3 meters high; branches slender, about 2.5 cm. thick, light green, 9-ribbed, the ribs
not prominent, the depressions between them shallow; areoles about 2 cm. apart; spines 8 to 11,
light brown with blackish tips, the longer ones 6 cm. long; bud subglobose-ovoid, its scales subtending and rather densely covered with tawny, curled woolly hairs 1 cm. long; flower nearly 2 dm.
long, its ovary and tube bearing oblong-lanceolate, acute scales 1 to 2 cm. long, subtending tufts of
long brown hairs; outer perianth-segments linear, acuminate, the inner white, spatulate, entire,
short-acuminate.
Type locality: Between Rio Grande and Rio Ubero, Oriente, Cuba.
Distribution: Dry parts of Oriente Province, Cuba.
Plate xxiv, figure 1, shows a flowering branch of the type plant from a painting made at
the New York Botanical Garden, July 9, 1912.
8a. Harrisia taylori Britton, Bull. Torr. Club 35: 565.
1908.
Cereus taylori Vaupel, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23: 37. 1913.
Plant light green, branched above, 1.5 to 2 meters high, the branches divaricate-ascending,
rather stout, 4 to 5 cm. thick, 9-ribbed, the ribs rounded, the depressions between them rather deep;
154
THE CACTACEAE.
areoles 2 to 3 cm. apart; spines 9 to 12, the longer 3 to 5 cm. long, ascending; bud globose-ovoid,
short-pointed, its scales with sparse curled grayish-white wool, 3 to 6 mm. long.
Type locality: Sea-beach between Rio Grande and Rio Ubero, Oriente, Cuba.
Distribution: Known only from the type locality.
This plant was collected near the type locality of the preceding species; specimens of
the two appeared to be different when first studied, but subsequent observations indicate
that they may not be distinct; additional evidence is needed to determine this question.
Figure 224 15 from a photograph of the type plant in its natural environment.
9. Harrisia aboriginum Small, sp. nov.
Plants 6 meters high or less, erect or reclining, simple or branched; ribs 9 to 11, rounded; areoles
1.5 to 3 cm. apart; spines 7 to 9, acicular, mostly 1 cm. long or less, sometimes longer, gray with
brown tips when mature, pink when young; flower-buds densely brown-hairy; flowers slightly
odorous, about 15 cm. long; scales of the ovary and flower-tube lanceolate, subtending short brown
hairs; outer perianth-segments linear, acuminate, the inner oblanceolate, white, caudate-acuminate,
erose-denticulate; fruit globular, yellow, 6 to 7.5 cm. in diameter.
On shell-mounds, western coast of Florida, north of the Ten Thousand Islands to
Tampa Bay. Type collected by John K. Small on Terra Ceia Island, April 1919.
The type plants were found growing in shell heaps formed by the aborigines, whence
the specific name.
10. Harrisia earlei sp. nov.
Pendent and prostrate on limestone rocks, 2 to 3 meters long, dark green, the old stems nearly
or quite terete, 4 to 6 cm. in diameter and smooth, the younger branches 2 to 3 cm. in diameter,
5 to 7-angled, with spine-bearing areoles 2 to 4 cm. apart; spines gray, acicular, 5 to 8 at each areole,
the longer 4 to 5 cm. long, ascending; flowers about 2 dm. long, the slender greenish tube about as
long as the limb; ovary about 1 cm. in diameter, tubercled, bearing short subulate leaves, the areoles
with short, white hairs; perianth-tube bearing distant, linear, acuminate scales 1 to 3 cm. long, the
areoles with white hairs 1 to 1.5 cm. long; outer perianth-segments linear, greenish, acuminate,
the inner somewhat broader, white, acute or acuminate; fruit yellow, depressed-globose, tubercled
when young, nearly smooth when old, 6 to 7 cm. in diameter.
Limestone rocks, province of Pinar del Rio, Cuba. Type from San Diego de los Baños,
August 31, 1910, collected by Britton, Earle, and Cager (No. 6667).
In habit and vegetative characters intermediate between typical Harrisiae and
Eriocerei.
11. Harrisia tortuosa (Forbes).
Cereus tortuosus Forbes, Allg. Gartenz. 6: 5. 1838.
Cereus arendtii Hildmann and Mathsson in Schumann, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 4: 173. 1894.
Eriocereus tortuosus Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 245. 1909.
Stem at first erect but soon arching, the slender, bright green branches 2 to 4 cm. thick; ribs
few, usually 7, low, rounded, sometimes tuberculate, bright green; spines 6 to 10, subulate, the
central one longer than the radials; flowers 12 to 15 cm. long; scales of the ovary and flower-tube
ovate, about 1 cm. long, acute, bearing hair in their axils; outer perianth-segments narrow, dull
colored; inner perianth-segments broader than the outer, acute, white to pink; stamens scarcely
exserted; stigma-lobes green; fruit globular, tuberculate, red, 3 to 4 cm. in diameter, its areoles bearing
a few short spines.
Type locality: Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Distribution: Argentina.
Riccobono gives as a synonym of this species Cereus atropurpureus (Hocay, Cacteencult. 91). Under this name it is also briefly described in the Theodosia B. Shepherd Company’s Descriptive Catalogue for 1916.
Cereus davisii (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 14: 166. 1904) is an unpublished name; a
specimen in the Succulent House at Kew indicates that it is related to H. tortuosa.
HARRISIA
155
Illustrations: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 14: 89. f. b; Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 16: pl. 9, f. 1;
U. S. Dept. Agr. Bur. Pl. Ind. Bull. 262: pl. 7, all as Cereus tortuosus.
Plate xxi, figure 1, shows a flowering branch, figure 2 a fruiting branch, both from
plants in the collection of the New York Botanical Garden.
12. Harrisia pomanensis (Weber).
Cereus pomanensis Weber in Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 136. 1897.
Often prostrate or arched, bluish green and glaucous; ribs 4 to 6, rounded, obtuse; radial spines
6 to 8, 1 cm. long; central spine solitary, 1 to 2 cm. long; spines all subulate, when young white or
rose-colored; flowers 15 cm. long; outer perianth-segments linear, acute; inner perianth-segments
oblong, acutish, probably white; stigma-lobes numerous, linear; scales on ovary and flower-tube
ovate, acute.
Type locality: Poman, Catamarca, Argentina.
Distribution: Northwestern Argentina.
There is a living specimen of this species in the New York Botanical Garden (No.
39517). The stem is 4-angled, 2 cm. broad, and light green. The small areoles are 2 cm.
apart and the acicular spines are less than 5 mm. long. The plant has not yet flowered.
Cereus bonplandii pomanensis Weber (Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 137. 1897) is
given as a synonym of this species. C. pomanensis grossei (Graebener, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 19: 137. 1909) is only a mentioned name.
Illustrations: Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 16: pl. 7, f. 5, 6, both as Cereus pomanensis.
Figure 225 is from a photograph of a flowering branch in the collection of Dr. Spegazzini at La Plata, Argentina.
13. Harrisia martinii (Labouret).
Cereus martinii Labouret, Ann. Soc. Hort. Haute Garonne. 1854.
Eriocereus martinii Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 241. 1909.
Cereus martinii perviridis Weingart, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 24: 72. 1914.
Plant much branched, clambering, 2 meters long or longer; old stems terete, spineless; young
stems vigorous, about 2 cm. thick, pointed, 4 or 5-angled; areoles with a stout central spine 2 to 3
cm. long, straw-colored with a black tip and a row of short radials, sometimes half as long as the
central one; flower about 2 dm. long; outer perianth-segments narrow, becoming pinkish, acuminate;
inner perianth-segments broader, short-acuminate, white or tinged with pink; style green; ovary
tuberculate; scales on ovary ovate, acuminate, on tube similar, becoming more elongate above, all with
brown felt in their axils; fruit red, 3.5 cm. long, bearing small scales, the flowers withering-persistent.
Type locality: Not cited.
Distribution: Argentina.
Cereus monacanthus Cels, not Lemaire, is not listed in the Index Kewensis, but it is
cited by Schumann (Gesamtb. Kakteen 142. 1897) as a synonym of this species, quoting
Cels, Catalogue, 1853. Here may belong Pilocereus monacanthus Lawrence in Loudon,
Gard. Mag. 17: 319. 1841.
A plant of this species in the Kew collection is said by Mr. Weingart to be Cereus regelii
(Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 20: 33. 1910).
Illustrations: Amer. Gard. 11: 569; Cycl. Amer. Hort. Bailey 1: f. 304 (both fruits
spineless); Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 16: pl. 10, f. 1, 2; Rev. Hort. 94: f. 123 to 125, all as Cereus
martinii.
Plate xix, figure 3, represents a fruiting branch, and plate xx, figure 2, a flowering
branch, both painted from plants in the collection of the New York Botanical Garden.
14. Harrisia adscendens (Gürke).
Cereus adscendens Gürke, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 18: 66. 1908.
At first erect, becoming much branched and bushy or sometimes with long clambering branches
5 to 8 meters long, 2 to 5 cm. thick; ribs 7 to 10, low, rounded, broken up into elongated tubercles;
156
THE CACTACEAE.
trunk 2 to 4 cm. in diameter, with a woody cylinder, its center coarsely pithy; areoles large, rounded,
subtended by small definite leaves like those of Opuntia; spines usually 10, stout, 2 to 3 cm. long,
swollen at base, when young brownish or yellowish with brown tips; flowers 15 to 18 cm. long, opening at night; perianth-segments white; ovary bearing lanceolate acute scales with long hairs in their
axils; fruit red, globular, tuberculate, 5 to 6 cm. in diameter, spineless, bearing scales and felt at the
areoles, when mature splitting down on one side; flesh white, juicy; seeds large, black, mm. long.
Fig. 225.—Harrisia pomanensis.
Fig. 226.—Harrisia adscendens.
Type locality: Near Tambury, Bahia, Brazil.
Distribution: In the subarid parts of the state of Bahia, Brazil.
Dr. Rose found this very common in Bahia, Brazil, either growing as a low bush in
the open or clambering through bushes (No. 19730).
Illustration: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 18: 67, as Cereus adscendens.
Figure 226 is from a photograph taken by Paul G. Russell at Barrinha, Bahia, in 1915.
15. Harrisia platygona (Otto).
Cereus platygonus Otto in Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 199. 1850.
Eriocereus platygonus Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 242. 1909.
At first erect, but soon spreading; branches slender, 2 cm. in diameter or more, nearly terete,
the 6 to 8 ribs flat or hardly elevated, separated only by shallow, narrow depressions, pale green or
somewhat bronzed; spines 12 to 15, setaceous, very short, the longest only 12 mm. long; flowers
12 cm. broad; flower-tube 10 cm. long, bearing scales; ovary tuberculate, bearing scales, these
woolly in their axils; stigma-lobes 14, linear.
Type locality: Not cited.
Distribution: Not known, probably South America.
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
M. E. Eaton del.
PLATE XXI
A HOEN & CO
1.
2.
Top of flowering branch of Harrisia fragrans.
Top of f ruiting joint of Harrisia fragrans.
(Natural size.)
HARRISIA
157
This species has only once been reported as flowering, and then by Riccobono; our
description of the flowers is based on his. We have studied a small plant in the collection
of the New York Botanical Garden.
Illustration: Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen f. 19, as Cereus platygonus.
16. Harrisia bonplandii (Parmentier).
Cereus bonplandii Parmentier in Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 108. 1837.
Cereus balansaei Schumann in Martins, Fl. Bras. 42: 210. 1890.
Eriocereus bonplandii Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 238. 1909.
Stems slender and weak, at first erect, up to 3 meters high or more, sometimes procumbent,
arching or clambering, 3 to 8 cm. in diameter, strongly 4-angled; areoles 2 cm. apart; spines 6 to 8,
acicular, the longest 4 cm. long, when young red, in age gray; flowers 15 to 22 cm. long, white, closing
soon after sunrise; filaments numerous, borne almost to the base of the tube; style included; stigmalobes numerous; fruit edible, globular, 4 to 6 cm. in diameter, red, bearing large scales with hairs
in their axils, spineless, splitting on the side and exposing the white flesh and black seeds.
Fig. 227.—Harrisia bonplandii.
Type locality: Brazil.
Distribution: Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil.
This species is widely cultivated, but under different names, one of which is Cereus
acutangulus. The only specimens from wild plants which we have seen were collected by
Thomas Morong at Trinidad, Paraguay, and by J. A. Shafer at Ascencion, Paraguay, and
at Salta, Argentina. Cereus bonplandii brevispinus (Maass, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 15: 119.
1905) is only mentioned, but Mr. Weingart says it is identical with the hybrid Cereus jusbertii.
Schumann’s treatment of Cereus balansaei is confusing. In the Gesamtbeschreibung
der Kakteen (p. 136) he refers it to Cereus bonplandii. In the Nachträge (p. 45) he puts
158
THE CACTACEAE.
the Balansa specimen (No. 2504, type) here, but not the name, while in his Keys of the
Monograph of Cactaceae (p. 17) he recognizes C. balansaei as well as C. bonplandii, referring
to the former the Argentine species C. pomanensis.
Cereus rhodocephalus Lemaire (Cact. Gen. Nov. Sp. 7. 1839) 15 cited as a synonym of
Cereus bonplandii.
We do not know Cereus ureacanthus Förster, (Hamb. Gartenz.
17: 166. 1861); it is recorded as originally from Peru. Förster thought it
might come next to Cereus bonplandii,
but no species of this relationship have
heretofore been reported from Peru.
Illustrations: Rep. Mo. Bot.
Gard. 16: pl. 10, f. 3, 4, both as
Cereus bonplandii.
Plate xxiv, figure 2, represents a
fruiting branch of a plant in the collection of the New York Botanical Garden. Figure 227 is from a photograph taken by Dr. Shafer at Salta,
Argentina, in 1917.
17. Harrisia guelichii (Spegazzini).
Cereus guelichii Spegazzini, Anal.
Mus. Nac. Buenos Aires III. 4:
482. 1905.
Branching, high-climbing on trees,
up to 25 meters long, the branches 3 to
5 cm. thick, 3 or 4-angled; ribs acute, undulate; radial spines 4 or 5; central spine
1, stouter than the radials; flowers large,
Fig. 228.—Harrisia guelichii.
green without; scales on the ovary and
flower-tube prominent, nearly naked in their axils; fruit globular, strongly tuberculate, spineless,
red, to 4.5 cm. in diameter; pulp white, very sweet, edible.
Type locality: In the Chaco, Argentina.
Distribution: Argentina.
We have a living specimen of this species brought by Dr. Rose from Argentina in 1915;
from Dr. Spegazzini’s description this must be the most elongated cactus known.
Illustration: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 19: 19, as Cereus guelichii.
Figure 228 is from a photograph of a plant grown in the garden of Dr. Spegazzini,
La Plata, Argentina.
PUBLISHED SPECIES, PERHAPS OF THIS GENUS.
Cereus jusbertii Rebut in Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 137.
1897.
Eriocereus jusbertii Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 240. 1909.
Somewhat erect, from the first more or less branched; ribs 6, usually low, with broad intervals
spines very short, the centrals a little longer than the radials; flowers funnelform; inner perianthsegments white; stigma-lobes numerous, linear, about 12, green; scales on ovary and tube with long
hairs in their axils.
This plant, now common in living collections, is generally believed to be a hybrid. Berger
says, “According to repeated assurances of Abbé Beguin, it is a hybrid between an
Echinopsis and a Cereus raised by him.”
Illustrations: Blühende Kakteen 2: pl. 78; Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 32; Möllers,
Deutsche Gärt. Zeit. 26: 305.
159
BORZICACTUS
Cereus areolatus Mühlenpfordt in Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 100. f. 20.
1897.
Cleistocactus areolatus Riccobono, Bol. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 264. 1909.
Described as columnar, somewhat branching, with 12 low, acutish ribs; ribs divided into
tubercles by transverse lines running down from the areoles; radial spines 9 or 10, acicular; central
spines 2 to 4, stouter, subulate; flowers and fruit unknown.
The above name was published in a garden catalogue in 1860, while the plant was listed
as Cereus dumesnilianus Labouret in Gruson’s Catalogue.
This cactus is described from plants which are supposed to have come from the Andes
of South America. The species is recognized by Schumann in his monograph and is placed
in his series Graciles after Cereus platygonus. It has been in cultivation in the Berlin Botanical Garden and at La Mortola. From the latter source Dr. Rose obtained a specimen in
1914. This plant may be described as follows:
Ribs 15, low, rounded, with a deep horizontal groove just above the areoles; spines yellowish
brown, the 6 to 8 radials acicular, spreading, about 1 cm. long; the central subulate, 2 cm. long,
porrect.
Cereus magnus Haworth, Phil. Mag. 7: 109.
1830.
This species has not been definitely identified. Haworth says it was procured from the captain
of a French vessel, who obtained it from Santo Domingo. He describes it as a yard high, with 12
ribs and a very large white flower 6 inches long and open day or night. This does not correspond
to any cactus known from Hispaniola. Pfeiffer suggests that it might be a form of C. eyriesii, that
is an Echinopsis. In its large flower, open both day and night, it does agree with that genus.
Cereus microsphaericus Schumann (Fl. Bras. 42: 196. 1890) and C. damazioi Schumann
(Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 13: 63. 1903; 28: 62. 1918) are of this alliance. Both come from
near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
27. BORZICACTUS Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 261. 1909.
Low, slender cacti, erect or procumbent; ribs usually numerous but sometimes as few as 9,
usually low and rounded; spines acicular or in some species subulate; areoles usually approximate,
in some species producing wool with the flowers; flowers diurnal, orange to scarlet (in one species
said to be white) solitary, narrow; tube-proper very short, smooth within; throat very narrow below,
expanded above; limb somewhat spreading; axils of scales on ovary and flower-tube bearing long
silky hairs; stamens long and slender, slightly exserted; fruit small, globular, edible.
Type species: Borzicactus ventimigliae Riccobono.
This genus is perhaps nearest Rathbunia of Mexico, but is of different habit and usually
with different spines. The flowers are of much the same shape, but with a different limb,
some of the stamens originating near the base of the flower-tube, while the areoles of the
ovary and flower bear long silky hairs.
The plants are found in the mountains and hills of Ecuador, Peru, and northern Chile,
where they have a remarkable development. The indications are that there are still other
species to be referred here. It was named in honor of Professor Antonio Borzi, director
of the Botanical Garden of Palermo, Italy. Eight species are here described.
Key to Species.
Flowers red.
Base of throat bearing a mass of hairs within.
Ribs few, 8 to 11, prominent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ribs many, low . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Base of throat naked within.
Flowers pinkish, not as narrow as in the next species, their areoles very hairy
Flowers dark red, very narrow, their areoles not very hairy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Flowers white . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . 1. B. sepium
. . . . . . . . . . 2. B. morleyanus
123
. . . . . . . . . . 3. B. icosagonus
. . . . . . . . . . 4. B. acanthurus
. . . . . . . . . . 5. B. decumbens
6. B. humboldtii
Not grouped . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7. B. plagiostoma
8. B. aurivillus
160
THE CACTACEAE.
1. Borzicactus sepium (HBK.).
Cactus sepium Humboldt, Bonpland, and Kunth, Nov. Gen. et Sp. 6: 67. 1823.
Cereus sepium De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 467. 1828.
Cleistocactus sepium Weber in Gosselin, Bull. Mens. Soc. Nice 44: 36. 1904.
Borzicactus ventimigliae Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 262. 1909.
Cereus ventimigliae Vaupel, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23: 13. 1913.
Stem slender, simple, columnar, 1.5 meters high, about cm. thick; ribs 8 to 11, crenate, obtuse;
areoles 1.5 to 2 cm. apart; radial spines 8 to 10, slender, spreading, 5 to 10 mm. long; central spine
solitary, about 2 cm. long; spines all dark red with yellowish bases when young, gray in age; flowers
somewhat zygomorphic, about 4 cm. long, 3 cm. broad; scales on ovary and flower-tube woolly
in their axils; outer perianth-segments lanceolate, erect, scarlet; inner perianth-segments cuneate,
red; pistil slightly exceeding the stamens; stigma-lobes 10, short, greenish;
fruit globular, 2 cm. in diameter; flesh of fruit white; seeds numerous.
Type locality: Near Riobamba, at foot of Chimborazo,
Ecuador.
Distribution: Dry hills along the interandean valley of
Ecuador from San Antonio to Riobamba.
The plant blooms from July to September, while the flowers
are said to remain open for 48 hours.
A careful examination of the description of Humboldt’s
Cactus sepium convinces us that it is the same as Borzicactus
ventimigliae. Not only are the two descriptions similar, but the
two types came from the high Andes of Ecuador and a plant sent
by Mr. Riccobono from Palermo as B. ventimigliae is the same as
one sent from the Berlin Botanical Garden as Cereus sepium. Dr.
Rose, when in Ecuador in 1918, visited Riobamba, but did not
see this species there; but he did find it a little north on the hills
about Ambato (No. 22389). He also saw what he took to be
229.—Top of plant of
this species between Ambato and Quito, and, again, collected Fig.
Borzicactus sepium. ×0.6.
the species at San Antonio, north of Quito (No. 23557).
The fruit is eaten at Ambato and doubtless elsewhere and is known as muyusa.
Figure 229 shows the top of a plant obtained by Dr. Rose from the Botanical Garden
at Palermo, Italy.
2. Borzicactus morleyanus sp. nov.
Plant low, growing in clumps, prostrate or with erect branches, sometimes hanging over cliffs
or ascending and leaning against rocky banks for support, 4 to 6 cm. in diameter; ribs 13 to 16, low,
obtuse, divided into tubercles by V-shaped creases above the areoles; areoles circular, 1 cm. apart or
less; spines numerous, 15 to 20, bristly or somewhat acicular, brown, unequal, the longer ones 2.5
cm. long; flowers narrow, 5 to 6 cm. long, slightly oblique; perianth-segments spreading, acute;
stamens exserted; filaments purple above, white or tinged with pink below, erect; style cream-colored;
stigma-lobes 10, cream-colored.
Very common at Sibambe, Ecuador, where it was collected by J. N. Rose and George
Rose, August 29, 1918 (No. 22431, type), and above Huigra, August 28, 1918 (No. 22426).
Here may belong Dr. Rose’s plant (No. 22829) from Cuenca, although it has somewhat
different spines and perhaps more ribs on the stem.
It is named for Mr. Edward Morley, of Huigra, Ecuador, who greatly aided Dr.
Rose in his explorations in Ecuador in 1918.
Figure 230 shows the top of a flowering stem, and figure 231 shows the type, photographed by George Rose.
3. Borzicactus icosagonus (HBK.).
Cactus icosagonus Humboldt, Bonpland, and Kunth, Nov. Gen. et Sp. 6: 67. 1823.
Cereus icosagonus De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 467. 1828.
Cereus isogonus Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 102. 1897.
Cleistocactus icosagonus Weber in Gosselin, Bull. Mens. Sci. Nice 44: 34. 1904.
161
BORZICACTUS
Plants small, procumbent or ascending, 2 to 6 dm. long, 3 to 5 cm. in diameter; ribs 18 to 20,
low; areoles approximate; spines bright yellow, numerous, acicular, 1 cm. long or less; flower-buds
covered with white wool or hairs; flowers near the end of the branches, 7 to 8 cm. long, pinkish to
orange; flower-tube naked at base; perianth-segments oblong, acute, apiculate; scales on the ovary
and flower bearing long white and brown hairs in their axils.
Type locality: Near Nabón, Ecuador.
Distribution: In the vicinity of Nabón, Ecuador.
This species has long been a puzzle and so far as we know the only record of its having
been previously collected is that of the type at Nabón. Dr. Rose visited Nabón in 1918,
where he found this species very abundant on the dry hills. Its range is very circumscribed,
for it does not extend very far either north or south of Nabón. It is readily distinguished
from the other species of the genus seen in Ecuador in its’ very dense mass of short yellow
spines and its larger lighter-colored flowers. These flowers are very attractive and it is
to be hoped that some of the living material sent to New York may produce flowers. The
plants, however, had to be carried for a long distance by pack train before being shipped to
New York and did not arrive in very good condition. Dr. Rose’s plant from Nabón was
collected September 25, 1918 (No. 23029). We have tentatively referred here his plant
from Tablón de Oña, collected September 27, 1918 (No. 23 130), but it has smaller flowers.
Illustration: Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen f. 21, as Cereus isogonus.
Fig. 230.—Borzicactus morleyanus.
Fig. 231.—Borzicactus morleyanus.
4. Borzicactus acanthurus (Vaupel).
Cereus acanthurus Vaupel, Bot. Jahrb. Engler 50: Beibl. 111: 13. 1913.
Plants low, spreading and procumbent, with the tips ascending, sometimes sprawling over the
edge of a cliff, with long hanging branches, 1 to 3 dm. long and 2 to 4 cm. in diameter; ribs 15 to
18, very low, rounded, separated by narrow acute intervals; areoles small, approximate; flowering
areoles producing tufts of white wool about the flowers; flowers scarlet; tube slender, straight or a
little curved, 4 to 5 cm. long; limb about 2.,5 cm. broad; inner perianth-segments spreading, acute;
filaments white below, scarlet above; style rose-colored, longer than the filaments; stigma-lobes
green; fruit globular, 2 cm. in diameter.
Type locality: Matucana, Peru.
Distribution: On the low hills and in the narrow valleys near Lima and along the
Rimac River to the east of Lima.
162
THE CACTACEAE.
Observed June 1839 at San Cristobal near Lima by A. T. Agate, of the Wilkes’
Exploring Expedition. Agate’s painting of it is preserved in the Library of the Gray
Herbarium.
Plate xxv, figure 3, shows a flowering plant collected at the type locality by Dr. Rose
in 1914 which flowered in the New York Botanical Garden in the same year.
5. Borzicactus decumbens (Vaupel).
Cereus decumbens Vaupel, Bot. Jahrb. Engler 50: Beibl. 111: 18. 1913.
Plant cespitose, procumbent or ascending, forming small clumps; branches slender, 3 to 4 cm.
in diameter; ribs numerous, 20, low, almost hidden under the spines, the intervals acute; areoles
close together, about 5 mm. apart; radial spines very numerous, about 30, acicular, short, 5 to 8
mm. long, yellowish; central spines usually 5, much longer and stouter than the radials, often 2 to
3 cm. long, subulate; flower 8 cm. long, with a slender cylindric tube gradually expanded into the
throat, the limb about 5 cm. broad; perianth-segments described as white, oblong to oblanceolate.
Type locality: Rocky sandy bottoms, Mollendo, Peru.
Distribution: On hills, southwestern Peru, and northwestern Chile.
The type of this species was first collected by Weberbauer in 1902 on the hills about
Mollendo, and here Dr. Rose collected living and herbarium specimens in 1914. Old flowers
and fruits were obtained, but no flowers have appeared on the living specimens in the
New York Botanical Garden.
Three collections made by Dr. Rose in southern Peru are referred here tentatively.
One is f rom near Arequipa, altitude about 7,000 feet, the second is f rom near Posco, altitude
about 2,000 feet, and the third is f rom hills above Mollendo, altitude about 200 feet, as
mentioned above. This is an unusually wide range for a species in this region. The
plants themselves show considerable variation, suggesting that
more than one species is involved.
Until f resh flowers have been obtained it seems best to recognize
only the one species.
Fig. 232.—Borzicactus decumbens.
Fig. 233.—Flower of Borzicactus decumbens. ×0.7.
Figure 232 is from a photograph taken by Dr. Rose near Arequipa, Peru, showing this
plant in the foreground at the base of a ledge; figure 233 shows a flower collected by Juan
Söhrens near Tacna, Chile.
163
BORZICACTUS
6. Borzicactus humboldtii (HBK.).
Cactus humboldtii Humboldt, Bonpland, and Kunth, Nov. Gen. et Sp. 6: 66. 1823.
Cereus humboldtii De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 467. 1828.
Cleistocactus humboldtii Weber in Gosselin, Bull. Mens. Soc. Nice 44: 33. 1904.
Procumbent, cylindric; ribs 10 to 12, low, somewhat tuberculate; spines setose, rigid; flowers
red, about 7 cm. long; flower-tube elongated; the scales bearing long greenish gray hairs; perianthsegments lanceolate, acute, red; filaments slender, glabrous; style much longer than the perianth.
Type locality: Between Sondorillo and San Felipe, Peru.
Distribution: Northern Peru and probably southern Ecuador.
The type locality when this species was collected by Humboldt was located in Ecuador,
but it is now in northern Peru.
Dr. Rose while collecting in Ecuador in 1918 did not reach Peru, but he found in
southern Ecuador near Loja and again in the Catamayo Valley a species of Borzicactus
which seemed to correspond to Cactus humboldtii.
7. Borzicactus plagiostoma (Vaupel).
Cereus plagiostoma Vaupel, Bot. Jahrb. Engler 50: Beibl. 111: 20. 1913.
Columnar, erect, or suberect, about 1 meter high, attenuated and rounded at apex; ribs 15, low;
areoles close together, orbicular; spines numerous, nearly black; flowers numerous, cylindric but
somewhat zygomorphic; ovary bearing many small, ovate, acuminate scales with black felt in axils.
Type locality: San Miguel, Department of Cojamarca, Peru.
Distribution: Peru.
Said to resemble Cleistocactus baumannii, but the relationship is doubtless with the
species which we have referred to Borzicactus. It is known to us only from description
and illustrations.
Illustrations: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 24: 165, 167, as Cereus plagiostoma.
8. Borzicactus aurivillus (Schumann). (See Appendix, p. 226.)
PUBLISHED SPECIES, PERHAPS OF THIS GENUS.
Cleistocactus chotaensis Weber, Bull. Mens. Soc. Nice 44: 7. 1904.
Cereus chotaensis Vaupel, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23: 25. 1913.
Plant 2 meters high; flowers 5 cm. long, orange-colored; limb 2.5 cm. broad; scales on the ovary
bearing long black hairs; stamens as long as the perianth-segments.
Type locality: On the Rio Chota, Peru.
According to Weber this species is similar to one of the so-called species of Cereus
collected by Humboldt from this same general region.
Cereus serpens (HBK.) De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 470.
1828.
Cactus serpens Humboldt, Bonpland, and Kunth, Nov. Gen. et Sp. 6: 68. 1823.
Cleistocactus serpens Weber in Gosselin, Bull. Mens. Soc. Nice 44: 39. 1904.
Stems creeping; branches somewhat angled; areoles 6-angled, spiny; spines 1 to 3.5 cm. long;
flowers tubular, 5 cm. long, flesh-colored; scales few, the upper ones spreading, glabrous; the lower
ones hirsute; inner perianth-segments 8 to 12, lanceolate, acute, arranged in 2 or 3 series; stamens
a little shorter than the perianth-segments; ovary ovate; stigma-lobes 8.
Type locality: Dry barren hills, banks of Rio Guancabamba, near Sondorillo, Ecuador,
now Peru.
Distribution: Known only from the type locality.
This species was originally described f rom Bonpland’s manuscript notes and no
specimens are extant. The type locality is definitely given and it should be re-collected
and positively identified. Kunth, who referred all of Humboldt and Bonpland’s plants to
Cactus, questioned its belonging to the subgenus Cereus, while De Candolle, although
164
THE CACTACEAE.
referring it to Cereus, asks if it may not be an Opuntia. In the original description the
areoles are described as 6-angled, which suggests a cylindric Opuntia with angled tubercles
rather than areoles.
28. CARNEGIEA Britton and Rose, Journ. N. Y. Bot. Gard. 9: 187.
1908.
A large, columnar cactus with stout, erect, many-ribbed stems and branches, the areoles felted
and spiny, the spines of flowering and sterile areoles different; flowers borne singly at the uppermost
areoles, diurnal, funnelform-campanulate, the stout tube nearly cylindric, expanded above into the
throat; scales on tube few, broadly ovate to oblong, acute, bearing small tufts of felt in their axils;
inner perianth-segments white, short, widely spreading or somewhat reflexed when fully expanded;
ovary oblong, covered with scales similar to those of the tube; stamens very numerous,* about threefourths as long as the inner perianth-segments; stigma-lobes 12 to 18, narrowly linear, reaching a
little above the stamens; fruit an oblong, ellipsoid, or somewhat obovoid berry splitting down from
the top into 2 or 3 sections, containing red pulp and bearing small distinct ovate scales, its areoles
spineless or bearing a few short spines; seeds small, very numerous, black and shining; embryo
hooked; cotyledons incumbent; endosperm wanting.
A monotypic genus of the southwestern United States and Sonora. It is dedicated to
Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919), distinguished philanthropist and patron of science.
1. Carnegiea gigantea (Engelmann) Britton and Rose, Journ. N. V. Bot. Gard. 9: 188.
1908.
Cereus giganteus Engelmann in Emory, Mil. Reconn. 159. 1848.†
Pilocereus engelmannii Lemaire, Illustr. Hort. 9: Misc. 97. 1862.
Pilocereus giganteus Rümpler in Förster, Hand. Cact. ed. 2. 662. 1885.
Stem simple and upright, up to 12 meters high, or with one or two lateral branches, or sometimes with 8 to 12 branches, the branches 3 to 6.5 dm. in diameter; ribs 12 to 24, obtuse, 1 to 3 cm.
high; areoles about 2.5 cm. apart or nearly contiguous on the upper part of the plant, densely brownfelted; spines of two kinds, those at the top of flowering plants acicular, yellowish brown, porrect,
those of sterile plants and on the lower parts of flowering plants more or less subulate, the central
ones stouter than the radials, often 7 cm. long; flowers 10 to 12 cm. long, sometimes nearly as broad
as long when fully expanded; tube about 1.5 cm. long, green, its scales broad and short, white-felted
in their axils; throat about 3 cm. long, covered with numerous white stamens; style stout, 5 to 6
cm. long, white or cream-colored; ovary somewhat tuberculate, bearing scales with woolly axils;
ovules numerous; berry red or purple, obtuse, 6 to 9 cm. long, edible, its few, distant scales ovate,
2 to 4 mm. long, with or without 1 to 3 short acicular spines in their axils.
Type locality: Along the Gila River, Arizona.
Distribution: Arizona, southeastern California, and Sonora, Mexico.
The size of the giant cactus is usually overestimated, for it is generally stated to be
from 15 to 24.4 meters high, while the tallest plants actually measured are not over 12
meters high. Dr. MacDougal reports weighing a plant which was approximately 5.5 meters
high, which weighed nearly 770 kilograms. There are a number of Mexican and South
American species which are taller and which would weigh more than Carnegiea gigantea;
Lemaireocereus weberi must be many times heavier.
Although this species was not described until 1848, it seems to have been known to the
early missionaries in California and Mexico (about 1540). It is referred to by Humboldt,
according to Engelmann, in his work on New Spain (2: 225). According to Dr. MacDougal, the first Anglo-Saxon observation of Carnegiea gigantea was made by J. O. Pattee
in 1825.
* Dr. Charles E. Bessey (Science n. s. 40: 680. 1914) reports that he had the stamens in one flower counted, and
found that there were 3,482, while one ovary contained 1,980 ovules.
† It is usually stated that this species was published on page 158, this even being the reference given by Engelmann
himself. Emory’s report, in which this species was described, was printed at least twice the same year and about
the same date, once as a Senate Document (Executive Document No. 7) and once as a House Document (Executive
Document No. 41). In the former Cereus giganteus occurs on page 159 and in the latter on page 158. There has
been considerable speculation and much difference of opinion as to which edition was published first, but we have
recently come into possession of Emory’s personal copy of the Senate Document No. 7 marked “with manuscript
corrections by the author.” From this copy the type of the other edition was set up.
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
PLATE XXII
M. E. Eaton del.
Top of flowering plant of Carnegiea gigantea.
(Natural size.)
A HOEN & CO
CARNEGIEA
165
This is sometimes called pitahaya, but it is more generally known in the • Southwest by
the Indian name of sahuaro or saguaro.* The ripe fruit is much used by the Indians.
While the fruit of this cactus sometimes bears short spines, we have not observed
spines in the areoles of the ovary, and presume that they develop during the growth of the
berry, as they are known to do in some other cacti.
Fig. 234.—Carnegiea gigantea.
Papago Saguaro, one of the United States National Monuments, is named for this
plant. This monument, consisting of over 2,000 acres of desert land, is situated about 9
miles east of Phoenix, Arizona, where there is a wonderful display of Carnegiea gigantea
on the rocky hillsides.
The sahuaro is the State flower of Arizona.
Dr. Forrest Shreve has contributed the following account of the sahuaro:
“The geographical range of the sahuaro extends from the headwaters of the Yaqui River in
southern Sonora northward to the southern edge of the Colorado Plateau In Sonora it is rarely
*The following are some of the other published spellings of this name: suaharo, suguaro, suwarrow, suwarro,
and zuwarrow.
166
THE CACTACEAE.
found more than 150 miles inland from the coast of the Gulf of California, and in southern Arizona
its range follows approximately the contour of 3,500 feet on the east and north, and the lower course
of the Colorado River on the west. It is found in California only in three restricted localities on the
Colorado River and reaches its northern limit on that stream at a point about 40 miles north of the
mouth of the Bill Williams Fork.
“The occurrence of the sahuaro is by no means continuous throughout this area, for it is never
found in deep alluvial soil and is relatively rare on the nearly level plains in the drainages of the
Altar, Santa Cruz, and Gila rivers. It is extremely abundant on coarse detrital soils adjacent to
the larger and smaller mountains and is very common wherever there is rock in place, ascending the
mountains in diminishing numbers to an elevation of about 4,500 feet. The absence of the sahuaro
from alluvial soils is undoubtedly related to the adverse conditions of soil aeration in these areas,
and possibly to the lack of good mechanical support.
“The localities in which the sahuaro reaches its greatest size and abundance are the uppermost
portions of the slopes adjacent to small mountain ranges and hills, particularly where there is a
southern or southwestern exposure. In localities of this sort throughout southwestern Arizona,
it reaches a height of 30 to 35 feet, which is very seldom exceeded. Individuals of this size are freely
branched and often have a gross weight of as much as 6 to 8 tons. In the vicinity of Tucson branching begins on attaining a height of about 15 feet, but on the edges of the range of this cactus branching individuals are relatively uncommon and the maximum size is rarely reached.
“The flowers of the sahuaro are borne at the crown of the main trunk and the lateral branches,
usually appearing in May, while the fruit matures some weeks in advance of the summer rainy season.
The small seeds are borne in great profusion, but are eaten by birds and ants so rapidly that the
crop is seriously decimated before the requisite conditions for germination occur. The seeds
germinate readily at the high temperatures of the summer rainy season, but the growth of the seedlings is extremely slow, so that the end of the second year finds them only one-fourth of an inch in
height, and at an age of 8 to 10 years they are still less than 4 inches high. The growth continues to
be slow up to a height of 3 feet or more, so that individuals of that size are approximately 30 years
of age. After reaching this size the growth rate is rapidly accelerated until it reaches a maximum
of about 4 inches per year. The largest individuals are 150 to 200 years of age.
“The sahuaro appears to suffer from very few diseases and natural enemies, the greatest
decimation in its numbers being occasioned by mechanical agencies. When struck by lightning
or wounded in any other manner during the dry season, it recovers very rapidly by the formation
of a heavy callus over the wounded spot. If it is wounded in the rainy season, however, bacterial
decay sets in very rapidly and a large plant may be destroyed in less than a week as a result of a
small wound. The nests made in them by woodpeckers are always lined by heavy callus and appear
to occasion no permanent injury.
“The roots of the sahuaro are shallowly placed and widely extended, often reaching a distance
of 50 to 60 feet from the base of the plant. The woody tissue may be compared to a series of bamboo
fishing rods arranged parallel to each other in the form of a cylinder. These woody rods increase in
thickness with the age of the plant, so that they form a very substantial framework at the base while
they taper at the summit to slender elastic rods. The fleshy tissue is found both within and outside
the circle of the woody rods and the water content of these two regions appears to be the same.
Determinations made near the top of the plant indicate that there is 98 per cent of water on the
basis of the wet weight. There are great fluctuations in the water content of the tissue from season
to season and it has been shown that large quantities of water are taken up during the rainy seasons, particularly in the summer, and that this water is gradually
lost during the dry seasons, particularly in May and June. The sahuaro, like
many other cacti, is able by reason of its external form to adjust its size to
these fluctuations in volume.
“This plant is an extremely useful one to the aborigines of its natural range.
The heavy rods are used as construction material in building houses and enclosures, and the fruit and seeds are used for making both food and drink by the
Papago and Pima Indians.”
Illustrations: Amer. Bot. 20: 87; Journ. N. Y. Bot. Gard. 9: f. 32;
pl. 49 to 52 Nat. Geogr. Mag. 21: 651; Safford, Ann. Rep. Smiths. Inst.
1908: f. 20; Shreve, Veg. Des. Mt. Range pl. 3 b, 4, 5 to 8; St. Nicholas
42: 366. Amer. Gard. 11: 451, 528; Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethn. 26: pl.
8, f. b; pl. 9; Bull. Torr. Club 32: pl. 3, 4; Cact. Journ. 2: 84, 130;
Cact. Mex. Bound. pl. 61, 62; Curtis’s Bot. Mag. 118: pl. 7222; Cycl.
Fig. 235.—Fruit of
Carnegiea gigantea. ×0.6.
B R IT TON A ND ROSE, VOL. II
P L ATE X X I I I
167
BINGHAMIA
Amer. Hort. Bailey 1: f. 413; Emory, Mil. Reconn. pl. opp. 72; Fl. Serr. 10: pl. 977 a;
15: pl. 1600; Gard. Chron. III. 45: f. 69; Gartenflora 31: 217; Hornaday, Camp-fires on
Des. and Lava opp. 42, 68, 72, 82, 154; Lumholtz, New Trails in Mex. opp. 48;
Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 10: 187; Bot. Wheeler Surv. frontispiece; Nat. Geogr. Mag. 21:
711; Orcutt, Cact. 5; Plant World 9: f. 46; 11 5: f. 2; 11 10: f. 2 to 4; Rümpler, Sukkulenten
f. 63; Sargent, Man. Trees N. Amer. f. 558; Dict. Gard. Nicholson Suppl. f. 231; Garden 1:
263; Vegetationsbilder 4: pl. 40. b; pl. 41, 42; Garten-Zeitung 3: 58. f. 15; MacDougal,
Bot. N. Amer. Des. pl. 48, 54 to 56, mostly as Cereus giganteus; Nat. Geogr. Mag. 27: 85,
as Cactus; Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 663. f. 88, as Pilocereus giganteus; Journ. Intern.
Gard. Club 3: 17.
Plate xxii shows the top of a plant, brought to the New York Botanical Garden by
Dr. MacDougal in 1903, in flower June 1912; plate xxiii is from a photograph taken by
Dr. MacDougal near Tucson, Arizona. Figure 234 is from a photograph also taken by Dr.
MacDougal, 60 miles west of Tucson, showing a single plant; figure 235 shows the fruit
collected by Dr. MacDougal, near Tucson, in 1905.
29. BINGHAMIA gen. nov.
Bushy, more or less branched cacti, the stout branches many-ribbed; ribs low, usually very
spiny; flowers white, solitary at an areole, funnelform-campanulate, opening at night, of medium
size, the tube straight and stout; style exserted; stamens weak and reclining on the underside of
tube; scales on ovary and tube small, narrow, bearing a few hairs in their axils but no spines; fruit
turgid, juicy, globular, crowned by the withering-persistent flower; seeds black, small.
We recognize 2 species in this genus, inhabitants of western Peru; it is dedicated to
Hiram Bingham, Director of the Yale University Expedition to Peru, 1914-1915. The
type species is Cephalocereus melanostele Vaupel.
Key to Species.
Upper areoles of the flowering plant long-bristly, bearing spines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. B. melanostele
Upper areoles bearing acicular spines similar to those of the lower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. B. acrantha
1. Binghamia melanostele (Vaupel).
Cephalocereus melanostele Vaupel, Bot. Jahrb. Engler 50: Beibl. 111: 12. 1913.
Much branched at base, the 10 to 12 branches
strict, usually only 1 meter high; ribs 18 to 22
(perhaps sometimes more), low, close together;
areoles approximate, circular, bearing short white
and yellow spines; spines very numerous, diverse,
those on sterile branches stiff and pungent, the
Fig. 236.—Binghamia melanostele.
Fig. 237.—Binghamia acrantha.
168
THE CACTACEAE.
central and longer ones sometimes 3 cm. long, those on old and flowering branches numerous, when
young brownish, in age nearly white, all weak, bristle-like, 3 to 8 cm. long, hardly pungent; flowers
4 to 5 cm. long, white; scales on ovary and tube minute, numerous, bearing tufts of white wool in
their axils; immature fruit sometimes longer than broad; mature fruit either globular or a little depressed, red, said ‘to be edible, bearing scattered minute areoles with small tufts of wool; pulp white;
seeds numerous, black.
Type locality: Near Chosica, Peru, at 800 meters altitude.
Distribution: Mountains of western Peru.
The top of the flowering plant is made up of a compact mass of long white or yellowish
bristle-like spines from one side of which the flowers appear, and this F. Vaupel has termed
a lateral cephalium.
Plate xxiv, figure 3, shows the top of a sterile plant brought by Dr. Rose from the type
locality in 1914. Figure 236 is from a photograph taken by Dr. Rose at Santa Clara, Peru,
in 1914; figure 238 shows the fruit of the plant photographed at Santa Clara.
Fig. 238.—Fruit of B.
melanostele. ×0.6.
Fig. 239.—Flower of Binghamia
acrantha. ×0.7.
Fig. 240.—Fruit of Binghamia
acrantha. ×0.7.
2. Binghamia acrantha (Vaupel).
Cereus acranthus Vaupel, Bot. Jahrb. Engler 50: Beibl. 111: 14. 1913.
Stems 1 to 3 meters high, much branched at base, the branches usually erect, 5 to 8 cm. thick;
ribs 12 to 14, low, somewhat tuberculate above, but on older parts with mere constrictions; areoles
large, approximate, felted and spiny; felt at first yellow, then brown, finally black; spines at first
yellow, numerous, short, and spreading, except the 1 or 2 centrals, which are stouter, 3 to 4 cm. long,
porrect or reflexed; flowers opening in the early evening; flower 6 to 7 cm. long, gradually tapering
upward from base, about 2.5 cm. in diameter at the top; scales on ovary and flower-tube small,
acute, with small tufts of wool in their axils; upper scales and outer perianth-segments mauve;
limb 4 to 5 cm. broad when fully expanded; inner perianth-segments usually white, sometimes
greenish, oblong, obtuse, 2 to 2.5 cm. long; style cream-colored, much exserted; stigma-lobes greenish;
fruit red, its pulp white, edible, slightly acid.
Type locality: Santa Clara, east of Lima, Peru.
Distribution: Very common on the hills above Lima, from Santa Clara to Matucana.
This is one of the most common species in central Peru, being especially abundant on
the hillsides and in the narrow valleys between the hills, but not extending down into the
broad valleys. It often forms dense thickets. In the lower parts of its range, where the
fogs are abundant, especially about Santa Clara, the branches are often covered with
lichens and tillandsias.
Our specimens of flowers were obtained by bringing in fully developed buds and allowing them to open; these began to open about 6 o’clock in the evening and were fully
expanded at 9.
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
M. E. Eaton del.
PLATE XXIV
1. Top of flowering branch of Harrisia fernowii.
2. Top of f ruiting joint of Harrisia bonplandii.
3. Top of branch of Binghamia melanostele.
(Natural size.)
A HOEN & CO
169
RATHBUNIA
The name Pilocereus acranthus was proposed by Schumann (see plate 5 b of Engler and
Drude, Veg. Erde 12: 1911), but was never published.
Illustration: Engler and Drude, Veg. Erde 12: pl. 5 b, as Pilocereus acranthus.
Figure 237 is from a photograph taken by Dr. Rose at the type locality in 1914;
figure 239 shows the flower, and figure 240 the fruit of the plants photographed.
30. RATHBUNIA Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 414.
1909.
Rather slender cacti, simple or bushy, the stems and branches weak, erect or bent; ribs few, 4
to 8, prominent; spines subulate, those of the flowering areoles not differing from the others; flowers
diurnal, scarlet, solitary, usually at the upper areoles, narrowly tubular, the tube bearing distant
long scales and united with it except at the tip, elongated, at first straight, or in age somewhat
curved, the limb more or less oblique; perianth-segments short, spreading or reflexed: filaments
exserted; style slender, exserted beyond the tube; stigma-lobes narrow; ovary with small scales bearing
short felt and sometimes spines in their axils; fruit capped by the withered flower, spiny or becoming
smooth, globular; seeds of the typical species black, compressed, minutely pitted, with a large basal
oblique hilum.
This genus commemorates Dr. Richard Rathbun (1852-1918), Assistant Secretary of
the Smithsonian Institution in charge of the United States National Museum, a well-known
authority on marine invertebrates.
Type species: Cereus sonorensis Runge.
We here include 2 species, natives of western Mexico.
Key to Species.
Ribs 5 to 8; flowers 4 to 10 cm. long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. R. alamosensis
Ribs 4; flowers 12 cm. long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. R. kerberi
1. Rathbunia alamosensis (Coulter) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 415.
1909.
Cereus alamosensis Coulter, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 3: 406. 1896.
Cereus sonorensis Runge in Schumann, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 11: 135. 1901.
Rathbunia sonorensis Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 415. 1909.
Cereus pseudosonorensis Gürke, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 20: 147. 1910.
Columnar, 2 to 3 meters high, at first erect but generally finally bent or curved, 8 cm. thick or
less, rooting at or near the tip and thus forming new plants; ribs 5 to 8, obtuse; radial spines about
11 to 18, spreading, straight, whitish; centrals 1 to 4, much stouter than the radials, 3 to 5 cm. long,
porrect or ascending; flowers scarlet, 4 to 10 cm. long; scales on ovary small, acute or obtuse, with a
small tuft of felt and a few bristle-like spines in the axils, those on the flower-tube with a tuft of
felt and sometimes with a spine; tube-proper 1.5 cm. long; style
nearly white; stigma-lobes 6, cream-colored; ovary tuberculate; fruit
red, globular, 3 to 4 cm. in diameter, naked or bearing scattered
clusters of 5 or 6 white acicular spines.
Type locality: Near Alamos, Sonora, Mexico.
Distribution: Southern Sonora, Sinaloa, and Tepic,
Mexico.
The plant grows in large clusters sometimes 8 meters in
diameter; its flowers are various in size, and the perianthlimb is apparently quite variable in the degree of obliquity.
In Mexico the plant is called cina.
Cereus simonii Hildmann (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 5: 43.
1895), an unpublished name, according to Schumann and
Gürke, belongs here. Schumann at one time described this Fig. 241.—Flower of Rathbunia alamosensis. ×0.7.
plant as Cereus stellatus, a very different plant from
Fig. 242.—Flower of same, cut open.
southern Mexico which we have described elsewhere as
×0.7.
Lemaireocereus stellatus (see page 92, ante).
Illustrations: Blühende Kakteen 3: pl. 122; Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 11: 135; Rep.
Mo. Bot. Gard. 16: pl. 3, f. 5, all as Cereus sonorensis; Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen
Nachtr. f. 4, as Cereus stellatus.
170
THE CACTACEAE.
Plate xxv, figure 1, shows the top of a plant received from the Missouri Botanical
Garden in 1904, which flowered in the New York Botanical Garden, June 23, 1915; figure
2 shows a flowering piece of a plant sent to the New York Botanical Garden from Guaymas,
Mexico, by Dr. Rose in 1910. Figures 241 and 242 show flowers of a plant collected by Dr.
MacDougal at Torres, Sonora, in 1902.
2. Rathbunia kerberi (Schumann) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 415.
1909.
Cereus kerberi Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 89. 1897.
Cleistocactus kerberi Gosselin, Bull. Mens. Soc. Nice 44: 33. 1904.
Columnar, somewhat branched, 2 meters high; ribs 4, compressed; radial spines about 16,
subulate; central spines 4, stouter than the radials, 4.5 cm. long; flowers 12 cm. long; outer perianthsegments linear-lanceolate, rose-colored, reflexed; stamens exserted; scales on the ovary lanate in
the axils.
Type locality: On Volcano of Colima, Mexico.
Distribution: Known only from the type locality.
Dr. Rose saw flowers of this plant in the herbarium of the Botanical Garden at Berlin
in 1912 and noted that it was a Rathbunia; otherwise it is known to us only from description. In transferring it to Rathbunia (loc. cit.) we associated specimens with it from Sinaloa
and Tepic, Mexico, which now appear better referable to Rathbunia alamosensis, although
the flowers are longer than in typical specimens (8 to 10 cm. long) and somewhat curved.
31. ARROJADOA gen. nov.
Stems low, much branched, cylindric; roots fibrous; ribs numerous, low, straight; areoles close
together, bearing small acicular spines; flowers diurnal, borne in a pseudocephalium at the top of
stem or branch, small, red or pink, resembling in color and size that of a large Cactus (Melocactus),
nearly cylindric, the tube short; perianth-segments in several rows, short, erect; stamens and style
included; fruit a small, oblong, naked, juicy berry; seeds small, black.
This is a peculiar genus, with no very close allies. The original reference of its two
species to Cereus is not warranted by any taxonomic considerations, for the structure,
origin, and shape of the flowers and fruit are quite different. In size and form the flower is
similar to Lophocereus, but here the resemblance ends. Its terminal pseudocephalium is
most characteristic, for instead of remaining as a permanent crown of the plant it forms a
lateral collar for the new joint which is projected through its center.
The name is in honor of Dr. Miguel Arrojado Lisboa, the present superintendent of
Estrada de Ferro Central de Brazil, to whom Brazil is indebted for the extensive botanical
exploration of the semiarid regions made a few years ago.
The genus contains 2 species, of which Cereus rhodanthus is selected as the type.
Key to Species.
Branches short and thick, 2 to 4 cm. in diameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. A. rhodantha
Branches long and slender, 1 to 1.5 cm. in diameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. A. penicillata
1. Arrojadoa rhodantha (Gürke).
Cereus rhodanthus Gürke, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 18: 69. 1908.
Low, 1 to 2 meters long, at first erect, afterwards branching and clambering; joints short,
cylindric, 2 to 4 cm. in diameter; ribs 10 to 13. low; areoles small, approximate, usually less than 1
cm. apart; spines at first brown, in age white, the central ones similar to the radials except a little
longer, when young accompanied by some long cobwebby hairs; bristles at the tops of the joints
long, brown; flowers solitary at the upper areoles, forming in clusters of 12 to 14 at the tops of
branches, pink, rigid, 3 to 4 cm. long; ovary and lower part of tube naked; uppermost scales and
perianth-segments similar, obtuse; stamens numerous, included; fruit red, oblong to obovate, about
2 cm. long.
Type locality: Caatinga de São Raimundo, Piauhy, Brazil.
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
PLATE XXV
A HOEN & CO
M. E. Eaton del.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Flowering branches of Rathbunia alamosensis.
Flowering branches of Rathbunia alamosensis.
Top of flowering branch of Borzicactus acanthurus.
Top of stem of Arrojadoa rhodantha.
(All natural size.)
171
ARROJADOA
Distribution: Arid parts of Bahia and
Piauhy, Brazil.
Plate xxv, figure 4, shows the flowering
top of a plant obtained by Dr. Rose near
Joazeiro, Brazil, in 1915, which flowered soon
afterward in the New York Botanical Garden;
plate xxvii, figure 1, shows a fruiting branch
of a plant collected by Dr. Rose near Salgada,
Bahia, in 1915.
2. Arrojadoa penicillata (Gürke).
Cereus penicillatus Gürke, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 18: 70. 1908.
Plant slender, 1 to 2 meters high, much
branched, often bushy, the branches 1 to 1.5 cm.
in diameter; ribs usually 10, low; areoles small,
close together; spines several; radial spines short,
spreading; central spines longer, often 2 to 3 cm.
long; pseudocephalium at the top of the joint
2 to 3 cm. in diameter, made up of long brown
bristles and white wool; flowers 6 to 20 in a cluster,
dark pink, 3 cm. long; fruit small, a little longer
than broad, 1.5 cm. long, smooth, without scales,
purplish, juicy; seeds numerous, black.
Type locality: Calderão, Bahia, Brazil.
Distribution: State of Bahia, Brazil.
Figure 243 is from a photograph taken
by Paul G. Russell at Machado Portella,
Bahia, in 1915.
Fig. 243.—Arrojadoa penicillata.
32. OREOCEREUS (Berger) Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 258. 1909.
Plants forming large clusters, usually low, erect, ascending or even prostrate, without a
cephalium, but the areoles developing long white hairs, especially toward the tips of old branches,
the stout stems and branches strongly ribbed; ribs strongly armed with spines; flowers slender,
elongated, somewhat curved, diurnal; tube nearly cylindric, slightly expanded upward, the limb
short, spreading, somewhat oblique, the inner perianth-segments dark red, narrow; filaments
numerous, slender, exserted, attached all over the throat; anthers narrow, red; style long, exserted,
with short green stigma-lobes; ovary and flower-tube bearing small narrow scales, with long black
and white hairs in their axils; fruit globular, spineless, dry, dehiscing (like Echinocactus) by a basal
opening; seeds numerous, dull black, with a large truncated hilum.
The name is from the Greek, signifying mountain-cereus. The genus is monotypic, in
so far as known to us. The following species inhabits the Andes:
1. Oreocereus celsianus (Lemaire) Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Palermo 8: 259.
1909.
Pilocereus celsianus Lemaire in Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 185. 1850.
Pilocereus fossulatus Labouret, Rev. Hort. IV. 4: 24. 1855.
Pilocereus bruennowii Haage in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 651. 1885.
Pilocereus fossulatus gracilis Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 661. 1885.
Pilocereus fossulatus pilosior Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 661. 1885.
?Pilocereus kanzleri Haage in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 671. 1885.
Pilocereus celsianus lanuginosior Salm-Dyck in Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 180. 1897.
Pilocereus celsianus gracilior Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 180. 1897.
Pilocereus celsianus williamsii Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 180. 1897.
Pilocereus celsianus bruennowii Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 180. 1897.
Cleistocactus celsianus Weber in Gosselin, Bull. Mens. Soc. Nice 44: 44. 1904.
Cereus celsianus Berger, Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 16: 64. 1905.
?Pilocereus straussii Heese, Gartenflora 56: 410. 1907.
?Cereus straussii Vaupel, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23: 37. 1913.
Oreocereus celsianus bruennowii Britton and Rose, Stand. Cycl. Hort. Bailey 4: 2404. 1916.
172
THE CACTACEAE.
A bushy cactus, about 1 meter high, the slender branches either prostrate or ascending below,
erect above, about 8 cm. thick; ribs about 10, obtuse, 1 cm. high, more or less broken up into
tubercles; areoles bearing long hairs and several stout yellow spines sometimes over 5 cm. long;
flowers borne near the tops of the stems, slender, 7 to 9 cm. long; limb 2 to 3 cm. broad; scales of the
perianth-tube narrowly lanceolate, long-acuminate, 5 to 6 mm. long, much shorter than the hairs;
inner perianth-segments linear to linear-oblong, acutish, the outer obtuse; fruit about 3 cm. in
diameter, essentially smooth when mature, the basal
pore about 5 mm. in diameter.
Type locality: Mountains of Bolivia.
Distribution: Bolivia, southern Peru, and
northern Chile.
Pilocereus celsianus fossulatus Labouret (Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 660. 1885) was given by
Rümpler as a synonym of P. fossulatus. Pilocereus foveolatus Labouret (Rev. Hort. 1862: 428.
1862) was given by Lemaire as a synonym of
Fig. 244.—Oreocereus celsianus.
P. celsianus. Pilocereus williamsii Lemaire (Rev. Hort.
1862: 428. 1862), only a name, is usually referred here.
Illustrations: De Laet, Cat. Gen. f. 50, No. 7; Knippel, Kakteen pl. 28; Wiener, Ill. Gart. Zeit. 29: f. 22, No.
7, all as Pilocereus celsianus; Cact. Journ. 2: 5; Gard.
Chron. 1873: f. 197, both as Pilocereus fossulatus; Dict.
Gard. Nicholson 3: f. 151; Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. f.
86, both as Pilocereus bruennowii; Monatsschr. Kakteenk.
14: 169, as Pilocereus celsianus bruennowii; Rep. Mo. Bot.
Gard. 16: pl. 2, as Cereus celsianus; Gartenflora 56: f. 49,
as Pilocereus straussii; Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 24: 131, as
Pilocereus celsianus lanuginosior.
Figure 244 is from a photograph taken by Dr. Rose
above Arequipa, Peru, in 1914; figure 245 5 from a
photograph of a joint; figure 246 shows the flower, and
figure 247 the immature fruit of the plant photographed.
Fig. 245.—Oreocereus celsianus.
Fig. 246.—Flower of Oreocereus celsianus.
×0.7.
Fig. 247.—Fruit of same. ×0.7.
173
FACHEIROA—CLEISTOCACTUS
PUBLISHED SPECIES, PERHAPS NEAR OREOCEREUS CELSIANUS.
Cereus monvilleanus Weber in Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 67. 1897.
Cleistocactus monvilleanus Weber in Gosselin, Bull. Mens. Soc. Nice 44: 45. 1904.
Columnar, branching; ribs 19, obtuse, somewhat sinuate; radial spines about 20, setaceous or
acicular.
Distribution: Uncertain. Perhaps Peru, Bolivia, or Ecuador.
According to Weingart, this species is near Cereus aurivillus and, if so, it is a Borzicactus. So far as we are aware, its flowers are unknown. We have never seen specimens
of it.
33. FACHEIROA gen. nov.
Trunk short, with numerous slender, erect or ascending branches; ribs numerous, spiny; flowers
borne in a pseudocephalium, this densely brown or red-felted; flowers small, the ovary and flowertube covered with long silky brown or red hairs; tube-proper short, smooth within; throat short,
not hairy at base, bearing numerous short, included stamens; inner perianth-segments short, white;
fruit small, globular, greenish, and gelatinous within; seeds black, tuberculate, with a large basal
hilum.
Dr. Zehntner states that the habit of this plant is like Cereus squamosus, but that the
plants differ in the manner of producing their flowers. The flowers, although about
the same size, show that the two species are generically different. The generic name is from
the common Brazilian one used for a number of the cacti, this one being called facheiro
preto da Serra de Cannabrava. Only one species is known.
1. Facheiroa publiflora sp. nov.
Erect, 1.5 to 5 meters high, much branched; trunk short, 10 to 12 cm. in diameter; branches
slender, elongated, 5 to 7 cm. in diameter, at first light green, in age grayish green; ribs about 15,
low, 5 to 6 mm. high; areoles 1 cm. apart, brown-felted; spines brownish, all acicular; radial spines
10 to 12; central spines 3 or 4, somewhat longer than the radials, often 2 to 2.5 cm. long; pseudocephalium extending from the top downward for 2 dm. or more, 2 to 4 cm. broad, composed of a
dense mass of short brown or red hairs; flowers 3 to 3.5 cm. long; tube-proper about 1 cm. long,
smooth within; inner perianth-segments orbicular, 3 to 4 mm. in diameter; style slender, glabrous;
scales on ovary and flower-tube small, 2 to 6 mm. long, greenish, glabrous, obscured by the long
hairs from the axils of other scales; fruit about 2 cm. in diameter, hairy; seeds 1.5 mm. long.
Collected by Leo Zehntner on the Serra de Cannabrava (Chique-Chique district)
Bahia, Brazil, October 1917
34. CLEISTOCACTUS Lemaire, Illustr. Hort. 8: Misc. 35.
1861.
Slender, erect or, clambering cacti, with numerous low ribs and approximate areoles; flowers
slender, tubular, the perianth withering-persistent on the fruit; perianth-segments small, erect, red
to green; stamens and style exserted; ovary and flower-tube with numerous appressed scales bearing
long hairs or wool in their axils; fruit small, globular, highly colored, becoming naked; pulp white;
seeds black, slightly punctate.
Type species: Cereus baumannii Lemaire.
Berger recognizes only 1 species, but mentions 3 of Cereus (C. hyalacanthus, C. laniceps,
and C. parviflorus) which may belong here, while Roland-Gosselin recognizes 14 species.
16 species have been described in the genus. We recognize 3 species. The name is from
the Greek, signifying closed-cactus, referring to the unexpanded limb of the flower.
Key to Species.
Flowers red or green.
Flower-tube bent; inner perianth-segments red . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. C. baumannii
Flower-tube straight; inner perianth-segments green . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. C. smaragdiflorus
Flowers orange-yellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. C. anguinus
174
THE CACTACEAE.
1. Cleistocactus baumannii Lemaire, Illustr. Hort. 8: Misc. 35.
1861.
Cereus baumannii Lemaire, Hort. Univ. 5: 126. 1844.
Cereus colubrinus Otto in Förster, Handb. Cact. 409. 1846.
Cereus tweediei Hooker in Curtis’s Bot. Mag. 76: pl. 4498. 1850.
Aporocactus baumannii Lemaire, Illustr. Hort. 7: Misc. 68. 1860.
Aporocactus colubrinus Lemaire, Illustr. Hort. 7: Misc. 68. 1860.
Cleistocactus colubrinus Lemaire, Illustr. Hort. 8: Misc. 35. 1861.
Cereus baumannii colubrinus Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 133. 1897.
Cereus baumannii flavspinus Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 133. 1897.
Cleistocactus baumannii colubrinus Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 266. 1909.
Cleistocactus baumannii flavispinus Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 266. 1909.
Somewhat branching at base, 2 meters high or more, 2.5 to 3.5 cm. in diameter, dark green; ribs
12 to 16, low; areoles approximate, brown or black-felted; spines acicular, 15 to 20, white, yellow,
or brown, 4 cm. long or less; flower orange to scarlet, 5 to 7 cm. long, narrow, 1 cm. in diameter,
curved, with oblique limb; scales on ovary and flower-tube ovate, acute; perianth-segments short
and broad, acute; stamens numerous, shortly exserted, appressed against the upper part of the
flower-tube; fruit 1 to 1.5 cm. in diameter, red with white pulp.
Type locality: Not cited.
Distribution: Argentina; reported also from Paraguay and Uruguay.
Cereus subtortuosus Hortus (Förster, Handb. Cact. 409. 1846) was given as a synonym
of Cereus colubrinus. Cereus colubrinus flavispinus Salm-Dyck (Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1844. 32.
1845) seems never to have been described though Schumann takes it up under C. baumannii
and attributes it to Salm-Dyck. Förster in his
Handbuch refers it as a synonym of C. colubrinus.
According to Weingart, C. grossei (Monatsschr.
Kakteenk. 18: 8. 1908) is only a variety of this
species, while C. anguiniformis (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 18: 6. 1908) is true C. baumannii.
Illustrations: Blühende Kakteen 1: pl. 57; Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 13: 139; Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard.
16: pl. 9, f. 2 to 5; pl. 12, f. 2, all as Cereus baumannii; Curtis’s Bot. Mag. 76: pl. 4498; Fl. Serr. 6:
pl. 559; Loudon, Encycl. Pl. ed. 3. f. 19394, all as
Cereus tweediei.
Plate xxvii, figure 2, shows a flowering top of a
plant in the New York Botanical Garden.
2. Cleistocactus smaragdiflorus (Weber).
Cereus smaragdiflorus Weber, Dict. Hort. Bois 281. 1894.
Cereus baumannii smaragdiflorus Weber in Schumann,
Gesamtb. Kakteen 134. 1897.
Stems slender, 2 to 2.5 cm. in diameter; ribs low,
12 to 14; radial spines numerous, acicular; central spines
porrect, several, stouter, the longer ones 2 cm. long,
yellowish to dark brown; flowers small, 4 to 5 cm. long,
straight, a little constricted above the ovary, the tube
and ovary red; upper scales on flower-tube and outer
perianth-segments with a long mucro; perianth-segments
small, green, acute to mucronate; filaments included;
style slightly exserted; stigma-lobes 5 to 8; fruit globose,
1.5 cm. in diameter; seeds small, black.
Type locality: Not cited.
Distribution: Provinces of Jujuy, Salta, CataFig. 248.—Cleistocactus smaragdiflorus
marca, and La Rioja, Argentina.
We have known little of this species until quite recently. In 1917 Dr. Shafer collected
on a dry sandy bank at Caliligua, Jujuy, a plant (No. 69) which was sent to the New York
Botanical Garden, where it flowered while this volume was going through the press.
175
CLEISTOCACTUS
The flowers are so different from the typical species that there is some doubt in our
minds whether it is a true Cleistocactus.
Through the kindness of Dr. Juan A. Dominguez, director of the Museo Farma
Cologico at Buenos Aires, Dr. Rose was permitted to bring to the United States certain
critical specimens for detail study. Among these plants were flowers of a Cleistocactus,
straight and regular but much larger than those of C. smaragdiflorus. Unfortunately, only
flowers were preserved. These may be described as follows: flowers 6 to 7 cm. long,
straight; outer perianth-segments apiculate; inner perianth-segments oblong, obtuse or
rounded; stamens and style exserted. The plant was collected by Fritz Claren in Jujuy,
Department of Santa Catalina, altitude 3,400 to 4,300 meters, in 1901 (No. 11576). It is
probably an undescribed species, but it deserves further study.
The name Cereus colubrinus smaragdiflorus Weber (Dict. Hort. Bois 281. 1894), without
formal publication, is implied, but the name was not actually used until later (Monatsschr.
Kakteenk. 15: 122. 1905).
Illustrations: Blühende Kakteen 2: pl. 87 Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 15: 123, both as
Cereus smaragdiflorus.
Figure 248 is from a photograph of an Argentine specimen communicated by Dr.
Spegazzini as typical.
3. Cleistocactus anguinus (Gürke).
Cereus anguinus Gürke, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 17: 166. 1907.
Branches decumbent; ribs 10 or 11, low; radial spines 18 to 22, grayish but brownish at base
and apex, slender; central spines 1 or 2, stouter than the radials, yellowish; flowers somewhat onesided, tubular, 7 cm. long, orange-yellow, 7.5 cm. long; stamens exserted.
Type locality: Paraguay.
Distribution: Paraguay.
We have studied a small plant in the collection of the New York Botanical Garden
received from the Berlin Botanical Garden in 1914; vegetatively this resembles Cleistocactus baumannii. We also refer here a plant collected by J. A. Shafer at Paraguavi,
Paraguay, March 21, 22, 1917 (No. 144).
PUBLISHED SPECIES, KNOWN TO US ONLY FROM DESCRIPTION.
Cleistocactus laniceps (Schumann) Gosselin, Bull. Mens. Soc. Nice 44: 32.
1904.
Cereus laniceps Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 93. 1897.
Upright, 4 meters high or less; branches 5 cm. thick; ribs 9, blunt; areoles large, 6 mm. in
diameter or more; spines usually 3 at an areole in a vertical row, subulate, gray, about 1.5 cm. long;
flowers from a single rib, 3.5 cm. long; ovary spherical, 5 mm. long, covered with subulate scales,
these bearing copious brown wool in their axils; fruit red, woolly, 1 cm. in diameter. It was collected
near Tunari, Bolivia, at 1,300 meters altitude.
Cleistocactus parvisetus (Otto) Weber in Gosselin, Bull. Mens. Soc. Nice 44: 46.
1904.
Cereus parvisetus Otto in Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 79. 1837.
Originally described from a Brazilian specimen grown at Berlin, as follows: Simple, slender,
12 to 15 mm. in diameter, erect, with 12 angles; ribs somewhat compressed; areoles close together,
white; upper spines 4 or 5, brown; lower spines 6 to 8, white, hair-like.
According to Schumann this species is found in the Serra da Lapa, Minas Geraes,
Brazil. We do not know its relationship, although Weber thought it was a Cleistocactus.
It was introduced only once, probably by Riedel, and is not now in cultivation.
This comes from the same region as the species of Leocereus and should be compared
with plants of that genus.
176
THE CACTACEAE.
Cleistocactus hyalacanthus (Schumann) Gosselin, Bull. Mens. Soc. Nice 44: 33.
1904.
Cereus hyalacanthus Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 101. 1897.
This is described as upright, less than 1 meter high; ribs 20, low, obtuse; areoles elliptic; spines
in clusters of 25 or more, the longest 2 cm. long, acicular, white, puberulent; flowers somewhat
curved, 3 to 3.5 cm. long; ovary covered with numerous scales bearing copious brown wool in their
axils.
It is known only from specimens collected by Otto Kuntze in the Province of Jujuy,
Argentina.
Cleistocactus parviflorus (Schumann) Gosselin, Bull. Mens. Soc. Nice 44: 32.
1904.
Cereus parviflorus Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 100. 1897.
Described as columnar, 2 to 3 meters high; branches 3 cm. in diameter; ribs 12, deeply marked
by transverse furrows; radial spines 5 to 7, the longest one mm. long, subulate, dark yellow; flowers
from only a single rib, one above another, 2.5 to 3 cm. long; ovary covered with short, oblong to
triangular scales bearing in their axils felt; fruit yellow, 1 cm. in diameter.
Collected near Parotani, Bolivia, by Otto Kuntze.
35. ZEHNTNERELLA gen. nov.
Tall and slender, much branched at base; ribs numerous, very spiny; flowers scattered along
the upper part of the stem, 1 from an areole, perhaps night-blooming, very small; tube short but
definite, about the length of the throat;
base of throat filled with a ring of long
white hairs; inner perianth-segments
minute, white; ovary and flower-tube covered with small scales, their axils filled
with hairs; fruit small, globular; seeds
minute, tuberculately roughened, brownish to blackish, with a large basal slightly
depressed hilum.
Named for Dr. Leo Zehntner, formerly of the Horto Florestal, Joazeiro,
Brazil, who has furnished us specimens and valuable information concerning many of the cacti f rom this
region. It is a great pleasure to name
a genus for this very keen observer, who
has done such valuable work in Brazil,
often under very trying circumstances.
It is based upon a plant which Dr.
Rose collected with him on the hills
east of Joazeiro, Bahia, June 4, 1915
(No. 19760). Our plant may be the
same as Cereus squamosus Gürke
(Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 18: 70. 1908).
A photograph of this species was
reproduced (Bot. Jahrb. Engler 40:
Beibl. 93: pl. 10) and this resembles
Zehntnerella squamulosa, but the detailed description of Cereus squamosus
does not wholly agree with it, and we
have been unable to examine the type
specimen of Cereus squamosus.
Fig. 249.—Zehntnerella squamulosa.
177
LOPHOCEREUS
1. Zehntnerella squamulosa sp. nov.
Trunk, when present, 15 to 20 cm. in diameter, but usually a cluster of branches arising from
the base; branches usually strict, 4 meters long or more, 5 to 7 cm. in diameter, covered with a
mass of spines; ribs 17 to 20, low, close together; areoles circular, small; spines 10 to 15, acicular,
chestnut-brown, the longest ones 3 cm. long; flowers small, 3 cm. long; inner perianthsegments oblong, 4 mm. long; lower scales on the ovary ovate, apiculate, 1 to 4 mm. long,
the upper ones becoming oblong, all glabrous, the hairs in the axils white; fruit about 2 cm.
in diameter, crowned by the withered perianth; seeds 1 mm. long.
This plant was common in a restricted rocky out-crop east of Joazeiro, called
the Serra do Atoleiro, where flowers and photographs were obtained by Dr. Rose,
June 4, 1915 (No. 19760, type) and ripe fruit was collected at the same locality
by Dr. Zehntner in October 1917
Fig. 250.—
Flower of
This species is called facheiro preto in Bahia.
squamFigure 249 is from a photograph taken by Paul G. Russell in Bahia, Brazil, in Z.
ulosa. Natural size.
1915; figure 250 shows a flower of the plant photographed.
36. LOPHOCEREUS (Berger) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 426.
1909.
Columnar, stout cacti, the stems simple or with few branches, or much branched at base; ribs
few; areoles on lower part of stem very different from the upper ones; flowering areoles large, felted,
developing long bristles standing out at right angles to the axils of the stem; flowers usually several
at each areole, small, funnelform, with short narrow tubes, nocturnal, beginning to open at about
six o’clock at night and by eight or nine fully expanded, but closed the following morning, odorless;
outer perianth-segments greenish; inner perianth-segments pink; stamens short, included; fruit
small, red, globular, when mature bursting irregularly, glabrous or with a few spines and some
felt in axils of lower scales; seeds numerous, small, black, shining, with a depressed basal hilum.
Type species: Cereus schottii Engelmann.
Three species have been recognized in this genus, all from the same floral region, which
we now regard as reducible to one.
The generic name is from the Greek, signifying crested-cereus, with reference to the
bristly top of the flowering stem.
1. Lophocereus schottii (Engelmann) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 427.
1909.
Cereus schottii Engelmann, Proc. Amer. Acad. 3: 288. 1856.
Pilocereus schottii Lemaire, Rev. Hort. 1862: 428. 1862.
Cereus sargentianus Orcutt, Gard. and For. 4: 436. 1891.
Pilocereus sargentianus Orcutt in Schumann, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 2: 76. 1892.
Cereus palmeri Engelmann in Coulter Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 3: 401. 1896.
Cereus schottii australis K. Brandegee, Zoe 5: 3. 1900.
Lophocereus australis Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 427. 1909.
Lophocereus sargentianus Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 427. 1909.
Usually branching only at base, forming large clumps sometimes with as many as 50 or even
100 upright or ascending stems, 1 to 7 meters high; ribs usually 5 to 7, but sometimes 9, separated by
broad intervals; bristles of the flowering areoles numerous, straight, finely acicular, gray, 6 cm.
long or less; flowerless areoles smaller, little felted, with 3 to 7 short subulate spreading radial spines
swollen at base and 1 or 2 central ones a little longer and stouter; flowers 3 to 4 cm. long; style, stigmalobes, and filaments whitish; fruit 2 to 3 cm. in diameter, usually naked, rarely spiny; seeds 2.5
mm. long.
Type locality: In Sonora, toward Magdalena, Mexico.
Distribution: Southern Arizona, Sonora, and Lower California.
As with many other columnar cacti, this is sometimes used for fences. It is usually
called sinita, with various spellings.
This species is remarkable among cacti on account of the long bristle-like spines, which
develop at the ends of the flowering branches, giving the plant the appearance of bearing
terminal brushes. This modification of the spines from the flowering areoles is similar to
178
THE CACTACEAE.
the changes we see in certain other genera such as Cephalocereus, Arrojadoa, and to a less
extent in Carnegiea, on account of which both this species and Carnegiea gigantea have
been referred by some authors to the genus Pilocereus.
Lophocereus schottii inhabits parts of western Mexico and southern Arizona, which
have great aridity, but it usually grows in colonies and in this way seems to withstand
the rigor of the desert. Its range is more extensive than that of most cacti and it shows
considerable variability. Three species of Lophocereus have been described, but appear to be
merely geographical races of this one.
Illustrations: MacDougal, Bot. N. Amer. Des. pl. 8; Cad. Mex. Bound. pl. 74, f. 16,
as Cereus schottii; Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen f. 37, 38, as Pilocereus schottii; Orcutt,
Gard. and For. 4: f. 69, as C. sargentianus; Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 5: 86, as P. sargentianus.
Fig. 251.—Lophocereus schottii.
Figure 251 is from a photograph obtained by Edward Palmer near Guaymas, Sonora;
figure 252 shows a section through the upper part of a flowering stem collected by Dr.
Rose at Abreojos Point, Lower California, in 1911; figure 253 shows a flower of a plant
brought by Dr. MacDougal from Arizona to the New York Botanical Garden in 1902.
37. MYRTILLOCACTUS Console, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 1: 8. 1897.
Large cacti, usually with short trunks and large, much branched tops, the stout, few-ribbed
branches nearly erect, all the areoles bearing the same kind of spines; flowers diurnal, very small,
several, sometimes as many as 9 at an areole, with very short tubes and widely spreading perianthsegments; ovary bearing a few minute scales with tufts of wool in their axils, spineless; fruit small,
globular, edible; seed very small, black, with basal hilum.
179
MYRTILLOCACTUS
Type species: Cereus geometrizans Martius.
This genus has no very close allies. We have grouped it with Lophocereus and the following genus, because they likewise have more than 1 flower from an areole, but otherwise
little else in common. The small flowers somewhat resemble orange flowers, having scarcely
any tubes; the short stamens are almost entirely exserted. The fruits are small berries.
We know 4 closely related species, natives of Mexico and Guatemala. The name is
from the Greek, signifying berry-cactus, referring to the small fruit.
Fig. 252.—Cross-Section of stem of
Lophocereus schottii. ×0.5.
Fig. 253.—Flower
of Lophocereus
schottii. Natural
size.
Fig. 254.—Section of rib of Myrtillocactus geometrizans with f ruit at the
areoles. ×0. 8.
Fig. 255.—Flower of same. ×0.8.
Key to Species.
Young branches very blue; central spine elongated, reflexed, dagger-like. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Young branches green; central spine not dagger-like.
Spines usually 3 to 5, ascending, with no definite central spine or, when present, very short
Spines 6 or more, with definite central spine.
Radial spines 5; f ruit oblong, 10 to 15 mm. long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Radial spines more than 5; f ruit globular, 6 mm. in diameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . 1. M. geometrizans
. . 2. M. cochal
. . 3. M. schenckii
. . 4. M. eichlamii
1. Myrtillocactus geometrizans (Martius) Console, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 1: 10.
Cereus
Cereus
Cereus
Cereus
Cereus
1897.
geometrizans Martius in Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 90. 1837.
pugioniferus Lemaire, Cact. Aliq. Nov. 30. 1838.
gladiator Otto and Dietrich, Allg. Gartenz. 6: 34. 1838.
geometrizans pugioniferus Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 48. 1850.
geometrizans quadrangularispinus Lemaire in Labouret, Monogr. Cact. 367. 1853.
Tree-like, with a short definite trunk crowned by a large, much branched top; branches often
a little curved, bluish green, usually 5 or 6-ribbed, 6 to 10 cm. in diameter, very blue when young;
ribs 2 to 3 cm. high, rounded; areoles 2 to 3 cm. apart; radial and central spines very different, almost
filling the areoles; radial spines usually 5, rarely 8 or 9, usually short, 2 to 10 mm. long, but sometimes 3 cm. long, more or less turned backward, a little flattened radially but swollen at base; central
spine elongated, dagger-shaped, flattened laterally, 1 to 7 cm. long and sometimes 6 mm. broad;
flowers appearing from the upper part of the areole, 2.5 to 3.5 cm. broad, the limb 3 to 4 times as
long as the tube; perianth-segments oblong, 1.5 cm. long; stamens numerous, erect, exserted; fruit
ellipsoid to subglobose, edible, purplish or bluish, 1 to 2 cm. long.
Type locality: Mexico.
Distribution: San Luis Potosí to Oaxaca, Mexico.
This cactus is very common on the Mexican tableland. The fruits, known as garrambullas, are to be found in all the Mexican markets, and are eaten both fresh and dried; the
dried fruits very much resemble raisins in appearance and are used in much the same way.
180
THE CACTACEAE.
The name Cereus pugioniferus quadrangulispinus Lemaire is given by Förster (Handb.
Cact. 395 . 1846) as a synonym for C. pugioniferus; Cereus geometrizans quadrangulispinus
Lemaire is given only by name by Salm-Dyck (Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 48. 1850); Labouret
(Monogr. Cact. 366. 1853) gives Cereus gladiator geometrizans Monville (Cat. 1846) as a
synonym for C. geometrizans pugioniferus Salm-Dyck; Cereus arrigens Monville and C.
gladiger Lemaire are both given by Labouret (Monogr. Cact. 367. 1853) as synonyms for
the variety Cereus geometrizans quadrangularispinus Lemaire.
Cereus aquicaulensis (Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 90. 1837) is not published, but is given
only as a synonym of this species. Cereus quadrangulispinus Lemaire (Linnaea 19: 363.
1846) is only a name.
Cereus garambello Haage in Förster (Handb. Cact. 433. 1846), unpublished, belongs here.
Illustrations: Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 1: f. 1 to 4; Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12:
pl. 72; Safford, Ann. Rep. Smiths. Inst. 1908: pl. 9, f. 2; pl. 11, f. 1. Ber. Deutsch. Bot. Ges.
15: pl. 2, f. 1; Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen f. 23, these last two as Cereus geometrizans.
Plate xxvi, figure 1, is from a photograph taken by Dr. MacDougal near Tehuacán,
Mexico, in 1908. Figure 254 shows a section of a rib and the small fruits of a plant collected
by Edward Palmer at San Luis Potosí in 1905 and figure 255 shows its flower.
2. Myrtillocactus cochal (Orcutt) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 427.
1909.
Cereus cochal Orcutt, West Amer. Sci. 6: 29. 1889.
Cereus geometrizans cochal K. Brandegee, Zoe 5: 4. 1900.
Plant 1 to 3 meters high, much branched; trunk short, woody, sometimes 3 dm. in diameter;
ribs 6 to 8, obtuse, separated by shallow intervals; spines grayish to black; radial spines 5, short;
central spines when present 2 cm. long; flowers open night and day, 2.5 cm. long and fully as broad;
perianth-segments usually 16, light green, the outer ones tinged with purple, oblong; filaments
white; stigma-lobes 5 or 6, white; fruit edible, slightly acid, globular, 12 to 18 mm. in diameter, red.
Type locality: Todos Santos Bay, Lower California.
Distribution: Lower California.
This species is called cochal by the Indians of Lower California, who use the stems
for firewood and are said to eat the fruit.
Illustration: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 5: 74, as Cereus cochal.
3. Myrtillocactus schenckii ( J. A. Purpus) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 427. 1909.
Cereus schenckii J. A. Purpus, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 1: 38. 1909.
Tree-like, 3 to 5 meters high, with a very stout trunk and many short ascending branches,
dark green; areoles circular, crowded with black felt, about 5 mm. apart; radial spines 6 to 8, straight,
5 to 12 mm. long, black or brownish; central spine 1, usually 2 cm. long, sometimes 5 cm. long;
fruits small, oblong, 10 to 15 mm. long, naked; seeds black, pitted.
Type locality: Sierra de Mixteca, Puebla, Mexico.
Distribution: Puebla and Oaxaca, Mexico.
In habit and fruit this species is very similar to the well-known Cereus geometrizans,
but differs from it greatly in color of stem and in the areoles and spines.
Illustrations: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 19: 39, as Cereus schenckii; Contr. U. S. Nat.
Herb. 12: pl. 73.
Plate xxvi, figure 2, shows a photograph taken by Dr. D. T. MacDougal between
Mitla and Oaxaca City in 1906.
4. Myrtillocactus eichlamii sp. nov.
Branches strongly 6-angled, deep green or slightly glaucous; ribs obtuse; areoles 2 cm. apart,
large, circular, with grayish wool at time of flowering; radial spines 5, bulbose at base; central spine
1, a little longer than the radials; flower-buds dark purple; outer perianth-segments greenish with
55 red tips; inner perianth-segments creamy white, about 10, spreading almost at right angles to the
tube; stamens numerous, pale, somewhat spreading; style white, a little longer than the stamens;
flowers fully open at half past nine o’clock in the morning, deliciously fragrant; fruit small, globular,
6 mm. in diameter, wine-colored, naked except a few small scales.
B RIT TON AND ROSE, VOL. II
P L ATE X X V I
1. Myrtillocactus geometrizans, Tehuacán, Mexico.
2. Myrtillocactus schenckii, near Mitla, Mexico.
181
NEORAIMONDIA
This species is described from a plant sent by the late Federico Eichlam, in 1909, from
Guatemala, which flowered in Washington, April 1910. It differs from Myrtillocactus
geometrizans in its larger, greener branches and different armament.
Figure 256 shows a flower and two fruits of the type plant.
Fig. 256.—Myrtillocactus eichlamii. Flower and f ruits. Natural size.
38. NEORAIMONDIA gen. nov.
A very stout cactus, the stems branched at base; branches erect, columnar, few-ribbed, the
ribs separated by broad intervals, very spiny; areoles brown-felted, enormously developed, thick,
the flowering ones sometimes elongated and branched, forming cephalium-like masses, these spineless
but with ridges of short brown felt; flowers 2 on the areoles or solitary, funnelform, the tube stout,
longer than the limb; perianth-segments oblong; scales of the ovary and flower-tube with short
brown wool in their axils; fruit ellipsoid to globular, covered with globular areoles with short brown
wool and short spines; seed dull black with pitted surface and a depressed hilum.
A monotypic genus of western Peru. It is named in honor of Antonio Raimondi
(1825-1890), the great geographer and naturalist of Peru.
Berger says of the plant, which he referred to the subgenus
Eulychnia (Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 10: 68. 1905):
Fig. 257.—Neoraimondia macrostibas.
Fig. 258.—Flower and
enlarged areole of N.
macrostibas. ×0.7.
“But I am quite aware that in this form the subgenus Eulychnia is more artificial than natural.
For instance, C. macrostibas A. Berger differs greatly from the rest, especially by its enlarged and
prolonged flowering areoles. But the material at hand is so scanty that I must ref rain from any
further statement.” “Cereus macrostibas A. Berger was originally described by Schumann as a
Pilocereus, and as such it is another heterogeneous form of this conglomerate genus.”
182
THE CACTACEAE.
1. Neoraimondia macrostibas (Schumann).
Pilocereus macrostibas Schumann, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 13: 168. 1903.
Cereus macrostibas Berger, Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 16: 69. 1905.
Plant with many branches arising from near the base, 2 to 4 meters high; areoles 1 to 2 cm. apart,
very large, rarely less than 1 cm. broad, often globular or on old plants elongating into subcylindric
spur-like bodies 10 cm. long or less; spines 12 or more at an areole, very unequal, the central ones
often elongated on the old part of the stem, sometimes 24 cm. long; flowers 2.5 to 4 cm. long; inner
perianth-segments about 1 cm. long; filaments numerous, short, included, white; style short, white;
stigma-lobes pinkish; fruit sometimes 7 cm. in diameter, purple, the brown-woolly areoles finally
falling off as little balls; pulp red, edible; seeds numerous.
Type locality: Near Mollendo, Peru.
Distribution: Throughout western Peru.
In 1914, Dr. Rose studied the plant in its native habitat and
collected complete specimens. It is one of the most remarkable of
all cacti in its very stout, few-ribbed branches, immense brown
areoles and greatly elongated spines, these, perhaps, the longest of
any. These areoles doubtless produce flowers year after year and
the indication is that the largest of these areoles must be of great age.
The plant itself must grow very slowly, for it is found only on the
Fig. 259.—Cluster of spines of Neoraimondia macrostibas. ×0.6.
Fig. 260.—Neoraimondia macrostibas.
borders of the barren Peruvian deserts, where its water supply is very meager. The
elongated spines (24 cm. long) are the longest we have seen in any cacti, although
Cereus jamacaru is reported to have spines 30 cm. long, but the longest we have measured
were only 19 cm. long.
The unusual specific name given to this plant probably refers to the peculiar areoles.
Illustrations: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 13: 168, 169, both as Pilocereus macrostibas.
HYLOCEREUS
183
Figure 257 is from a photograph taken by C. H. T. Townsend near Chosica, Peru;
figure 258 shows a flower and young fruit on the much enlarged areole, collected by Dr.
Rose near Arequipa in 1914; figure 259 shows a cluster of spines obtained by Dr. Rose at
Chosica, Peru; figure 260 is from a photograph of a top of the Chosica plant brought by
Dr. Rose to the New York Botanical Garden.
Subtribe 2. HYLOCEREANAE.
Elongated, vine-like, climbing, trailing or pendent, branched cacti, the stems and branches
angled, ribbed, fluted, or rarely flat, the joints emitting aerial roots, the areoles usually spiny;
flowers mostly large and white, rarely red or pink; perianth-limb regular, or in Aporocactus more or
less oblique; fruit a fleshy berry, often large.
We group the species known to us in 9 genera.
Key to Genera.
A. Joints angled, ribbed, winged, or fluted.
Ovary and f ruit covered with large foliaceous scales, their axils neither spiny, hairy, nor bristly;
flowers mostly large, nocturnal; stems and branches 3-angled or 3-winged.
Perianth-tube elongated; flowers very large, their scales naked in the axils . . . . . . . . 1. Hylocereus (p. 183)
Perianth-tube scarcely any; flowers small, some of their scales with tufts of short
hairs and occasional bristles in the axils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. Wilmattea (p. 195)
Ovary and f ruit not bearing large foliaceous scales, their axils spiny, hairy, or bristly.
Flowers elongate-funnelform, very large, mostly nocturnal, the tube and ovary
usually bearing scales, hairs, or spines.
Stems ribbed, fluted, or angled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. Selenicereus (p. 196)
Stems winged.
Areoles of ovary and flower-tube bearing felt and spines subtended by
short scales; flowers nocturnal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. Mediocactus (p. 210)
Areoles of ovary and flower-tube bearing long hairs; flowers diurnal . . . . . . 5. Deamia (p. 212)
Flowers short-funnelform or funnelform-campanulate.
Perianth-limb regular, the tube stout; flowers white.
Tube of the flower bearing short foliaceous scales; areoles of the tuberculate ovary bearing long hair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6. Weberocereus (p. 214)
Areoles of flower-tube and of non-tuberculate ovary beating short black
spines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7. Werckleocereus (p. 216)
Perianth-limb somewhat oblique, the tube slender; flowers pink . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8. Aporocactus (p. 217)
AA. Joints flat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9. Strophocactus (p. 221)
1. HYLOCEREUS (Berger) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 428. 1909.
Climbing cacti, often epiphytic, with elongated stems normally 3-angled or 3-winged, and
branches emitting aerial roots, the areoles bearing a tuft of felt and several short spines, or spineless
in one species; areoles on seedlings and juvenile growths often bearing bristles; flowers very large,
nocturnal, funnelform, the limb as broad as long, and as long as the tube or longer; ovary and tube
bearing large foliaceous scales but no spines, felt, wool, or hairs; outer perianth-segments similar
to the scales on the tube, but longer; petaloid perianth-segments narrow, acute or acuminate, mostly
white, rarely red; stamens very many, in two series, equaling or shorter than the style; style cylindric, rather stout and thick, the linear stigma-lobes numerous, simple or branched; fruit spineless
but with several or many persistent foliaceous scales mostly large and edible; seeds small, black;
cotyledons large, flattened above, thick, ovate, acute, connate at base.
We know 18 species, natives of the West Indies, Mexico, Central America, and northern
South America. Most of them are closely related, having similar stems, flowers, and fruits.
Type species: Cactus triangularis Linnaeus.
The name is from the Greek, meaning forest-cereus.
Key to Species.
A. Areoles spiniferous; ribs not deeply crenate.
B. Stems bluish or more or less whitened or gray.
Margin of joints horny.
Spines short, conic.
Outer perianth-segments acuminate, as long as the inner, white ones . . . . . . .
Outer perianth-segments acute, much shorter than inner, golden-tipped ones .
Spines acicular, slender.
Outer perianth-segments linear-lanceolate, acuminate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Outer perianth-segments oblong-lanceolate, obtuse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Margin of joints not horny; spines few, conic.
Branches slender, 4 cm. thick or less, scarcely crenate.
Stigma-lobes entire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Stigma-lobes bifid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Branches stout, 5 to 10 cm. thick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . 1. H. guatemalensis
. . 2. H. purpusii
. . 3. H. ocamponis
. . 4. H. bronxensis
. . 5. H. polyrhizus
. 5a. H. venezuelensis
. . 6. H. costaricensis
184
THE CACTACEAE.
Key to Species—continued.
A. Areoles spiniferous; ribs not deeply crenate.
BB. Stems blight green.
Margin of stems horny.
Ribs of stem broad, thin, crenate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ribs of stem thick, scarcely crenate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Margin of stems not horny
Stigma-lobes branched or forked.
Spines several-, margins of stem nearly straight; stigma-lobes branched .
Spine one; margins of stem undulate; stigma-lobes forked (at least some
times) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Stigma-lobes (so far as known) entire.
Perianth-segments red or reddish purple.
Ribs thin, almost wing-like; perianth-segments linear . . . . . . . . . . .
Joints angular, not winged; inner perianth-segments oblanceolate . . .
Inner perianth-segments white.
Scales on the ovary few and scattered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Scales on the ovary brown, large, imbricated.
Joint-angles strongly tubercled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Joint-angles scarcely tubercled or not at all.
Joints somewhat crenate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Joints not crenate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
AA. Areoles without spines; ribs very deeply crenate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . 7. H. undatus
. . . . . . 8. H. cubensis
. . . . . . 9. H. lemairei
. . . . . 10. H. monacanthus
. . . . . 11. H. stenopterus
. . . . . 12. H. extensus
. . . . . 13. H. napoleonis
. . . . . 14. H. trigonus
. . . . . 15. H. triangularis
. . . . . 16. H. antiguensis
. . . . . 17. H. calcaratus
1. Hylocereus guatemalensis (Eichlam).
Cereus trigonus guatemalensis Eichlam, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 21: 68. 1911.
Stems high-climbing, 3 to 5 meters long, stout, mostly 3-angled, 2 to 7
cm. broad, the basal parts often narrow or nearly terete; joints beautifully
glaucous or in time becoming more or less greenish; ribs low-undulate, the
margins horny, not at all glaucous; areoles 2 cm. apart or less; spines 2 to 4, 2 to
3 mm. long, conic, dark, but on seedlings numerous and bristle-like; flowers 3
dm. long; outer perianth-segments rose-colored, acuminate; inner perianthsegments lanceolate, acute, white; style yellow, 7 mm. in diameter; stigmalobes 25, entire; fruit 6 to 7 cm. in diameter, covered with large scales; seeds
black.
Type locality: Guatemala.
Distribution: Guatemala.
We have grown plants from seeds; the seedlings are erect, 4-angled,
the spines numerous, the bristles white, the cotyledons 1 mm. long.
Illustration: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23: 155, as Cereus trigonus
guatemalensis.
Figure 261 shows a joint of a plant sent to the New York
Botanical Garden from Fiscal, Guatemala, by C. C. Deam.
2. Hylocereus purpusii (Weingart).
Fig. 261.—Joint of H.
guatemalensis. ×0.5.
Cereus purpusii Weingart, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 19: 150. 1909.
Stems bluish, climbing, elongate, epiphytic; ribs 3 or 4, with horny margins only slightly
undulate; areoles small; spines 3 to 6, short; flowers large, 25 cm. long and nearly as broad when
fully expanded; outer perianth-segments narrow, purplish; middle perianth-segments golden; inner
perianth-segments broad, white except at the golden tips.
Type locality: Near Tuxpan, Mexico.
Distribution: Lowlands of western Mexico.
We have grown this plant but have not seen the flowers, our description of them being
founded on that of Mr. Weingart.
Illustrations: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 22: 26, 27, both as Cereus purpusii.
3. Hylocereus ocamponis (Salm-Dyck) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 429.
1909.
Cereus ocamponis Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 220. 1850.
Stems strongly 3-angled, at first bright green, soon glaucous, dull bluish green in age; ribs rather
deeply undulate, their margins with a horny, brown border; areoles 2 to 4 cm. apart, borne near the
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
PLATE XXVII
A HOEN & CO
M. E. Eaton del.
1.
2.
3.
Flowering branches of Rathbunia alamosensis.
Flowering branches of Rathbunia alamosensis.
Top of flowering branch of Borzicactus acanthurus.
(All natural size.)
HYLOCEREUS
185
bottom of each undulation; spines 5 to 8, acicular, 5 to 12 mm. long; flowers 25 to 30 cm. long and
fully as broad; outer perianth-segments narrow, long-acuminate, greenish, spreading or reflexed;
inner perianth-segments oblong, acuminate, white; style stout; stigma-lobes linear, entire, green;
ovary covered with imbricated, ovate, acute, purplish-margined scales.
Type locality: Mexico or Colombia.
Distribution: Mexico?
The above flower description is drawn from New York Botanical Garden specimens
which bloomed in 1912 (,No. 6170). The species is known to us from cultivated plants only.
Mr. Weingart is strongly of the opinion that Cereus napoleonis Graham is the same as
this species and, if so, this name should be used. He states that C. napoleonis was described
from an old plant, while the other species was described from young plants, which, he
thinks, would account for the differences in the descriptions. We believe, however, that the
two species are distinct and that C. napoleonis is much nearer H. triangularis.
Illustration: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23: 29, as Cereus ocamponis.
Plate xxviii shows a flowering joint of a plant in the collection of the New York
Botanical Garden.
A species related to H. ocamponis but probably distinct was collected by T. S. Brandegee on rocks of Cerro Colorado, Sinaloa, Mexico, November 1904. Mr. Brandegee states
that it is also epiphytic on trees. Rose, Standley, and Russell collected the same species
at Villa Union, near Mazatlan, in 1910, but, although we have had it in our collections
ever since, it has not yet flowered.
4. Hylocereus bronxensis sp. nov.
Joints strongly 3-angled, dull grayish green, 3 to 4 cm. broad; ribs strongly undulate, the margins
horny and brown; areoles 2 to 3 cm. apart; spines about 10, acicular, brown in age, about 6 mm. long;
flowers 25 cm. long; outer perianth-segments broad, ovate, obtuse or rounded; inner perianthsegments oblong, rounded at apex, more or less apiculate, but not long-acuminate; scales on the
ovary broad; stigma-lobes (perhaps) bifid.
Described from specimens which flowered in the New York Botanical Garden (No.
9722) June 28, 1912. The plant was obtained from G. E. Barre in 1902, but its origin is
otherwise unknown. It is related to Hylocereus ocamponis but its flowers are quite different
from those of that species.
5. Hylocereus polyrhizus (Weber).
Cereus polyrhizus Weber in Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 151. 1897.
Slender vines, sometimes only 3 to 4 cm. thick, normally 3-angled, at first green or purplish,
but soon becoming white and afterwards green again; ribs or wings comparatively thin although in
age becoming more turgid; margin nearly straight, obtuse, not horny; spines 2 to 4, rather stout,
brownish, 2 to 4 mm. long, sometimes accompanied by two white hairs or bristles which finally drop
off; young flower-buds globular, purple; flowers 2.5 to 3 dm. long or longer, strongly fragrant; outer
perianth-segments linear-lanceolate, more or less reddish, especially at the tips; inner perianth-segments nearly white; stigma-lobes rather short, yellowish, entire; ovary covered with approximate
ovate scales, with red or deep purple margins; fruit scarlet, oblong, 10 cm. long.
Type locality: Colombia.
Distribution: Colombia and Panama.
The original description of Cereus polyrhizus was, apparently, based on the juvenile
state of the species for the branches are described as 5-angled; Weingart (Monatsschr.
Kakteenk. 22: 106) associates the plant with the group in which we place it, and plants sent
to the New York Botanical Garden in 1901 by M. Simon of St. Ouen, Paris, who had in his
collection many cacti described by Weber, are, apparently, the same as others since obtained
from Panama and Colombia; perhaps also from Ecuador.
186
THE CACTACEAE.
We have referred here the 3 specimens collected by Dr. Rose in Ecuador although we
are not sure that these are even conspecific. They all grow in very diverse habitats; only
one was seen in flower. No. 221116 was found growing closely appressed to the trunk of a tree
to which it was so tightly attached that it was with difficulty that specimens were obtained.
The locality was on the edge of the mangrove swamp near Guayaquil. In the same region
were seen other plants, presumably of the same species but these were clambering from tree
to tree high up in their tops and far out of reach. No. 23342 was in a very peculiar habitat
for a Hylocereus. It came from the edge of the Catamayo Valley, a hot semiarid region;
Its stems were very stout, almost woody, and were spread out all over the top of a small
tree. No flowers or fruit were seen and only a single plant was observed. The branches
were nearly 10 cm. broad and the brown spines were usually 4 in a cluster and nearly 1 cm.
long. On the other hand No. 23396 was found in a habitat very suitable for a Hylocereus;
this was in a tree along a stream east of Portovelo in southern Ecuador; the plant was
in flower but almost out of reach so that it was with difficulty we obtained a single flower.
The following brief notes are based on our field observations:
Stems 3-angled, whitish; flowers 31 cm. long, fragrant; outermost segments short, purple;
outer scales oblong, orange-red; inner perianth-segments white, tinged with pink; stamens yellow;
scales on the ovary oblong, acute, dull green, with purple margins.
5a. Hylocereus venezuelensis sp. nov. (See Appendix, p. 226.)
6. Hylocereus costaricensis (Weber) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 428.
1909.
Cereus trigonus costaricensis Weber, Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 8: 457. 1902.
Vigorous vines, perhaps the stoutest of the genus, sometimes 10 cm. broad, normally, 3-angled,
at first green or purplish, but soon becoming white and afterwards green or gray; ribs or wings comparatively thin although in age becoming more turgid; margin rather variable, either straight or
somewhat undulate, obtuse, never horny; spines 2 to 4, short, rather stout, brownish, usually accompanied by two white hairs or bristles which finally drop off; young flower-buds globular, purple;
flowers 3 dm. long or more, strongly fragrant; outer perianth-segments narrow, more or less reddish,
especially the tips; inner perianth-segments pure white; stigma-lobes rather short, yellowish, entire;
ovary covered with closely set scales, these having deep purple margins; fruit scarlet, oblong, 10
cm. long.
Fig. 262.—Ovary of Hylocereus costaricensis transformed into branch.
×0.94.
Type locality: Costa Rica.
Distribution: Costa Rica.
This species was originally described as a variety of Cereus trigonus, but it has much
stouter blue stems and is otherwise different. It grows well in cultivation and frequently,
flowers. The very young areoles on the stem produce an abundance of nectar which runs
down the stem in large sticky drops.
Figure 262 represents an arrested flower transformed into a branch showing scales or
reduced leaves from the lower areoles.
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
PLATE XXVIII
A HOEN & CO
M. E. Eaton del.
Flower and end of branch of Hylocereus ocamponis.
× 0.7.
187
HYLOCEREUS
7. Hylocereus undatus (Haworth) Britton and Rose in Britton, Flora Bermuda 256.
1918.
Cactus triangularis aphyllus Jacquin, Stirp. Amer. 152. 1763.
Cereus triangularis major De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 468. 1828.
Cereus undatus Haworth, Phil. Mag. 7: 110. 1830.
Cereus tricostatus Gosselin, Bull. Soc. Bot. France 54: 664. 1907.
Hylocereus tricostatus Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 429. 1909.
Stem long, clambering over bushes and trees or creeping up the sides of walls; ribs mostly 3,
broad, thin, green; margin usually strongly undulate, more or less horny in age; areoles 3 to 4 cm.
apart; spines 1 to 3, small, 2 to 4 mm. long; flowers up to 29 cm. long or more; outer perianth-segments yellowish green, all turned back, some strongly reflexed; inner perianth-segments pure white,
erect, broad, oblanceolate, entire, with apiculate tips; filaments slender, cream-colored; stigmalobes as many as 24, slender, entire, cream-colored; style stout, 7 to 8 mm. in diameter, creamcolored; fruit oblong, 10 to 12 cm. in diameter, red, covered with large foliaceous scales, or nearly
smooth when mature, edible: seeds black.
Type locality: China, evidently in cultivation.
Distribution: Common throughout the tropics and subtropics; often found as an escape
and widely cultivated.
This species has long been known in cultivation under the name of Cereus triangularis,
and it is to be regretted that the name triangularis can not be retained, but the plant which
Linnaeus described as Cactus triangularis came
from Jamaica. The latter is now well known
to botanists but it has never been much cultivated, while H. undatus is grown all over the
world and grows half-wild in all tropical countries. It is the best known of all the nightblooming cereuses and has one of the largest
flowers. It makes a beautiful hedge plant; in
Honolulu there is a hedge about Punahou
College which is half a mile long and is said to
produce 5,000 flowers in a single night.
Cereus undatus was described by Haworth
from plants sent from China; he says it is
similar to C. triangularis, but twice as large.
Pfeiffer afterwards made it his variety major of
C. triangularis, which Schumann referred
doubtfully to C. napoleonis.
In the New York Botanical Garden herbarium are specimens of a Hylocereus collected
on Martinique in 1884 by Père Duss (No.
904), which have the horny-margined ribs and
large white flowers of this species. From this
island Jacquin in 1763 described a variety
aphyllus of Cactus triangularis from the mountain forests, which may very likely be this
species, in which case Martinique may be the
Fig. 263.—Hylocereus undatus.
home of this widely cultivated plant.
Two forms of this species are common in Yucatan. One is called chacoub; it has white
flowers except that the perianth-segments have purple edges and tips; the fruit is globular
and reddish purple. The other form called zacoub has white flowers and oblong and
creamy-white fruit; these fruits are considered among the most desirable in Yucatan and are
often to be found in the markets for sale.
Illustrations: Safford, Ann. Rep. Smiths. Inst. 1908: pl. 6, f. 1, as Hylocereus tricostatus; Martius, Fl. Bras. 4 2: pl. 42 Engler and Prantl, Pflanzenfam. 3 6a: f. 57, A, B;
188
THE CACTACEAE.
Edwards’s Bot. Reg. 21: pl. 1807; Gard. Mag. 55: 689, all as Cereus triangularis; Curtis’s
Bot. Mag. 44: pl. 1884; Loudon, Encycl. Pl. f. 6870, as Cactus triangularis; Ann. Rep.
Smiths. Inst. 1917: pl. 10; Scientific Monthly 5: 287, as night-blooming cereus; Britton,
Flora Bermuda 1. 278.
Plate xxx shows a flowering joint of a plant brought by Dr. Small from southern
Florida to the New York Botanical Garden in 1903, where it has since bloomed every year;
Fig. 264.—Hylocereus undatus.
plate xxxii, figure 1, shows a fruiting joint of a plant in the same collection brought from
Tehuacán, Mexico, by Dr. MacDougal and Dr. Rose in 1906. Figure 263 is from a photograph taken by Paul G. Russell at Machado Portella, Bahia, Brazil, in 1915; figure 264
is from a photograph by A. S. Hitchcock, 1918, showing a hedge of night-blooming cereus
on a wall at Punahou College, Honolulu; the picture was taken early in the morning; the
preceding evening the hedge was viewed by hundreds of people. The plant, in Honolulu,
comes in full flower only once or twice a year and is then a marvelous sight.
Fig. 265.—Hylocereus cubensis.
×0.66.
8. Hylocereus cubensis sp. nov.
Stems slender, much elongated, freely rooting, 3-angled, dull green, 2 to 4 cm. in diameter;
margin of joints scarcely crenate, becoming horny; spines 3 to 5, black, conic, 2 to 3 mm. long;
flowers large, white, about 20 cm. long; ovary bearing large leafy scales; fruit a little longer than
broad, 10 cm. long, reddish.
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
M. E. Eaton del.
PLATE XXIX
A HOEN & CO
Flower on short branch of Hylocereus monacanthus.
(Natural size.)
HYLOCEREUS
189
Collected by Brother Leon on a wall, Jata Hills, near Guanabacoa, Province of Habana,
Cuba, July 14, 1913 (No. 37 19). Living specimens were introduced into the New York
Botanical Garden which flowered in September 1917. We are disposed to refer here J. A.
Shafer’s No. 13931 from lime rocks at Portales, Province of Pinar del Rio, Cuba. A plant
from the Isle of Pines sent to us by 0. E. Jennings probably belongs here, but the poor
specimen which we have seen does not enable us to definitely refer it to this species.
Figure 265 shows a section of a branch of the type specimen.
9. Hylocereus lemairei (Hooker) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 428.
1909.
Cereus lemairei* Hooker in Curtis’s Bot. Mag. 80: pl. 4814. 1854.
Cereus trinitatensis Lemaire and Herment, Rev. Hort. IV. 8: 642. 1859.
A somewhat slender, high-climbing vine; joints 3-angled, freely rooting on one side, 2 to 3 cm.
in diameter, plain green; margins with slight elevations at the areoles; areoles 2 to 2.5 cm. apart;
spines usually 2, very short, swollen at base, brownish; flower-buds elongated, acuminate; flower
about 27 cm. long; tube, including ovary, 15 cm. long; scales on ovary and lower part of the tube
ovate, dark green, with the margins and tips deep purple; scales on upper part of the tube much
elongated, but marked like the lower ones; outer perianth-segments about 20, 12 cm. long, 1 cm.
wide or less; edges slightly upturned, widely spreading or reflexed, yellowish green, sometimes a
little purplish at the tip and the inner one somewhat rose-colored at the base; inner perianth-segments about 15, mostly oblanceolate, 3.5 cm. broad at the widest portion, acute, the lower portion
pinkish, above nearly pure white; filaments cream-colored, about three-fourths the length of the
inner perianth-segments; style thick, nearly as long as the inner perianth-segments; stigma-lobes
cleft to the middle and the branches often notched at tip; flower somewhat odorous, not very
pleasing; fruit purple, oblong, 6 to 7 cm. long, when mature splitting down the center almost to
the base into 2 nearly equal parts and exposing the white flesh and black seeds.
Type locality: Not cited.
Distribution: Trinidad and Tobago. Perhaps also Surinam.
The above description was based upon specimens sent by Mr. Wm. Broadway in 1907
from Trinidad, which flowered in the New York Botanical Garden in July and August
1912 (No. 27689). Our reference (Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 428) of this species to
Antigua and doubtfully to Culebra and Porto Rico, in which we followed previous authors,
can not be supported by specimens in our collections.
This is a very beautiful species which has long been in cultivation, but the native home of which, until recently, has not been
known. In 1909, Mr. Broadway sent specimens from Trinidad
which soon flowered, enabling us to identify it definitely. Sir
Joseph Hooker, under Cereus lemairei in Curtis’s Botanical Magazine, volume 80, plate 4814, says, “Nothing is positively known
of its native country; but it happens that I have in my possession
a drawing made in Antigua, undoubtedly of this species; so that
it is probably a native of that island.” A copy of this drawing is
now in the United States National Herbarium, and shows quite a
different species from Cereus lemairei, and may represent the
Fig. 266.—Stigma-lobes of
Hylocereus collected in the spring of 1913 on Antigua by Dr. Rose
H. lemairei. ×0.7.
(No. 3297), of which we have both herbarium and living specimens,
but the drawing is without stem and Dr. Rose’s specimens were without flowers; however,
it may be that Hooker’s drawing is of a flower of the commonly cultivated H. undatus.
This is one of the few species of cacti having bifid stigma-lobes.
Illustration: Curtis’s Bot. Mag. 80: pl. 4814, as Cereus lemairei.
Plate xxxi is from Mr. Broadway’s Trinidad plant which flowered in the New York
Botanical Garden Figure 266 shows its style and stigma-lobes
*Cereus lemoinei (Möllers Deutsche Gärt. Zeit. 6: 92. 1891) may be only a misspelling of this name.
190
THE CACTACEAE.
10. Hylocereus monacanthus (Lemaire).
Cereus monacanthus Lemaire, Hort. Univ. 6: 60. 1845.
Stems green, 3-angled, the margins undulate; areoles remote, about 3 cm. apart, tomentose;
spines usually single, sometimes 2, rigid, much swollen at base; flowers funnelform, large, 28 cm.
long, 17 cm. broad; ovary and tube covered with large scales; outer perianth-segments narrow,
greenish; inner perianth-segments oblong-ovate; filaments numerous, about 200, 8 to 9 cm. long,
white but rose-colored at base; style thick, exserted, yellow; stigma-lobes numerous, spreading.
Type locality: Colombia.
Distribution: Colombia and Panama.
This species was first introduced by Cels and published in 1845. It was again introduced by Wercklé in 1905 and fully described by Weingart in 1911. Both Dr. Weber and
Dr. Schumann considered it to be a variety of Cereus martinii.
A flower observed at the New York Botanical Garden September 6, 1918, and a plant
brought by Dr. M. A. Howe from the Urava Islands in 1912, showed 2-forked stigma-lobes,
the forks 2 to 3 mm. long; other flowers, previously observed, showed simple stigma-lobes.
Plate xxix shows a branch of the plant collected by Dr. Howe, on Urava Island, Bay
of Panama, in 1912, which flowered in the New York Botanical Garden in 1915.
Fig. 267.—Hylocereus stenopterus.
11. Hylocereus stenopterus (Weber) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 429.
1909.
Cereus stenopterus Weber, Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 8: 458. 1902.
A weak vine, not rooting freely from the sides, at least in cultivation, the joints 4 cm. broad,
light green in color, not glaucous; ribs 3, thin; areoles slightly elevated; spines 1 to 3, small, yellow;
flower 10 to 12 cm. long, opening at night, closing very early (completely closed at 9 a. m.); tube
short, about 2 cm. long; perianth-segments all similar, reddish purple, linear, about 7 cm. long;
stamens short, exserted; style white, thick, much exserted; stigma-lobes white, when closed forming an ovoid acuminate cluster; scales on ovary and flower-tube orbicular or the upper ones narrowly
ovate, green, with purple margins.
Type locality: Vallée de Tuis, Costa Rica.
Distribution: Costa Rica, Central America.
This species is common in Costa Rica, and in recent years has been widely distributed
by several Costa Rican collectors; it grows well under glass, and flowers frequently. It is
the only Hylocereus in cultivation with red flowers except H. extensus.
Plate xxvii, figure 3, is from a plant obtained by Mr. William R. Maxon in San José,
Costa Rica, in 1906, which flowered at the New York Botanical Garden. Figure 267 is
from a photograph of a specimen which flowered in Washington from specimens received
from the New York Botanical Garden in 19 10 (No. 22197).
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
M. E. Eaton del.
PLATE XXX
Flower near end of branch of Hylocereus undatus.
× 0.7.
A HOEN & CO
HYLOCEREUS
191
12. Hylocereus extensus (Salm-Dyck).
Cereus extensus Salm-Dyck in De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 469. 1828.
Creeping and probably often climbing, bearing the usual aerial roots of the genus; joints green,
rather slender, 1.5 cm. in diameter, 3-sided, the obtuse angles not at all winged; areoles remote,
small, woolly and often setose; spines 2 or 3, rarely 4, very short and stout, dark brown, 1 to 2 mm.
long; flowers large and handsome; tube green, cylindric; scales of the ovary ovate; scales of the tube
rather short, becoming elongated above and passing into the narrow outer perianth-segments,
greenish yellow, tipped and margined with red; inner perianth-segments oblong to obovate, acute,
rose-red; style thick, longer than the stamens; stigma-lobes linear, entire; fruit not known.
Type locality: Not cited.
Distribution: Trinidad, according to Curtis’s Botanical Magazine.
The above description is based on the figure and description found in Curtis’s Botanical Magazine as below cited. This may or may not belong to the plant described by De
Candolle (Prodr. 3: 469), for he describes the radial spines as 10 to 12, pilose and white,
and the centrals as 2 to 4, small, rigid, and yellow;, it is hardly the Cereus extensus of Pfeiffer
(Enum. Cact. 119), where the inner perianth-segments are said to be white and obtuse.
Cereus subsquamatus Pfeiffer (Allg. Gartenz. 3: 380. 1835) is referred here by Pfeiffer.
Illustration: Curtis’s Bot. Mag. 70: pl. 4066, as Cereus extensus.
13. Hylocereus napoleonis (Graham) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 429.
1909.
Cereus napoleonis Graham in Curtis’s, Bot. Mag. 63: pl. 3458. 1836.
Stems much branched, light green, the joints with 3 acute angles and concave sides; angles
tuberculate, with repand intervals, not at all horny; areoles about 4 cm. apart; spines 4 or 5, rigid,
about 9 mm. long, with swollen bases; flowers 20 cm. long and nearly as broad; tube 7.5 cm. long,
green, bearing a few subappressed, deep red scales, gradually enlarging upward; outer perianthsegments yellow, lanceolate, linear; inner, perianth-segments pure white, spatulate-lanceolate, crenate
at apex; stamens numerous, yellow; pistil stout; stigma-lobes numerous, entire.
Type locality: Unknown; described from a cultivated plant.
Distribution: West Indies and southern Mexico, according to Schumann; but we
know it definitely only from the original illustration.
The origin of this species has long been in doubt. It was described by Graham at the
time it flowered in the botanical garden at Edinburgh. The plant had then been in cultivation for about ten years, having been sent by a Mr. McKay of Clapton, but without any
record of its source. It is possible that this species should be referred to the true H. triangularis, although Pfeiffer states in the most emphatic terms that they are very distinct.
According to Loudon (Gard. Dict. 2: 65. 1827) Cactus napoleonis occurs in a list of new
plants offered by L. C. Noisette, a nurseryman in Paris. This was about nine years before
the name was published in the Botanical Magazine.
Cereus triangularis major Salm-Dyck, Allg. Gartenz. 4: 80. 1836 and Cactus napoleonis Hortus, unpublished names, are often given as synonyms.
Cereus lanceanus (G. Don in Sweet, Hort. Brit. ed. 3. 285. 1839), C. inversus, and C.
schomburgkii are names of garden plants which are referred to this relationship by Förster
(Handb. Cact. 422. 1846).
Plants from Santo Domingo resemble the original illustration in armament. We have
these in cultivation, both at Washington and at New York, but they have not flowered
(Rose, Nos. 3734, 3839, and 4147). Boldingh (Fl. Ned. West Ind. 296) records the plant
from Aruba.
Pfeiffer (Enum. Cact. 117. 1837) referred here Burmann’s plate of Plumier (pl. 199, f. 2)
which is perhaps the best disposal to make of it. The fruit, however, has spiny areoles and
in this respect resembles Acanthocereus pentagonus. Gosselin considered it an undescribed
species which he called Cereus plumieri (Gosselin, Bull. Soc. Bot. France, 54: 668. 1907).
Illustrations: Curtis’s Bot. Mag. 63: pl. 3458; Loudon, Encycl. Pl. ed. 2. f. 17363, both
as Cereus napoleonis; (?) Plumier, Pl. Amer. ed. Burmann, pl. 200, f. 1, as Cactus etc.
192
THE CACTACEAE.
14. Hylocereus trigonus (Haworth) Safford, Ann. Rep. Smiths. Inst. 1908: 556.
1909.
?Cactus triangularis foliaceus Jacquin, Stirp. Amer. 152. 1763.
Cereus trigonus Haworth, Syn. Pl. Succ. 181. 1812.
Cereus venditus Paulsen, Journ. Bot. 56: 235. 1918.
Stems slender, 2 to 3 cm. broad, clambering over bushes or rocks, sometimes 10 meters long,
deep green; joints 3-angled, the margin of the ribs not horny, strongly undulate, the areoles borne
on the tops of the undulations; spines usually 8, 4 to 7 mm. long, stiff, at first greenish, soon dark
brown; accessory spines or bristles usually 2; perianth large; ovary bearing large foliaceous scales;
fruit oblong or oblong-obovoid, red, 10 cm. long, becoming nearly smooth.
Type locality: Not cited.
Distribution: Hispaniola, Porto
Rico, Vieques, Culebra, St. Jan, St.
Thomas, Tortola, Virgin Gorda, and
St. Croix. Recorded by Boldingh (Fl.
Ned. West Ind. 297) from St. Eustatius, Saba, and St. Martin.
This species, although known to
Plumier and illustrated by Burmann
(1750-1760), was not taken up as a
species until 1812, when it was described by Haworth. In 1803 Haworth
had described it as a variety of Cactus triqueter (Misc. Nat. 189), but had
said it was twice the size. Cereus
venditus Paulsen is based upon the
juvenile form of this species from a
plant collected on the Island of St. Jan.
Illustrations: Safford, Ann. Rep.
Smiths. Inst. 1908: pl. 12. Plumier,
Pl. Amer. ed. Burmann, pl. 200, f. 2,
Fig. 268.—Hylocereus trigonus.
as Cactus etc.; Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb.
8: pl. 25, as Cereus sp.;? Jacquin, Stirp. Amer. pl. 181, f. 65, as Cactus triangularis foliaceus;
Loudon, Encycl. Pl. f. 6872, as Cactus trigonus.
Plate xxxvi, figure 1, represents a fruiting joint of a Porto Rican plant in the collection
of the New York Botanical Garden. Figure 268 is from a photograph taken by F. E. Lutz
near Arecibo, Porto Rico.
15. Hylocereus triangularis (Linnaeus) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 429.
1909.
Cactus triangularis Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 468. 1753.
Cereus compressus Miller, Gard. Dict. ed. 8. No. 10. 1768.
Cereus triangularis Haworth, Syn. Pl. Succ. 180. 1812.
High-clambering or creeping vines, sharply 3-angled, 3 to 4 cm. broad, giving off numerous
long aerial roots; margin not horny, nearly straight or slightly elevated at the areoles; areoles about
2 cm. apart; principal spines 6 to 8, acicular, but with swollen bases; flowers 20 cm. long or more;
outer perianth-segments linear-lanceolate, acuminate, 6 to 8 cm. long, longer than the inner segments; inner perianth-segments white, oblong; scales on the ovary and flower-tube oblong, green,
2 to 5 cm. long; fruit red.
Type locality: Jamaica.
Distribution: Very common on rocks and trees along the coast of Jamaica.
Plants of H. triangularis were collected by John F. Cowell in Panama, probably not
native there, however.
Cereus triangularis pictus De Candolle (Prodr. 3: 468) is said to have yellow or yellow
and green joints, with spines often setiform, not rigid.
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
M. E. Eaton del.
PLATE XXXI
Flower on short branch of Hylocereus lemairei.
× 0.7.
A HOEN & CO
193
HYLOCEREUS
Salm-Dyck (Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 220. 1850) described C. triangularis uhdeanus,
based upon a cultivated Mexican plant. It is described with 4 to 6 radial spines and 1
central, yellow, minute. Salm-Dyck was uncertain whether it was a garden variety or a
distinct species.
Cereus anizogonus Salm-Dyck (Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 52. 1850) was given as a
synonym of Cereus triangularis.
Miller, who first published Cereus compressus distinguished it f rom C. triangularis,
but based it upon Plukenet’s illustration (Opera Bot. 1: pl. 29, f. 3), which Linnaeus referred
to Cactus triangularis, and which we believe represents the Jamaican plant. Martyn
in a later edition of Miller’s Gardeners’ Dictionary refers Miller’s Cereus compressus to
Cactus pentagonus (?), which seems hardly correct. The Index Kewensis refers Cereus
compressus to Mexico. Cephalocereus compressus (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. Index, vol. 1 to
20. 36. 1912) belongs here.
Illustrations: Plukenet, Opera Bot. 1: pl. 29, f. 3, as Cereus erectus cristatus; Bradley,
list. Succ. Pl. ed. 2. pl. 3, as Cereus americanus triangularis etc.
Figure 269 shows a joint of a plant collected by Dr. Britton near Mandeville, Jamaica,
in 1907.
Fig. 269.—Joint of Hylocereus triangularis.
×0.5.
16. Hylocereus antiguensis sp. nov.
Stems high-clambering, forming great masses in the crotches of high trees or covering the
tops of low trees; joints 2 to 4 cm. thick, 3-angled, rarely 4-angled; margins of ribs not horny, hardly
undulate; areoles 2.5 to 3.5 cm. apart; principal spines 2 to 4, about 6 mm. long or less, accessory
ones or bristles 2 to 5; flowers 14 cm. long; outer perianth-segments linear; inner perianth-segments
yellow, at least drying so, broader than the outer segments; flower-tube bearing linear acute scales.
This species is nearest H. trigonus, but the margins of the ribs are very different. The
description is based on specimens collected by Dr. Rose in Antigua (No. 3297), of which
we have both living and herbarium specimens. It flowered in the New York Botanical
Garden in 1916.
Figure 270 is from a photograph taken by Paul G. Russell on Antigua in 1913.
17. Hylocereus calcaratus (Weber) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 428.
1909.
Cereus calcaratus Weber, Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 8: 458. 1902.
A climbing vine, the joints 4 to 6 cm. wide, strongly 3-winged, green, the margin divided into
numerous prominent lobes; areoles small, from the upper angles of the marginal lobes, spineless but
bearing 2 to 4 small, white bristles.
Type locality: Port Limón, Costa Rica.
Distribution: Costa Rica.
Neither flowers nor fruit were known to Dr. Weber when he described the plant; we
have had it for a number of years and it has not yet flowered with us. It is very unlike the
other species of Hylocereus, having very peculiar stems and no spines, and it may not be
of this genus.
Figure 271 shows a joint of a plant, which was obtained by W. R. Maxon, in cultivation at San José, Costa Rica, in 1906.
194
THE CACTACEAE.
Hylocereus Sp.
Dr. J. A. Samuels collected a species of this genus in the forest plantation, La Poule,
Surinam, April 24, 1916 (No. 305), which is the first record we have of this genus being
found in Dutch Guiana. Dr. Samuels’s plants are juvenile ones, at least in part, as the
spines on some specimens are represented by 10 to 12 spiny bristles at each areole; other
branches which are more mature are less than 2 cm. broad, 3-angled, with the areoles only
1 to 1.5 cm. apart; the margin of the rib is almost straight; spines 3 to 5, brown, 2 to 3 mm.
long. The specimens are without flowers or fruit. While reading the last proof, specimens
have been received from Gerold Stahel, of Paramaribo, Surinam, which lead us to believe
that the plant from that country is Hylocereus lemairei. Here probably belongs the plant
from Surinam which Linnaeus called Cactus triangularis (Amoen. Acad. 8: 257. 1785).
Fig. 270.—Hylocereus antiguensis.
Fig. 271.—Joint of H.
calcaratus. ×0.5
Hylocereus Sp.
A species, apparently. of this genus. It is a long, clambering plant running over and
through tops of shrubs and trees and sometimes killing them, with strongly 3-angled joints,
the margins of the ribs rather thick, hardly undulate; the areoles 5 to 6 cm. apart, with
6 to 8 subulate spines, the longer 12 to 15 cm. long. It was collected by E. A. Goldman at Carrizal, Vera Cruz, May 25, 1901 (No. 697) . Its flowers and fruit are unknown.
Hylocereus Sp.
Branches slender, 3-angled, or sometimes nearly terete, 2 to 3 cm. broad, dull green, sometimes
perhaps glaucous; margin not horny; areoles often distant, sometimes 5 cm. apart, borne on prominent
and more or less reflexed knobs; spines brown, 2 to 4, stout, conic.
Collected by Dr. Rose near Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, in 1916 (No. 21870).
WILMATTEA
195
This very peculiar plant we have not been able to refer definitely to any of the above
species. It suggests in a way the other Hylocereus, which Dr. Rose also obtained in Venezuela (No. 2 1835) and which we have described as new in the Appendix. It, however, has
not yet flowered in the New York Botanical Garden where it is now being grown.
PUBLISHED SPECIES, PERHAPS OF THIS GENUS, KNOWN TO US ONLY FROM DESCRIPTION.
Cereus radicans De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 468.
1828.
This species has not been well understood since its original description. It is probably either a Selenicereus or a Hylocereus. It was described as prostrate, light green in
color, 3 or 4-angled, with rigid, slender, brown spines, of which 6 to 9 are radials and 1
is central. De Candolle refers it to Tropical America; Pfeiffer (Enum. Cact. 114), who
redescribed it in 1837, refers it to Tropical America and the Antilles. Schumann did not
know it, but referred it to South America.
Cereus reptans Salm-Dyck (De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 468. 1828) 5 an unpublished name
which was first mentioned under C. radicans, while Cereus reptans Willdenow is referred by
De Candolle to Cereus pentagonus.
Cereus horrens Lemaire, Hort. Univ. 6: 60.
1845.
Climbing and rooting; ribs 3, prominent, strongly tubercled; areoles distant, bearing copious
white down; spines 5 to 7, whitish, variable, stout, very long.
This species seems to have been lost. Its flowers and fruit are unknown as is also its
origin. It is probably a Hylocereus.
2. WILMATTEA gen. nov.
A climbing cactus, epiphytic and rooting along the sides of the joints, slender, with few short spines;
flowers solitary at the areoles (in one case 2 flowers seen), small for the tribe, nocturnal, with a narrow
limb and with a very short tube; ovary small, covered with ovate, imbricating, reddish scales, each
subtending a small areole filled with felt and occasionally with 1 bristle or more, perhaps sometimes
naked; filaments and style short.
One species is known, native of Guatemala and Honduras. The genus is named in
honor of Mrs. T. D. A. Cockerell (Wilmatte P. Cockerell) in recognition of her many discoveries of rare plants and animals in Central America.
In habit this plant resembles a slender-stemmed species of Hylocereus while the flower
and ovary bear similar scales and this led us at one time to consider it as a species of that
genus. The flowers, however, are so much smaller with scarcely any tube and bearing felt
and bristles in their axils that we now regard it as generically distinct.
1. Wilmattea minutiflora.
Hylocereus minutiflorus Britton and Rose, Contr. 15. S. Nat. Herb. 16: 240. 1913.
Cereus minutiflorus Vaupel, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23 86. 1913.
A slender, high-climbing vine, the joints 3-angled, deep green, the angles sharp but not winged,
not horny-margined; areoles 2 to 4 cm. apart; spines usually 1 to 3, minute, brownish; flowers only
5 cm. long, opening at night, rarely remaining open until o’clock in the morning, very fragrant;
flower-tube only 10 mm. long, or even less; outer perianth-segments linear, red on the midvein and
at the tip, 3 to 4 cm. long; inner perianth-segments very narrow, acute, white; stamens white, about
1 cm. long, borne in a series at the base of the inner perianth-segments; scales on the ovary sometimes bearing bristles in their axils, sometimes naked, oblong to ovate, purple or greenish at base;
style white, 2 cm. long, thick; stigma-lobes white.
Type locality: Near Lake Izabel, Guatemala.
Distribution: Guatemala and Honduras.
A cutting of the plant developed 3 thin wings 10 mm. wide, the areoles producing
2 to 5 long white hairs but no spines. In all the young joints 5 to 8 wings started, but
196
THE CACTACEAE.
all but 3 soon dropped out. In some cases the joints are nearly terete at base, or in cultivation
develop long terminal shoots which are nearly terete.
This species was first collected by R. H. Peters in 1907. It was again collected by Mrs.
T. D. A. Cockerell at Quirigoa in 1912, who sent living plants to Washington which flowered
September 27, 1917, and in 1920 Harry Johnson sent us living specimens from Guatemala. In 1916 Francis J. Dyer sent from Honduras what seems to be this species.
Illustration: Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 16: pl. 69, as Hylocereus minutiflorus.
Plate xxxii, figure 2, shows a flowering branch of the type specimen, which was collected by R. H. Peters in Guatemala in 1907. Figure 272 shows a flowering joint of the type
specimen, photographed in Washington.
Fig. 272.—Wilmattea minutiflora.
×0.6.
3. SELENICEREUS (Berger) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 429.
1909.
Slender, trailing, climbing or clambering, elongated cacti, the joints ribbed or angled, irregularly giving off aerial roots; areoles small, sometimes elevated on small knobs, bearing small spines
or in one species spineless; flowers large, often very large, nocturnal; flower-tube elongated, somewhat
curved; scales of ovary and flower-tube small, usually with long felt, hairs and bristles in their axils;
upper scales and outer perianth-segments similar, narrow, greenish, brownish, or orange; inner
perianth-segments broad, white, usually entire; filaments elongate, weak, numerous, in two clusters
distinctly separated, one cluster forming a circle at top of flower-tube, the other scattered over the
long, slender throat; style elongated, thick, often hollow; stigma-lobes slender, numerous, entire;
fruit large, reddish, covered with clusters of deciduous spines, bristles, and hairs.
Type species: Cactus grandiflorus Linnaeus.
The name is from the Greek and signifies moon-cereus, the plants being night-blooming.
All the species are clambering vines with aerial roots, and in the tropics often reach the
tops of high trees; where there are no trees or shrubs, they trail over rocks and walls. Most
of them have very large flowers; in fact, one of the largest flowered species of the family (S.
macdonaldiae) belongs here. Several of the species, such as S. hamatus, S. grandiflorus,
S. macdonaldiae, and S. pteranthus (better known as Cereus nycticalus), have long been
favorites with amateurs. In our studies of the genus we have had several hundred growing
plants under observation, representing all the species, and specimens of all have bloomed.
The species of the genus range from southern Texas through eastern Mexico, Central
America, the West Indies and along the northern coast of South America, while one species
has been reported from Argentina. Sixteen species are here recognized.
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
M. E. Eaton del.
PLATE XXXII
A HOEN & CO
1.
2.
3.
Fruit of Hylocereus undatus.
Flowering branch of Wilmattea minutiflora.
Longitudinal section of f ruit of Selenicereus grandiflorus.
(All natural size.)
197
SELENICEREUS
Key to Species.
Areoles of the ovary and flower-tube bearing long hairs.
Branches ribbed, angled or subterete, not spurred.
Areoles of the branches borne on the ribs or angles.
Spines of the branch-areoles acicular.
Hairs of flower-areoles tawny or whitish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hairs of flower-areoles bright white.
Branches 4 or 5-angled; stem-areoles without bristly hairs.
Spines brown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Young spines yellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Branches 7 to 10-ribbed; stem-areoles with many bristly hairs .
Spines of the branch-areoles short, conic.
Branches 9 or 10-ribbed; branch-areoles with many appressed hairs
Branches 4 to 6-ribbed; young branch-areoles with few long hairs.
Stems stout, 3 to 5 cm. thick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Stems slender, 1.5 to 3 cm. thick.
Hairs of flower-areoles white.
Ribs not tubercled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ribs tubercled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hairs of flower-areoles brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Areoles of the branches borne on prominent knobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Branches with a stout, deflexed spur under each areole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Areoles of flower-tube and ovary without long hairs.
Areoles of the branches spiniferous.
Spines of the branch-areoles acicular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Spines of the branch-areoles short, conic.
Ribs 7 or 8, obtuse; spines f rom the areoles on the ovary 1 to 3 . . . . . .
Ribs 4 to 6, acute; spines f rom the areoles on the ovary 10 or more . . .
Areoles of the branches unarmed.
Ribs prominent, 3 to 5; flowers white . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ribs low, 6 to 12; flowers red . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . 1. S. grandiflorus
. . . . . . . . . . . 2. S. urbanianus
. . . . . . . . . . . 3. S. coniflorus
. . . . . . . . . . . 4. S. hondurensis
. . . . . . . . . . . 5. S. donkelaarii
. . . . . . . . . . . 6. S. pteranthus
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S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
kunthianus
brevispinus
boeckmannii
macdonaldiae
hamatus
. . . . . . . . . . 12. S. vagans
. . . . . . . . . . 13. S. murrillii
. . . . . . . . . . 14. S. spinulosus
. . . . . . . . . . 15. S. inermis
. . . . . . . . . . 16. S. wercklei
1. Selenicereus grandiflorus (Linnaeus) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 430.
1909.
Cactus grandiflorus Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 467. 1753.
Cereus grandiflorus Miller, Gard. Dict. ed. 8. No. 11. 1768.
Cereus grandiflorus aff inis Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 51, 216. 1850.
Stems clambering, often 2.5 cm. in diameter, green or bluish green; ribs usually 7 or 8, sometimes fewer, low, separated by broad, rounded intervals; spines acicular, various, 1 cm. long or less,
yellowish brown or brownish, in age gray, intermixed with the numerous whitish hairs; flowerbuds covered with tawny hairs; flowers about 18 cm. long; outer perianth-segments narrow, salmoncolored; inner perianth-segments white, acute, entire; style often longer than the inner perianthsegments; fruit ovoid, 8 cm. long.
Type locality: Jamaica.
Distribution: Jamaica and Cuba. Widely planted and escaped from cultivation in
tropical America.
We have observed seeds germinating within the fruit of this species.
S. grandiflorus and perhaps some of its allies are used medicinally as a heart tonic. In
the trade the plant is sometimes called Cactus mexicanus.
Cereus scandens minor Boerhaave (Arendt, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 1: 82. 1891) probably refers to this species, as does also C. grandiflorus var. minor Salm-Dyck and var.
spectabilis Karwinsky (Förster, Handb. Cact. 415. 1846). C. grandiflorus uranos Riccobono (Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 249. 1909), doubtless the same as Cereus uranos Hortus,
is said to be but a form of this species. The C. uranus nycticalus mentioned (Monatsschr.
Kakteenk. 3: 117. 1893) is a hybrid and is like C. grandiflorus callicanthus Rümpler (Förster,
Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 750. 1885; Cereus callicanthus Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 3: 109. 1893).
Cereus grandiflorus viridiflorus (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 6: 80. 1896) is a garden hybrid.
The varieties haitiensis and ophites (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 13: 183. 1903) may belong to
related species rather than to Selenicereus grandiflorus. This is probably true of the varieties grusonianus and mexicanus listed in Haage and Schmidt Catalogues. Cereus maximiliani,
C. grandiflorus maximiliani, and C. nycticalus maximiliani are doubtless hybrids with one of
the common cultivated species, perhaps S. grandiflorus, as believed by Bergen. Cereus schmidtii (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 4: 189. 1894) may be Cereus grandiflorus schmidtii
198
THE CACTACEAE.
(Berger, Hortus Mortolensis 70. 1912). Cereus grandiflorus barbadensis is also given by
Berger.
The flowers of S. grandiflorus are almost identical with those of the 8 following species,
which differ essentially only in vegetative characters and armament.
Illustrations: Andrews, Bot. Rep. 8: pl. 508; De Candolle, Pl. Succ. 1: pl. 52; Descourtilz, Fl. Med. Antill. 1: pl. 65; Loddiges, Bot. Cab. 17: pl. 1625; Loudon, Encycl.
Pl. f. 6873, as Cactus grandiflorus; Cact. Journ. 1: 125; Curtis’s Bot. Mag. 62: pl. 3381;
Dict. Gard. Nicholson 1: f. 407; Gartenflora 53: 68, 401; Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen f.
34; Miller, Icones pl. 90; Rümpler, Sukkulenten f. 69; Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 10: 60; Cycl.
Amer. Hort. Bailey 1: f. 414, all as Cereus grandiflorus; Trew, Pl. Ehret. pl. 31, 32, as Cereus
gracilis scandens etc.; Cact. Journ. 1: 79, as Cereus grandiflorus major.
Plate xxxii, figure 3, shows a section of the fruit of a plant in the New York Botanical
Garden sent from Cuba by C. F. Baker in 1907, with germinated seeds within; plate xxxiii,
figure 1, shows a flowering branch, figure 2 shows the tip of a branch, and figure 3 its fruit.
2. Selenicereus urbanianus (Gürke and Weingart) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 16:
242. 1913.
Cereus urbanianus Gürke and Weingart, Notizbl. Bot. Gart. Berlin 4: 158. 1904.
Selenicereus maxonii Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 430. 1909.
Cereus roseanus Vaupel, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23: 27. 1913.
Cereus paradisiacus Vaupel, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23: 37. 1913.
Stems light green, but often becoming deep purple throughout, often 3 cm. in diameter; ribs
4 or 5, rarely 3 or 6, rather prominent but less so on the older branches; areoles small, white; spines
1 cm. long or less, brownish; reflexed
bristles or hairs f rom the lower part of
the areoles several, white, longer than
the spines; flowers 20 to 30 cm. long;
uppermost scales and outer perianthsegments narrow, brown to orange, paler
within; inner perianth-segments spatulate to oblanceolate, the upper part
more or less serrated, the very broad
apex sometimes apiculate or entire and
acuminate, pure white; stamens and
style yellowish green, longer than the
inner perianth-segments; flower-tube 17
cm. long, reddish brown, its areoles and
those of the ovary bearing long, white
hairs.
Type locality: Haiti.
Distribution: Cuba and Hispaniola.
Plants collected by Dr. John K.
Small, escaped from cultivation near
Halendale, Florida, are, apparently,
referable to this species.
Illustrations: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 16: 137, as Cereus urbanianus;
Blühende Kakteen 3: pl. 153, 154, as
Cereus paradisiacus.
Plate xxxiv shows a flowering
branch of a plant collected by N. L.
Britton and J. F. Cowell at El Cobre,
Cuba, in 1912.
Figs. 273 and 274.—Branch and f ruit of Selenicereus coniflorus.
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
M. E. Eaton del.
PLATE XXXIII
1. Flowering branch of Selenicereus grandiflorus.
2. Tip of branch of the same.
3. Fruit of the same.
(Natural size.)
A HOEN & CO
SELENICEREUS
3. Selenicereus coniflorus (Weingart) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 430.
199
1909.
Cereus coniflorus Weingart, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 14: 118. 1904.
Cereus nycticalus armatus Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 147. 1897.
Selenicereus pringlei Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 431. 1909.
Cereus jalapaensis Vaupel, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 23: 26. 1913.
Stems high-climbing, giving off numerous aerial roots, pale green, becoming purplish along the
ribs, 5 or 6-ribbed; intervals between the ribs either depressed or shallow; margins of the ribs slightly
wavy to strongly knobby; spines acicular, pale yellow, the radials 4 to 6, with 1 central, porrect, 1
to 1.5 cm. long; bristles from the lower part of areoles, 2, reflexed; buds globular, covered with white
hairs; flowers about 22 to 25 cm. long; outer perianth-segments linear, light orange or bronzed to
lemon-yellow; inner perianth-segments pure white, apiculate; filaments greenish; style much shorter
than the inner perianth-segments; stigma-lobes greenish yellow; scales on the ovary and flower-tube
linear, reddish, their axils bearing white hairs and spines; fruit globose, about 6 cm. in diameter.
Type locality: Not cited; based on cultivated plants.
Distribution: Eastern Mexico, especially Vera Cruz.
This is a vigorous climbing vine, flowering freely in cultivation. It is often known in collections as Cereus nycticalus armatus. Living material was collected by Dr. Rose in Mexico in
1905, where he learned it was being gathered in large quantities and shipped to
the United States, as Cereus grandiflorus, to be manufactured into medicine.
Illustration: Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen f. 3, as Cereus nycticalus.
Plate xxxv is from a plant collected by Dr. Rose in Mexico in 1905, which flowered at
the New York Botanical Garden, May 8, 1913. Figure 273 shows a joint and figure 274
a fruit of a plant in the collection of the United States Department of Agriculture.
4. Selenicereus hondurensis (Schumann) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 430. 1909.
Cereus hondurensis Schumann in Weingart, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 14: 147. 1904.
Climbing and clambering, 1.5 cm. in diameter, green, becoming in winter deep purple; ribs 7
to 10, low; areoles 6 to 10 mm. apart; spines rather short, 5 to 7 mm. long, but acicular, usually surrounded by numerous much longer white hairs or bristles, especially conspicuous on young branches;
flowers 20 cm. long or more; outermost perianth-segments brownish and linear, the outer ones linear
and acuminate, yellow; inner perianth-segments pure white, 10 cm. long, 10 to 15 mm. broad; scales
on ovary and flower-tube linear, bearing numerous long bristly hairs in their axils; fruit not known.
Type locality: Honduras.
Distribution: Honduras and Guatemala.
Fig. 275.—Tip of branch of Selenicereus hondurensis. Natural size.
200
THE CACTACEAE.
This species has long passed as Cereus kunthianus and is the plant described by Schumann under that name.
Figure 275 is from a photograph of a branch of a plant collected by O. F. Cook at
Panzos, Guatemala, in 1907.
5. Selenicereus donkelaarii (Salm-Dyck).
Cereus donkelaarii* Salm-Dyck, Allg. Gartenz. 13: 355. 1845.
Stems elongated, creeping or ascending, 8 meters long or more, slender, about 1 cm. thick; ribs
9 or 10, obtuse, often indistinct; spines in clusters of 10 to 15, the radials 3 to 4 mm. long, setaceous,
appressed; central spine 1 or several, 1 to 2 mm. long; flowers 18 cm. long, the slender tube 6 to
7 cm. long; outer perianth-segments reddish, linear; inner perianth-segments white, entire, 6 to 8
cm. long, about 1 cm. wide, acuminate; stamens and style nearly white above, greenish below; fruit
unknown.
Type locality: Not cited.
Distribution: Yucatan, Mexico.
Fig. 276.—Selenicereus donkelaarii.
This species has long been known only from cultivated plants. Schumann reports it
as from Brazil but this we are now disposed to question since it has recently been discovered by Dr. George Gaumer in Yucatan growing in dense forests, and we now have
living specimens from his collections. We now find that Major E. A. Goldman collected it
some years ago in Yucatan but it was not recognized at that time. Goldman’s plant grows
in dense patches on Cantay Island, collected April 22, 1901 (No. 661).
Figure 276 represents a sterile branch of the plant as grown in the collection of the
United States Department of Agriculture.
6. Selenicereus pteranthus (Link and Otto) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 431. 1909.
Cereus pteranthus Link and Otto, Allg. Gartenz. 2: 209. 1834.
Cereus nycticallus Link in A. Dietrich, Verh. Ver. Beförd. Gartenb. 10: 372. 1834.
Cereus brevispinulus Salm-Dyck, Hort. Dyck. 339. 1834.
Stems stout, often 3 to 5 cm. in diameter, bluish green to purple, strongly 4 to 6-angled; ribs of
young branches sometimes 2 to 3 mm. high; spines 1 to 4, 1 to 3 mm. long, dark, conic; flowers 25
to 30 cm. long, very fragrant; the tube and throat 13 cm. long, swollen above, 5 cm. in diameter;
outer perianth-segments linear, 12 cm. long; inner perianth-segments white, spatulate-oblong, 3
to 4 cm. broad above, acuminate; filaments numerous, greenish to cream-colored, the upper row
reaching forward upturned near the tip 6 cm long; lower stamens elongated unequal 8 to 12 cm
*The species was originally spelled in the Allgemeine Gartenzeitung Cereus donkelaarii but was indexed in the
same book as Cereus donkelarii. It is also written Cereus donkelaeri.
†Although the usual spelling of this name is with one 1, it was originally spelled by Link as it is here.
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
PLATE XXXIV
M. E. Eaton del.
A HOEN & CO
Flowering branch of Selenicereus urbanianus.
(Natural size.)
SELENICEREUS
201
long, weak, reclining on the lower side of the flower-tube and attached along the inner face of the
tube for 7 to 8 cm.; tube-proper about 2 cm. long, yellow within; style 20 cm. long, yellowish green,
bronzed above, thick but weak; stigma-lobes numerous, linear; ovary covered with long white silky
hairs and bristles, 10 to 12 mm. long; fruit globular, red, 6 to 7 cm. in diameter.
Type locality: Mexico.
Distribution: Mexico; known to us only from cultivated specimens or from plants
escaped from gardens.
Cereus antoinii (Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 114. 1837) is known only as a synonym of Cereus
nycticallus. Cereus rosaceus, first mentioned by De Candolle (Prodr. 3: 471. 1828), is only a
garden name which Pfeiffer (Enum. Cact. 114. 1837) referred to C. nycticallus.
Cereus peanii Beguin first mentioned in Rebut’s Catalogue (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 4:
173. 1894) has never been formally published. According to Weber, it is a hybrid of which
Cereus nycticallus is one of the parents. Cereus nothus (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 4: 173. 1894),
grown by Gruson but never described, is, according to Schumann, Cereus pterogonus. Cereus
nothus Wendland (Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 143. 1897), however, he says is a hybrid.
Several varieties of this species have been named, most of which doubtless belong here;
at least the following do: C. nycticalus gracilior Haage (Förster, Handb. Cact. 416. 1846),
C. nycticalus maximiliani (Arendt, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 1: 58. 1891), and C. nycticalus
viridior Salm-Dyck (Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 51, 216. 1850). It has frequently been used
by gardeners in making hybrids, especially with S. grandiflorus and Heliocereus speciosus.
This is a common plant in conservatories.
Illustrations: Amer. Garden 11: 471 Dict. Gard. Nicholson 1: f. 408; Lemaire, Cact.
f. 11; Rümpler, Sukkulenten f. 70, 71; Verh. Ver. Beförd. Gartenb. 10: pl. 4, all as Cereus
nycticallus.
Plate xxxiii, figure 1, shows a fruiting branch of a plant obtained from J. E. Barre
in 1901, which flowered in the New York Botanical Garden in 1915.
7. Selenicereus kunthianus (Otto) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 430.
1909.
Cereus kunthianus Otto in Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 217. 1850.
Stems elongate, weak, bluish green or purplish, 1 to 2.5 cm. thick; ribs 5 to 10, low; spines
only 1 to 2 mm. long, 7 to 9; flowers 24 cm. long, the slender tube about 12 cm. long; outer perianthsegments numerous, linear, shorter than the white inner ones; axils of scales on ovary and flower-tube
with long silky hairs; fruit unknown.
Type locality: Not cited.
Distribution: Known only in cultivation; said to have come from Honduras.
We are basing our determination of this species on a plant sent under this name to
Dr. Rose from the Berlin Botanical Garden (1909); this has 5-angled stems. The original description of the species calls for 7-angled to 10-angled stems, however. There may
be this amount of variability in the stems, or there may be two species involved.
Figure 277 shows a branch of a plant in the collection of the New York Botanical
Garden, received from the Berlin Botanical Garden.
8. Selenicereus brevispinus sp. nov.
Stems rather stout, climbing or
clambering, 2 to 3 cm. thick, in cultivation somewhat branching, light green, the
growing branches tipped with white
hairs; ribs 8 to 10, separated by narrow
intervals, undulating, with knobby areoles;
areoles circular, with short tawny felt;
spines about 12, conic, stiff, about 1 mm.
long, the 3 or 4 centrals thicker than the
Fig. 277.—Branch of S. kunthianus. ×0.5.
somewhat curved or hooked radials;
bristles from the lower parts of the areoles, 6 or more, longer than the spines, hair-like; flower-
202
THE CACTACEAE.
buds covered with long white hairs; flower 25 cm. long; outer perianth-segments narrow, in 2 or 3
series, brown, or inner series yellowish, acuminate, 8 to 9 cm. long; inner perianth-segments shorter
and broader than the outer, pure white, entire, acute; filaments numerous, included; style not projecting beyond the stamens, 17 to 18 cm. long; stigma-lobes linear, about 20; scales on the ovary and
tube spreading, 4 to 6 mm. long; fruit not known.
Collected by Dr. J. A. Shafer on Cayo Romano, Cuba, in 1909 (No. 2811).
This species is clearly distinct from S. boeckmannii. Both flowered May 2, 1915, in
Washington, when decided differences were observed in the color of the hairs on the flowertube and in the color of the outer perianth-segments.
Figure 278 is from a photograph of a branch of the type plant.
Fig. 278.—Selenicereus brevispinus.
9. Selenicereus boeckmannii (Otto) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 429.
Cereus
Cereus
Cereus
Cereus
1909.
boeckmannii Otto in Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 217. 1850.
irradians Lemaire, Illustr. Hort. 11: Misc. 74. 1864.
eriophorus Grisebach, Cat. Pl. Cub. 116. 1866 Not Pfeiffer, 1837.
vaupelii Weingart, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 22: 106. 1912.
Stems light green, 1 to 2 cm. in diameter, strongly angled; ribs 3 to 8, slightly if at all undulating; areoles at first brownish but white in age; spines and hairs in the areoles at first purplish, the
spines 3 to 6, becoming yellowish, 2 mm. long or less; flowers not fragrant, 24 to 39 cm. long; outer
perianth-segments and scales linear, brownish; inner perianth-segments oblanceolate, 10 cm. long
by 3 cm. broad at widest place, pure white; tube and throat 14 cm. long, bearing scattered, short,
linear, acute, reddish scales, their axils bearing long brown silky hairs and brown bristles; filaments
greenish, long, slender, and weak; style greenish, about 4 mm. in diameter; ovary strongly tuberculate;
fruit globular, 5 to 6 cm. in diameter.
Type locality: Not cited.
Distribution: Cuba, Hispaniola, and eastern Mexico; introduced into the Bahamas.
Illustration: Roig, Cact. Fl. Cub. pl. 3, f. 3.
Plate xxxvi, figure 2, shows a specimen collected by J. A. Shafer on Cayo Guayaba,
Cuba, in 1909, which flowered in the New York Botanical Garden, May id., 1913; figure
3 is from a specimen collected in Cuba by Dr. Britton, which flowered and set fruit in 1915.
Fig. 279.—Piece of branch of S. macdonaldiae.
×0.5.
10. Selenicereus macdonaldiae (Hooker) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 430. 1909.
Cereus macdonaldiae Hooker in Curtis’s Bot. Mag. 79: pl. 4707. 1853.
The old stems always terete, 10 to 15 mm. in diameter; younger stems somewhat 5-angled, giving
off aerial roots, with rather prominent, flattened tubercles 1 to 5 cm. apart, 2 to 3 mm. high; spines
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
PLATE XXXV
M. E. Eaton del.
Flower on branch of Selenicereus coniflorus.
(Natural size.)
A HOEN & CO
203
SELENICEREUS
several, 2 mm. long or less; flowers 30 to 34 cm. long; outer perianth-segments, and upper scales linear,
yellow, the outermost scales red or brownish; inner perianth-segments pure white, 10 mm. long,
oblanceolate, 2 to 3 cm. broad at widest point, acute; tube proper 12 cm. long, clothed with small
scales bearing brown hairs and spines in their axils; fruit oblong, about 8 cm. long.
Fig. 280.—Selenicereus macdonaldiae.
Type locality: Cited as Honduras.
Distribution: According to Dr. Spegazzini (Anal. Mus. Nac. Buenos Aires III. 4: 484),
it is found in Uruguay and Argentina, and he thinks that Maldonado, near Montevideo,
is the type locality; we know only plants in cultivation.
Cereus donatii (Schumann, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 13: 185. 1903), first listed in Haage
and Schmidt’s Catalogue, seems to belong here.
Cereus grusonianus Weingart (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 15: 54. 1905) is apparently
a race of this species, judging from the description and from small plants at the New York
Botanical Garden.
Illustrations: Cact. Journ. 2: 135;
Curtis’s Bot. Mag. 79: pl. 4707; Fl. Serr. 9: pl.
896, 897; Cassell’s Dict. Gard. 1: 194; Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 14: 57, all as Cereus macdonaldiae, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: pl. 76.
Figure 280 shows a flower of a plant in
the collection of the United States Department
of Agriculture; figure 279 shows a piece of a
branch from a plant in the New York Botanical Garden; figure 281 shows a fruiting branch.
11. Selenicereus hamatus (Scheidweiler) Britton
and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12:
430. 1909.
Cereus hamatus Scheidweiler, Allg. Gartenz. 5: 71. 1837.
Cereus rostratus Lemaire, Cact. Aliq. Nov. 29. 1838.
Fig. 281.—Selenicereus macdonaldiae.
204
THE CACTACEAE.
Stem bright green, long and clambering, the branches strongly 4-angled, rarely 3-angled, about
1.5 cm. thick; areoles with spines and black wool, remote, at the upper edges of knobby projections,
these often forming obtuse, deflexed spurs about 1 cm. long; spines on juvenile plants bristle-like,
white, on old branches fewer, stouter, brown or black; flower 20 to 25 cm. long; upper scales dark
green, tinged with red; outer perianth-segments pale green, narrow, about 8 cm. long; inner
perianth-segments broad, white; flower-tube 10 cm. long, 22 mm. in diameter, its areoles long-hairy;
filaments, style, and stigma-lobes yellow.
Fig. 282.—Selenicereus hamatus.
Type locality: Mexico.
Distribution: Southern and eastern Mexico.
According to the Index Kewensis Cereus rostratus occurs on the island of Antigua,
but Dr. Rose was unable to find it there in 1913.
Fig. 283.—Part of branch of S. hamatus.
×0.5.
This species is common in cultivation in greenhouses and is occasionally seen in yards
and patios in Mexico. Although we have seen no wild specimens, it seems to be common
along the eastern coast of Mexico, probably in the wooded regions.
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
PLATE XXXVI
M. E. Eaton del.
A HOEN & CO
1.
2.
3.
Fruit of Hylocereus trigonus.
Flower of Selenicereus boeckmannii.
Fruit of Selenicereus boeckmannii.
(All natural size.)
SELENICEREUS
205
Illustrations: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 9: 23; Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 16: pl. 11, f. 4, 5;
Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen Nachtr. f. 7; Blühende Kakteen 3: pl. 161, 162; Wildeman,
Icon. Select. 3: pl. 103, all as Cereus hamatus; Möllers Deutsche Gärt. Zeit. 14: 340; De
Laet, Cat. Gen. f. 30, as Cereus rostratus; Rev. Hort. Belge 40: after 184, as Cereus kostratus;*
Bull. Brooklyn Inst. Arts and Sci. 5: 236, 237 (2 figures).
Figure 282 15 from a photograph of a flower, taken at the New York Botanical Garden
on the evening of October 10, 1910; figure 283 shows a part of a branch.
Fig. 284.—Selenicereus vagans.
12. Selenicereus vagans (K. Brandegee).
Cereus vagans K. Brandegee, Zoe 5: 191. 1904.
Cereus longicaudatus Weber in Gosselin, Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 10: 384. 1904.
Stems creeping over rocks, often forming large clumps, more or less rooting, 1 to 1.5 cm. in
diameter; ribs about 10, low; areoles 1 to 1.5 cm. apart; spines acicular, numerous, less than 1 cm.
long, brownish yellow; flower 15 cm. long; tube, including throat, about 9 cm. long, slightly curved,
brownish, with small scattered scales bearing clusters of 5 to 8 acicular spines in their axils; throat
narrow, 5 cm long; outer perianth-segments linear, brownish to greenish white 6 cm long; inner
*Doubtless error for rostratus.
206
THE CACTACEAE.
perianth-segments white, oblanceolate, 6 cm. long, with short acuminate tips, the margins undulate
or toothed, especially above; stamens numerous, weak; filaments white or white with greenish
bases; style greenish or greenish with cream-colored upper part, slender; stigma-lobes 12, linear;
ovary covered with acicular spines.
Type locality: Mazatlan, Mexico.
Distribution: Western coast of Mexico.
Illustration: Pamphlet descriptive of Carnegie Institution of Washington, seventh
and eighth issues, p. 23 (reproduced here on p. 239).
Figure 284 shows a flower of a plant which bloomed at the National Botanical Garden,
Washington, D. C., in 1905; figure 285a shows a tip of shoot and 285b a shoot with flowerbud, from specimens grown at the United States Department of Agriculture.
Fig. 285.—a and b, Selenicereus vagans; c and d, Selenicereus murrillii.
×0.66.
13. Selenicereus murrillii sp. nov.
A very slender vine, 6 meters long or more, 8 mm. in diameter, freely giving off long slender
aerial roots, dark green with the ribs more or less purplish, the scaly leaves at tips of branches
minute, pinkish; ribs 7 or 8, low, obtuse, separated by low broad intervals; areoles 1 to 2 cm. apart,
small, bearing white wool and minute spines; spines 5 or 6, minute, the two lower ones longer and
reflexed, 1 to 2 cm. long; the other spines conic, greenish to black; flower-buds small, oblong, longacuminate; flower opening at night, 15 cm. long, 15 cm. broad from tip to tip of the outer perianthsegments; tube and throat 6 cm. long, purplish green without, narrowly funnelform, bearing a few
slightly elevated areoles, these white-felted and bearing one or two minute spines, the scales on the
tube minute but those on the throat lanceolate, 3 to 10 mm. long and widely spreading even on the
flower-buds; tube-proper smooth within; throat about 2 cm. long, covered with stamens; outer
perianth-segments 12 to 14, greenish yellow or the outer ones purplish on the back, widely spreading, linear to linear-lanceolate, acute; inner perianth-segments pure white except the outermost ones
and these greenish, together forming a campanulate corolla; segments broadly spatulate, to 5 cm.
long, obtuse; stamens numerous, slender, weak and somewhat declining on the perianth-segments,
cream-colored; style slender, weak, cream-colored; stigma-lobes 9, linear, cream-colored; ovary bearing numerous rather large areoles, these white-felted and with 1 to 3 short spines but no long hairs.
Collected by Dr. W. A. Murrill, near Colima, Mexico, in 1910 (No. 31802 N. Y. B. G.).
Although we have had it growing in Washington and New York for more than eight years,
207
SELENICEREUS
we have obtained but one flower. It grows vigorously, giving off many long aerial roots,
soon reaching the top of the greenhouses. It has occasionally made small flower-buds, but
these soon fall. Toward the last of May 1918, plants in Washington began to develop
numerous flower-buds and gave every promise of an abundance of flowers, but a very hot
spell occurred the first of June when the thermometer in the greenhouse rose to 114°
Fahrenheit, and all the buds but one were killed. The plant, doubtless, needs half-shade
conditions. Now that we have studied a mature flower we feel justified. in referring this
plant to Selenicereus, although it does not belong with the typical forms. The flower-bud
and flower are similar to those of S. vagans. The flower itself in its bell-shaped perianth of
short white segments, in its funnel-shaped flower-tube bearing scattered areoles, and in its
ovary with short stubby spines resembles very much species of Acanthocereus but in habit
and other respects it is very different.
Figure 285c shows a branch with young flower-buds, 285d a terminal shoot.
14. Selenicereus spinulosus (De Candolle) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 431. 1909.
Cereus spinulosus De Candolle, Mém. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 17: 117. 1828.
Stems clambering, 2 to 4 meters long, 1 to 2 cm. in diameter, producing numerous aerial roots,
light green, somewhat shining, usually angled but sometimes nearly terete; ribs 4 to 6, or sometimes more; spines very short, yellowish or becoming blackish; radial spines 5 or 6, with 2 reflexed
bristles at the base of the areole; central spine 1, rarely 2, on juvenile branches more numerous and
more acicular, white; flower 12 to 14 cm. long; its tube about 5 cm. long, with a few clusters of small
spines; outer perianth-segments narrowly oblong, 5 to 6 cm. long, acute, spreading; inner perianthsegments pinkish to white, narrowly oblong, acute; stamens white, attached along the inner surface
of the throat; stigma-lobes white; ovary covered with clusters of spines similar to those on the tube.
Fig. 286.—Selenicereus spinulosus.
×0.66.
Type locality: Mexico.
Distribution: Eastern Mexico to southeastern Texas.
Illustration: Blühende Kakteen 1: pl. 53, as Cereus spinulosus.
Plate xxxviii, figure 2, shows a flowering branch of a specimen obtained by Dr. Rose
from Texas in 1900, which flowered in the New York Botanical Garden, April 9, 1912.
Figure 286 shows a growing shoot from a plant obtained by Dr. E. Palmer at Victoria,
Mexico, in 1907.
15. Selenicereus inermis (Otto).
Cereus inermis Otto in Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 116. 1837.
Cereus karstenii Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 218. 1850.
Creeping or clambering over rocks and bushes, deep green, the branches 1 to 2.5 cm. thick, 3 to
5-ribbed or angled, the ribs compressed, acute, undulate; old branches naked but young branches
bearing setae from the small areoles; areoles remote, sometimes 6 cm. apart, when young each borne
on a knob or elevation terminating in a subtending tip or scale; flower just before opening 15 cm. long,
with a long acuminate tip, nocturnal; outer perianth-segments linear-oblong, 9 to 10 cm. long, 8
to 10 mm. broad, yellowish green, but more or less purplish at base; inner perianth-segments oblong,
8 to 9 cm. long, pure white except the pinkish bases; filaments numerous, slender, weak, white; style
very thick, hollow, 7 mm. in diameter, pinkish, 5 cm. long; stigma-lobes numerous, greenish, 12 mm.
long; flower-tube green, 8 cm. long, cylindric, 1.5 cm. in diameter, bearing a few scattered areoles,
208
THE CACTACEAE.
these brown-felted and with a cluster of 10 to 15 brown acicular spines, 1 cm. long or less and each
subtended by an ovate linear scale; areoles on ovary closely set with clusters of brown acicular
spines but no hairs.
Type locality: La Guayra, Venezuela.
Distribution: Venezuela and Colombia.
Flower description drawn from flower opening in the New York Botanical Garden in
June 1917, on specimen obtained from M. Simon in Paris, 1905.
Fig. 287.—Joint of Selenicereus inermis.
×0.5.
Cereus karstenii was sent by Hermann Karsten from Colombia and was described as
near Cereus inermis, but twice as slender. We find, however, that true Cereus inermis,
especially in cultivation, becomes elongated and slender. In the Jardin des Plantes, Paris,
Dr. Rose found specimens labeled Cereus karstenii which proved to be only slender forms
of S. inermis. In 1916 Dr. Rose collected S. inermis at its type locality and obtained fruit
of this species for the first time. C. inermis laetevirens Salm-Dyck (Cact. Hort. Dyck.
1849. 51. 1850) is only a name.
Figure 287 shows a joint of a plant collected by Dr. Rose between Caracas and La
Guayra, Venezuela, in 1916.
Fig. 288.—Branches of Selenicereus wercklei.
×0.66.
16. Selenicereus wercklei (Weber).
Cereus wercklei Weber, Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 8: 460. 1902.
Epiphytic, slender, much branched, freely rooting, the young growth producing small swollen
knobs at the areoles tipped by small red scale-like leaves; branches pale green, to 1 cm. in diameter,
SELENICEREUS
209
nearly terete, with 6 to 12 faint ribs; areoles minute, each bearing a small tuft of felt subtended by
a small scale but no spines; flower 15 to 16 cm. long, bright red; outer perianth-segments narrow,
greenish, spreading; inner perianth-segments
oblong; flower-tube narrow; style green at
base, pink in the middle, nearly white above;
ovary spiny; fruit ovoid, yellow, bearing clusters of brown spines at the areoles.
Type locality: Cerro Mogote, near
Miravalles, Costa Rica.
Distribution: Costa Rica.
It resembles some species of Rhipsalis
in its epiphytic habit and in its long, slender,
naked branches, but not in its flower. In
its naked stems, large flowers, and spiny
fruit it resembles S. inermis, but differs
from it in its many low ribs. We have had
this plant under observation for a number
of years but it has flowered only once. We
have seen a second flower which Mr. Otón
Jiménez brought us in alcohol from Costa
Rica in 1919. He states that even in Costa
Rica the plant rarely flowers.
Figure 288 shows branches of Selenicereus wercklei f rom a plant grown in
Washington which was sent f rom Costa
Rica by O. Jiménez; figure 289 shows a
plant which flowered in the New York
Botanical Garden in 1918.
Fig. 289.—Flowering plant of Selenicereus wercklei.
DESCRIBED SPECIES, PERHAPS OF THIS GENUS.
Cereus acanthosphaera Weingart, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 24: 81. 1914.
“Dark green, climbing in trees and hanging down, branched at the base; branches uniform,
3 to 7 meters long, with narrow, short, equal, rectangular joints and or 5 compressed-winged ribs;
sinuses acute; areoles small, with scanty shining tomentum; spines acicular, 1 to 3, diverging, short,
and brownish above; flower unknown; fruit large, round, pendent, yellowish green, pilose and
very spiny, crowned by the rotting perigon.”
Type locality: On Rio de Santa Maria, State of Vera Cruz, Mexico.
Distribution: Known only from the type locality, and to us only from the description.
It may be a near relative of Deamia testudo. In Mexico the two plants are found
in the same river valley.
Cereus humilis De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 468. 1828.
Plant low, 2.5 cm. in diameter, with spreading, elongated, rooting branches; ribs or 5, strongly,
compressed, repand; areoles 8 mm. apart, bearing white felt or nearly naked; spines 4 to 8 mm. long;
radial spines 8 to 12, setaceous, white; central spines 3 or 4, stouter than the radial, straw-colored.
This species was described by De Candolle in 1828, who stated that the flowers and
the country from which it came were unknown. Salm-Dyck had also sent it to him as a new
species, under the name of Cereus gracilis. In 1837, Pfeiffer redescribed the species, adding
the variety minor Pfeiffer (Enum. Cact. 115), which latter he described as having fasciculate, slenderer branches and subsetaceous spines. He gave as synonyms of this variety
Cereus mariculi Hortus and C. myriacaulon Martius, sometimes misspelled nyriacaulon.
210
THE CACTACEAE.
Lemaire in 1839 listed the species and also described the variety major Lemaire (Cact.
Gen. Nov. Sp. 80. 1839), which he stated to be three times as stout as the species. To
the variety he referred C. rigidus Lemaire, but this he seems never to have described.
In 1913 Weingart sent Dr. Rose a cutting labeled Cereus rigidus which is still growing
in the Cactus House of the U. S. Department of Agriculture but it has never flowered. It
gives off aerial roots and otherwise looks like a Selenicereus but is clearly distinct from any
of our described species. The stem is slender, about 8 mm. in diameter, strongly 5-angled;
areoles closely set, about 8 mm. apart; spines small, acicular, the centrals a little stouter
than the radials, bulbose at base and yellowish brown in color. Weingart’s plant proves
to be the same as No. 6791 received from M. Simon of St. Ouen, Paris, under the name
Cereus pentagonus, at the New York Botanical Garden.
Salm-Dyck in 1845 listed the varieties rigidior and myriacaulon.* The latter name he
published in 1850 (Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 22, 222), when he states that the species has
short spreading branches about 7.5 cm. long, while the variety is even shorter, slenderer,
and often appressed to the ground. He would refer here Cereus pentalophus radicans De
Candolle (Mém. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 17: 117. 1828).
Several of the West Indian species of Selenicereus are known to us to develop very little
for long periods after commencing growth; we suspect that the name Cereus humilis was
based on a plant in that condition.
Cereus maynardii Paxton, Bot. Mag. 14: 75.
Cereus
Cereus
Cereus
Cereus
Cereus
1847.
grandiflorus speciosissimus Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 113. 183 7.
grandiflorus hybridus Haage in Förster, Handb. Cact. 415. 1846.
grandiflorus maynardii Paxton, Rev. Hort. III. 1: 285. 1847.
fulgidus† Hooker in Curtis’s Bot. Mag. 96: pl. 5856. 1870.
grandiflorus ruber Rümpler in Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 751. 1885.
Stems bright green, 3 or 4-angled, 3.5 cm. in diameter; spines about 9 in each cluster, acicular,
12 to 18 mm. long, straw-colored, with brown tips; flowers 15 to 18 cm. broad; flower-tube 7.5
to 10 cm. long, bearing small red scales with hairs in their axils; flower parts in several series,
scarlet; stamens numerous, shorter than the inner perianth-segments; style elongate; stigma-lobes
numerous, linear, white.
This is known to be of hybrid origin, being a cross between Selenicereus grandiflorus and
Heliocereus speciosus.
The publication of the combination Cereus maynardii has been only incidental and
is attributed to both Paxton and Lemaire. As it is named for Viscountess Maynard, it
should have been spelled maynardae.
Illustrations: Paxton’s Bot. Mag. 14: pl. opp. 75, as Cereus grandiflorus maynardii;
Fl. Serr. 3: pl. 233, 234, as Cereus grandifloro-speciosissimus maynardii; Curtis’s Bot. Mag.
96: pl. 5856, as C. fulgidus; Deutsche Gärt. Zeit. 9: 276, as C. hybridus.
4. MEDIOCACTUS gen. nov.
A more or less epiphytic cactus, usually growing in trees, with long procumbent branches;
branches usually 3-winged, slender, producing aerial roots, the areoles short-spiny; flowers large,
funnelform, nocturnal, the tube bearing distant scales; inner perianth-segments white; ovary
tuberculate, its felted and spiny areoles subtended by small scales; fruit oblong, red, its areoles
felted and spiny.
In habit and flowers this plant much resembles Hylocereus, but
tuberculate ovary and in the felted and spine-bearing areoles of the
those of Selenicereus.
The genus has 2 species, so far as known to us, the type being
Dyck. Its name implies intermediate characters as it suggests
Selenicereus.
* Walpers (Repert. Bot. 2: 278. 1843) gave this variety as a synonym of this species.
†Cereus fulgens (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 6: 190. 1896) is a misspelling.
differs from it in its
fruit, which resemble
Cereus coccineus Salmboth Hylocereus and
211
MEDIOCACTUS
Key to Species.
Flowers 25 to 30 cm. long; eastern coast of South America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. M. coccineus
Flowers 38 cm. bog; western Andes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. M. megalanthus
1. Mediocactus coccineus (Salm-Dyck).
Cereus
Cereus
Cereus
Cereus
Cereus
Cereus
coccineus Salm-Dyck in De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 469. 1828.
setaceus Salm-Dyck in De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 469. 1828
setaceus viridior Salm-Dyck, Hort. Dyck. 65. 1834.
lindbergianus Weber in Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 151. 1897.
lindmanii Weber in Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 163. 1897.
hassleri Schumann, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 10: 45. 1900.
Stems usually climbing on trees, sometimes
clambering over rocks or walls, developing
many aerial roots, the joints pale green, various,
sometimes 8 cm. broad, often only 2 cm. broad;
angles usually 3, but sometimes 4 or even 5 on
the same plant; young areoles 5 to 10 mm.
apart, bearing brown felt and 10 to 15 white,
radial, deciduous bristles followed by several
spines; areoles of mature branches 2 to 3 cm.
apart; spines at first pinkish, then brown or
yellowish brown, conic, 1 to 2 mm. long, more
or less swollen at base, usually only 2 or 3,
sometimes more, rarely only 1; flowers 25 to 30
cm. long; outer perianth-segments linear, green,
widely spreading; inner perianth-segments
erect, broader than outer, upper margins
serrate; style exserted, yellow; stigma-lobes
about 16, linear, entire, yellow; the fruit
somewhat pointed, 7 cm. long, edible, strongly
tuberculate when young, its areoles bearing a
cluster of spines 1 to 2 cm. long; flesh white;
seeds black.
Type locality: Brazil.
Distribution: Argentina to Brazil.
All writers on the Cactaceae, including
Salm-Dyck, are agreed that the Cereus coccineus described by De Candolle (Prodr. 3:
469. 1828) is different from the plant after-
Fig. 290.—Mediocactus coccineus.
Fig. 291.—Mediocactus coccineus.
212
THE CACTACEAE.
wards described by Salm-Dyck under that name. This name of De Candolle has priority of
place over Cereus setaceus and is, therefore, adopted by us for this well-known plant of
eastern South America. The name coccineus was evidently given because the flowers were
supposed to be red but it would very properly apply to the color of the fruit.
A plant was found growing on a garden wall, half-wild, at Cali, Cauca Valley,
Colombia, December 1905, by H. Pittier, but we do not know it to be a native of Colombia.
Cereus prismaticus Salm-Dyck (De Candolle, Prodr. 3: 469. 1828. Not Haworth. 1819)
is doubtless a Mediocactus; if really of South American origin, as stated by Schumann, it is
probably M. coccineus.
Illustrations: Pfeiffer and Otto, Abbild. Beschr. Cact. 1: pl. 16, as Cereus setaceus;
Vellozo, Fl. Plum. 5: pl. 24, as Cactus triangularis.
Plate xiii, figure 3, shows a fruiting branch and plate xxxvii a flowering branch of
plants in the collection of the New York Botanical Garden. Figure 290 is from a photograph taken by Paul G. Russell at Nichteroy, Brazil, in 1915; figure 291 is from a photograph of a branch bearing young fruit collected by H. Pittier from a half-wild plant at
Cali, Cauca Valley, Colombia, in 1905, possibly referable to the following species.
2. Mediocactus megalanthus (Schumann).
Cereus megalanthus Schumann, Bot. Jahrb. Engler 40: 412. 1907.
Growing in trees, forming masses of long pendent branches; branches often only 1.5 cm. broad,
rooting freely, 3-angled; margin of angles only slightly undulating; spines 1 to 3, yellowish, 2 to 3
mm. long, when young associated with several white bristles; flowers very large, 38 cm. long, white;
inner perianth-segments 11 cm. long, 3.5 cm. broad; stamens numerous; stigma-lobes numerous.
Type locality: Near the town of Tarapoto, Department of Loreto, eastern Peru.
Distribution: Andes of Peru and possibly Colombia and Bolivia.
This species was very briefly described at place cited above and had been previously
illustrated (see below). Vaupel (Notizbl. Bot. Gart. Berlin 5: 284. 1913) has published
an extended account which enables us to refer the plant definitely to this genus.
In 1914 Mr. Weingart sent Dr. Rose a cutting of this species but it has grown little
since, although it has developed long aerial roots. It was briefly described in a Kew Bulletin (Kew Bull. Misc. Inf. 1914; App. 61. 1914).
The plant seems to have one of the largest flowers known among cacti and, according
to Vaupel, is rivaled only by Selenicereus urbanianus.
A specimen similar to Cereus megalanthus was collected growing in trees by R. S.
Williams at Charopampa, Bolivia, September 27, 1901 (No. 881). Mr. Williams says that
his plant was many yards in length. It is without flowers or fruit.
Illustration: Karsten and Schenck, Vegetationsbilder 2: pl. 5, as Cereus megalanthus.
Figure 292 is a reproduction of the illustration above cited.
5. DEAMIA gen. nov.
An elongated cactus, clambering over or pendent from rocks or climbing and growing on bark
of living trees, the joints usually broadly 3-winged, but sometimes 5 to 8-ribbed or winged, clinging
by aerial roots; spines of the areoles numerous, acicular, or in juvenile forms bristly; flowers diurnal,
very large, the tube slender, elongated; throat funnelform; inner perianth-segments yellowish white;
stamens numerous, slender, attached all over the throat; style rather slender; scales on ovary and
tube very small, bearing 3 to 5 long brown bristles in their axils; stigma-lobes linear, entire; fruit
not known.
A monotypic genus of Mexico, Central America, and Colombia, dedicated to Charles
C. Deam, a diligent botanical collector, who sent the plant to us from Guatemala.
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
PLATE XXXVII
M. E. Eaton del.
A HOEN & CO
Flower on branch of Mediocactus coccineus.
× 0.7.
213
DEAMIA
1. Deamia testudo (Karwinsky).
Cereus testudo Karwinsky in Zuccarini, Abh. Bayer, Akad. Wiss. München 2: 682. 1837.
Cereus pterogonus Lemaire, Cact. Gen. Nov. Sp. 59. 1839.
Cereus pentapterus Otto in Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 1849. 221. 1850.
Cereus miravallensis Weber, Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 8: 459. 1902.
Selenicereus miravallensis Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 431. 1909.
Stems and joints various, 3 to 10 cm. broad, or perhaps even more; ribs thin, wing-like, 1 to
3 cm. high; areoles 1 to 2 cm. apart or on juvenile growth much closer together; spines spreading,
10 or more, 1 to 2 cm. long, brownish; flowers 28 cm. long, with a long slender tube 10 cm. long expanding into a broad throat nearly as long as the tube; inner perianth-segments linear-oblong,
acuminate, 8 to 10 cm. long; stamens numerous; style slender, long, 24 to 25 cm. long; stigma-lobes
linear, numerous; scales on ovary 1 mm. long or less; hairs on ovary and flower-tube brown, 1 to 3
cm. long.
Type locality: Mexico.
Distribution: Southern Mexico to Colombia.
Vaupel (Blühende Kakteen 3: pl. 150. 1913) doubtfully refers here Cereus pentagonus
Vellozo, both described and figured by Vellozo (Fl. Flum. 5: pl. 22. text. ed. Netto 195).
Vellozo’s plate, however, represents Cereus pernambucensis.
This species, although described as Cereus testudo in 1837, has long been passing in
collections as Cereus pterogonus, a later name. It has a rather wide range and there is
considerable variation in stems and
flowers. It needs more detailed observation than it has yet received.
Fig. 292.—Mediocactus megalanthus.
Fig. 293.—Deamia testudo.
Illustrations: Blühende Kakteen 3: pl. 150; Curtis’s Bot. Mag. 89: pl. 5360, both as
Cereus pterogonus.
Figure 293 is from a photograph taken by E. A. Goldman near Carrizal, Vera Cruz,
Mexico, in 1901; figure 294 shows branches from a plant sent from Costa Rica in 1911.
214
THE CACTACEAE.
Fig. 294.—Branches of Deamia testudo.
×0.66.
6. WEBEROCEREUS Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 431. 1909.
Epiphytic cacti, with slender, climbing or hanging stems and branches, these terete, angled or
rarely flattened, emitting aerial roots, the areoles bearing a tuft of felt and sometimes several weak
acicular bristles or spines; flowers pink, rose-colored or white, nocturnal, short-funnelform or funnelform-campanulate; ovary tuberculate, its areoles bearing weak filiform bristles or stiff hairs, the
lower part of the flower-tube with a few similar areoles, the upper part with a few foliaceous scales;
outer perianth-segments reflexed-spreading, blunt, linear-oblong, the inner ones narrower; ovary
hairy or bristly; areoles of the fruit hairy.
Type species: Cereus tunilla Weber.
Three species are here recognized, two from Costa Rica and one from Panama. They
are all rather insignificant plants, growing in trees as does Rhipsalis; the seedlings and
juvenile growths are similar to those of species of that genus, but the large flowers and
fruits are quite different.
The genus was named for Dr. Albert Weber (1830-1903) of Paris, who gave much
attention to the cacti.
Key to Species.
Inner perianth-segments pinkish.
Branches usually strongly angled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. W. tunilla
Branches terete or slightly angled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. W. biolleyi
Inner perianth-segments white . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. W. anamensis
1. Weberocereus tunilla (Weber) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 432.
1909.
Cereus tunilla Weber, Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 8: 460. 1902.
Cereus gonzalezii Weber, Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 8: 460. 1902.
Stems climbing, 5 to 12 mm. in diameter, usually strongly 4-angled, rarely 2, 3, or 5-angled,
but in juvenile forms nearly terete; spines 6 to 12, stiff, swollen at base, yellowish at first, soon brown,
6 to 8 mm. long; flowers 5 to 6 cm. long, pinkish; outer perianth-segments linear, brownish, spreading or reflexed; inner perianth-segments oblong, acute, pink; filaments and style included, pinkish;
stigma-lobes whitish; ovary strongly tubercled; tubercles bearing several yellow bristles.
Type locality: Near Tablón, southwest of Cartago, Costa Rica.
Distribution: Costa Rica.
Illustration: Curtis’s Bot. Mag. 144: pl. 8779, as Cereus tunilla.
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
PLATE XXXVIII
M. E. Eaton del.
1.
2.
3.
Fruiting branch of Selenicereus pteranthus.
Fruiting branch of Selenicereus spinulosus.
Fruiting branch of Weberocereus panamensis.
(All natural size.)
WEBERBAUEROCEREUS
215
Plate xxxix, figure 1, shows a flowering branch of a plant obtained by Wm. R. Maxon
in Costa Rica in 1906, which flowered in the New York Botanical Garden in May 1913.
2. Weberocereus biolleyi (Weber) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 431.
1909.
Rhipsalis biolleyi Weber, Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 8: 467. 1902.
Cereus biolleyi Weber in Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen Nachtr. 60. 1903.
Branches long, slender, and flexuous, climbing over or hanging from branches of trees, 4 to
6 mm. in diameter, terete or slightly angled, in juvenile plants often flattened or 3-winged, usually
spineless but occasionally bearing 1 to 3 yellow spines from an areole; areoles small, remote; flowers
3 to 5 cm. long; all perianth-segments oblong, obtuse, the inner pinkish; ovary tuberculate, hairy.
Type locality: Vicinity of Port Limón, Costa Rica.
Distribution: Costa Rica.
The branches are often only 4 mm. in diameter and spineless. When cuttings are made
from these branches queer juvenile forms develop. In one case a flat, thin, 2-edged branch
10 mm. broad was produced with closely set areoles filled with white, bristle-like hairs;
from the same cuttings a similar branch was developed, but 3-angled, like a juvenile
Hylocereus.
Plate xxxix, figure 2, is from a plant collected at Zent, Costa Rica, by H. Pittier, which
flowered in the New York Botanical Garden, July 18, 1913.
3. Weberocereus panamensis sp. nov.
Stems 1 to 2 cm. broad, strongly 3-angled or some joints flat; margins acute, indented; areoles
small, each hidden beneath a small thick scale, sometimes bearing 1 to 3 short weak spines; flower
4 to 7 cm. long; outer perianth-segments and inner scales yellowish green, erect; inner perianthsegments white, oblong; tube proper smooth and white within; throat 1 cm. long; stamens included;
filaments white, a part attached to the lower face of the throat and a part to the upper margin;
style white, included; stigma-lobes white (in wild state said to be purple); ovary tuberculate, green,
with spreading scales, each subtending 4 to 8 long white hairs; fruit red, 2 to 3 cm. in diameter,
tubercled, at least when young.
Fig. 295.—Weberocereus panamensis.
Collected in forest thickets along the Rio Fato, Province of Colon, Panama, July 1911,
by H. Pittier (No. 3903) and flowered first in Washington in 1913.
Plate xxxviii, figure 3, is from the type specimen, which flowered in the New York
Botanical Garden, September 20, 1915. Figure 295 shows a fruiting branch collected by
Mrs. D. D. Gaillard at Lake Gatun, Panama, in 1913.
216
THE CACTACEAE.
PUBLISHED SPECIES, KNOWN TO US ONLY FROM DESCRIPTION.
Cereus estrellensis Weber (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 15: 167. 1905) is, according
to C. Wercklé, similar to Cereus nycticallus but weaker and more spiny. The stems are
6-angled; the flowers are small, rosy to salmon-colored, and nocturnal. It is of Costa Rican
origin, but is known to us only from this brief characterization and may belong to our genus
Weberocereus.
7. WERCKLEOCEREUS Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 432. 1909.
Epiphytic, climbing cacti, the 3-angled branches emitting aerial roots, their areoles bearing
short bristles or very weak spines and a tuft of felt; flowers short-funnelform, the tube rather stout;
ovary and flower-tube bearing many areoles, each with several nearly black, acicular spines and a
tuft of short black felt, subtended by minute scales; outer perianth-segments lanceolate, acutish,
narrow; inner perianth-segments broader; stamens many; style about as long as the longer stamens,
with several linear stigma-lobes; berry globose, its areoles spiny.
Two species are known, 1 in Costa Rica and 1 in Guatemala; both are in cultivation.
The genus is dedicated to C. Wercklé, a Costa Rican collector.
Type species: Cereus tonduzii Weber.
In habit the plants resemble species of Hylocereus, but the flowers are very different.
Key to Species.
Flowers 8 cm. long or less; stem-areoles at most bristly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. W. tonduzii
Flowers 10 cm. long or, more; stem-areoles with weak but definite spines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. W. glaber
1. Werckleocereus tonduzii (Weber) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 432.
1909.
Cereus tonduzii Weber, Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 8: 459. 1902.
Stems rather stout, bushy-branched, the joints 3-angled, rarely 4-angled, deep green, not at
all glaucous, climbing by aerial roots; margins of ribs nearly straight; areoles small, felted, without
spines, but sometimes with weak bristles; flowers 8 cm. long or less, areoles of the ovary and tube
bearing clusters of dark spines and short black wool; outer perianth-segments brownish, oblong,
1 to 2 cm. long; inner perianth-segments oblong, creamy white, 2.5 cm. long; stamens exserted;
style longer than the stamens; berry globose, citron-yellow, its apex umbilicate, its flesh white.
Type locality: Copey, near Santa Maria de Dota, Costa Rica.
Distribution: Costa Rica.
In greenhouse cultivation some plants are remarkably floriferous and very conspicuous when in bloom.
Plate xxxix, figure 3, shows part of a plant which flowered in the New York Botanical
Garden, March 30, 1908. Figure 296 is from a photograph of a plant in the same collection.
2. Werckleocereus glaber (Eichlam) Britton and Rose, Addisonia 2: 13.
1917.
Cereus glaber Eichlam, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 20: 150. 1910.
Stems slender, 3-angled, about 2 cm. broad, pale green and slightly glaucous, climbing by aerial
roots; margins somewhat knobby, the areole borne on the upper part of the knob, small, 3 to 4 cm.
apart; spines 2 to 4, short, 1 to 3 mm. long, acicular, but with swollen bases; flower 10 cm. long or
more, the ovary and tube bearing clusters of yellow to brown acicular spines; inner perianth-segments
white, oblanceolate, acute, somewhat serrate; style pale yellow, weak, resting on the under side of
the flower-tube; stigma-lobes white; fruit not known.
Type locality: Western coast of Guatemala.
Distribution: Guatemala.
In habit this species much resembles Wilmattea minutiflora, also from Guatemala,
but its flower characters are quite different.
Illustration: Addisonia 2: pl. 47.
Plate xxxix, figure 4, is from a specimen obtained by Dr. Rose from Guatemala,
which flowered in the New York Botanical Garden, April 14, 1915.
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
PLATE XXXIX
M. E. Eaton del.
A HOEN & CO
1.
2.
3.
4.
Flowering branch of Weberocereus tunilla.
Flowering branch of Weberocereus biolleyi.
Flowering branch of Werckleocereus tonduzii.
A flower of Werckleocereus glaber
(All natural size.)
APOROCACTUS
217
Fig. 296.—Werckleocereus tonduzii.
8. APOROCACTUS Lemaire, Illustr. Hort. 7: Misc. 67. 1860.
Slender, vine-like cacti, creeping or clambering, sending out aerial roots freely, day-blooming;
flowers rather small, one at an areole, funnelform, pink to red, the tube nearly straight, or bent just
above the ovary, the limb somewhat oblique; outer perianth-segments linear, spreading or recurved,
scattered; inner perianth-segments broad, more compact than the outer perianth-segments; stamens
exserted, in a single, somewhat 1-sided cluster; filaments attached all along the throat; tube proper
about the length of the narrow throat; fruit globose, small, reddish, setose; seeds few, reddish brown,
obovate.
We recognize 5 species, the typical one being Cactus flagelliformis Linnaeus.
This genus, first described by Lemaire, included not only the typical A. flagelliformis,
but also Cereus baumannii and C. colubrinus, but the next year he withdrew the last two
species. The name has never come into very general use, in spite of the good generic characters. The geographical distribution of the genus is uncertain. Three of the species are
known to grow wild in Mexico, while A. flagelliformis, also common in Mexico, was very
early introduced into Europe as from South America.
The name is from the Greek, signifying impenetrable cactus, of no obvious application.
Key to Species.
Flowers strongly bent just above the ovary.
Branches very slender; ribs 7 or 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Branches stouter; ribs 10 to 12.
Outer perianth-segments narrow; inner perianth-segments apiculate .
Outer perianth-segments oblong; inner perianth-segments acuminate .
Flowers nearly straight.
Inner perianth-segments acute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Inner perianth-segments acuminate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. A. leptophis
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. A. flagelliformis
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. A. flagriformis
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. A. conzattii
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5. A. martianus
218
THE CACTACEAE.
1. Aporocactus leptophis (De Candolle) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 435.
1909.
Cereus leptophis De Candolle, Mém. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 17: 117. 1828.
Cereus flagelliformis leptophis Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen 143. 1897.
Often creeping; branches cylindric, 8 to 10 mm. thick, rather strongly 7 or 8-ribbed; ribs obtuse,
somewhat repand; areoles velvety, with 12 or 13 rigid setaceous spines; flower-tube curved just above
the ovary; perianth-segments narrowly oblong, 2 to 3 cm. long, about 6 mm. wide.
Type locality: Mexico.
Distribution: Mexico.
Illustrations: De Candolle, Mém. Cact. pl. 12; Förster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. f. 96;
Rümpler, Sukkulenten f. 68, all as Cereus leptophis.
Plate xl, figure 1, shows a flowering plant in the collection of the New York Botanical
Garden. Figure 297 is reproduced from the first illustration above cited.
2. Aporocactus flagelliformis (Linnaeus) Lemaire, Illustr. Hort. 7: Misc. 68.
1860.
Cactus flagelliformis Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 467. 1753.
Cereus flagelliformis Miller, Gard. Dict. ed. 8. No. 12. 1768.
Cereus flagelliformis minor Salm-Dyck in Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 111. 1837*
Stems at first ascending or erect, but weak and slender or pendent, 1 to 2 cm. in diameter;
branches often prostrate and creeping or even pendent; ribs 10 to 12, low and inconspicuous, a
little tuberculate; areoles 6 to 8 mm. apart; radial spines 8 to 12, acicular, reddish brown; central
spines 3 or 4, brownish with yellow tips; flowers 7 to 8 cm. long, opening for or 4 days, crimson;
outer perianth-segments narrow, more or less reflexed; inner perianth-segments broader, only slightly
spreading; fruit globose, small, 10 to 12 mm. in diameter, red, bristly; pulp yellowish.
Type locality: At first supposed to be from South
America.
Distribution: Reported from Mexico, Central America,
and South America; nowhere known to us in the wild state.
Said to have been introduced f rom Peru in 1690,
but, presumably, originally f rom
Mexico. The species is widely
cultivated in all tropical countries. It is very common in
Mexico to see this plant about
the houses of the poorer Mexicans, often planted in the end of
a cow’s horn and hung on the
side of the house. This species,
too, has cristate forms.
The plant is known as the
rat-tail cactus and is much
Fig. 297.—Flower of Aporocactus leptophis.
grown as a window plant. In MexFig. 298.—Flower of Aporocactus flagriformis.
ico the dried flowers are used as
a household remedy and sometimes are sold in the drug markets under the name of flor
de cuerno.
This species is recorded by Grisebach, citing Sloane and Swartz, as found in trees, in
Jamaica along the coast, but it is not known to occur on that island at the present time.
Sloane’s description better applies to Selenicereus grandiflorus.
Cereus smithii Pfeiffer (Enum. Cact. 111. 1837) is a generic hybrid produced by adding
the pollen of this species to one of the species of Heliocereus and was made by an English
gardener, Mr. Mallison. It is figured in Curtis’s Botanical Magazine for 1841 (67: pl.
3822) and in Edwards’s Botanical Register (19: pl. 1565) and it was said to be one of the
best hybrids which had yet been produced The flower is nearly regular with scarcely any
*Cereus minor (Weingart, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 18: 49. 1908) doubtless refers to the variety minor given above.
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II.
PLATE XL
M. E. Eaton del.
A. A. Newton Del.
1. Flowering plant of Aporocactus leptophis.
2. Flowering plant of Aporocactus flagelliformis.
(Natural size.)
A HOEN & CO
APOROCACTUS
219
tube and with nearly erect filaments; the stem is weak and creeping, with about 6 angles;
it is somewhat stouter than is Aporocactus flagelliformis. Cereus mallisonii* (Pfeiffer, Enum.
Cact. Ill. 1837), C. flagelliformis mallisonii (Walpers, Repert. Bot. 2: 278. 1843), and
C. flagelliformis smithii (Walpers, Repert. Bot. 2: 278. 1843) are other names for this same
hybrid and this must also be C. flagelliformis speciosus Salm-Dyck (Cact. Hort. Dyck.
1849. 50. 1850) since it is based on the same illustration. While botanists generally refer
the name, as we have above, to Pfeiffer, it was fully described and figured by Link and Otto
(Verh. Ver. Beförd. Gartenb. 12: 134. pl. 1. 1837). While they announce that their plant
was obtained by Mallison, as we state above, their illustration shows a very different
flower from the one figured in the Botanical Register and suggests that it was from a
different plant, although doubtless produced from the same parents. The flower differs
from the other not only in its color but also in its narrower, more elongated tube. Cereus
crimsonii (Pritzel, Icones 246. 1855) was also based on the plate in the Botanical Register
(19: pl. 1565. 1833) and must represent this same hybrid.
Cereus aurora (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 16: 81. 1906) is also of hybrid origin. According to E. Golz, one of its parents is some species of Echinopsis.
Cereus ruferi and C. ruferi major (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 16: 10. 1906) are said to be
hybrids of which C. flagelliformis is one of the parents.
Cereus moennighoff ii Fischer (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 15: 143. 1905) is a hybrid
between this species and C. martianus. Other hybrids with Cereus martianus and Epiphyllum ackermannii have been reported.
Cereus vulcan (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 16: 10. 1906) is a hybrid of A. flagelliformis; its
other parent is unknown. It is illustrated by Rümpler (Sukkulenten f. 67).
There are several unpublished names which are referred to this species, among which
are varieties funkii, nothus, scotii, and smithii, all in Walpers (Repert. Bot. 2: 278. 1843).
Illustrations: Safford, Ann. Rep. Smiths. Inst. 1908: f. 18; Stand. Cycl. Hort. Bailey
1: f. 237. Curtis’s Bot. Mag. 1: pl. 17; De Candolle, Pl. Succ. Hist. 2: pl. 127; DeTussac,
Fl. Antill. 2: pl. 28; Mag. Bot. and Gard. Brit. and For. 1: pl. 14, f. 4; Loudon, Encycl. Pl.
f. 6875, as Cactus flagelliformis; Baillon, Hist. Pl. 9: f. 52, 53; Cact. Journ. 1: 10; Förster,
Handb. Cact. ed. 2. f. 5; Martius, Fl. Bras. 42: pl. 41, f. 2, all as Cereus flagelliformis; Rümpler, Sukkulenten f. 66, as Cereus flagelliformis minor; Trew, Pl. Select. pl. 30, as Cereus.
Plate xl, figure 2, shows a flowering plant in the collection of the United States Department of Agriculture.
3. Aporocactus flagriformis (Zuccarini) Lemaire in Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12:
435. 1909.
Cereus flagriformis Zuccarini in Pfeiffer, Enum. Cact. 111. 183 7.
At first erect and rather stout, afterwards creeping and very much branched; branches green,
10 to 24 mm. in diameter; ribs 11, very low, obtuse, somewhat tuberculate; areoles small, 4 to 6 mm.
apart; radial spines 6 to 8, 4 mm. long, acicular, horn-colored; central spines 4 or 5, shorter than
the radials but stouter, brown; flowers dark crimson, 10 cm. long, 7.5 cm. broad or more; flowertube 3 cm. long or more; perianth-segments in 3 series, the series well separated; inner perianthsegments oblong, 10 mm. broad, acuminate; stamens red, erect, exserted; stigma-lobes 6, white.
Type locality: San José de l’Oro, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Distribution: Mexico.
This species seems not to have appeared in collections for a long time. As the type
locality is known one would suppose it might have been reintroduced. We have repeatedly
tried to have it re-collected but so far have failed; in putting forth this effort we have succeeded in discovering another species which is described below as new.
The binomial A. flagriformis appeared in Lemaire, Les Cactées, page 58, 1868, but
it is not formally published at that place.
*Cactus mallisonii is credited by the Index Kewensis to Loudon’s Encyclopedia (Suppl. 1. 1202. 1840), but it
appears there under Cereus.
220
THE CACTACEAE.
Illustrations: Pfeiffer and Otto, Abbild. Beschr. Cact. 1: pl. 12; Engler and Prantl,
Pflanzenfam. 36a: f. 58, both as Cereus flagriformis.
Figure 298 is copied from the first illustration above cited.
4. Aporocactus conzattii sp. nov.
Creeping, clambering, or hanging from a support, developing aerial roots here and there; stems
12 to 25 mm. in diameter; ribs 8 to 10, rather prominent, low-tuberculate; areoles 3 to 4 mm. apart;
spines 15 to 20, acicular, light brown, unequal, the longest 12 mm. long; buds nearly erect, covered
with brown acicular spines or bristles; flowers 8 to 9 cm. long; tube nearly straight, red, bearing a
few ovate scales, their axils short-woolly and with a few bristle-like spines; limb slightly oblique,
with a wide mouth; upper inner perianth-segments arching forward, the lower ones somewhat reflexed, all narrow, 6 to 7 mm. broad, acute, brick-red; stamens and style shorter than the perianthsegments but exserted from the throat of the flower, long, connivent, nearly white; style slender,
stiff, white, nearly 6 cm. long, not extending beyond the filaments; tube proper 2 to 2.5 cm. long;
throat about 1 cm. long, narrow, bearing stamens all over its surface; filaments numerous, white;
flower open for 2 days, remaining open at night.
Fig. 299.—Aporocactus conzattii.
×0.6
Collected by Professor C. Conzatti in 1912 on Cerro San Felipe, Oaxaca, Mexico, and
flowered in Washington, first on February 17, 1916, and again in 1917.
This species is near Aporocactus martianus, but the inner perianth-segments are not longacuminate, and the flowers are smaller (at least than those shown in Hooker’s illustration).
It is a very valuable introduction for greenhouse culture.
Figure 299, is from a photograph of the type plant which flowered in Washington, in
1918; figure 300 shows a flower of the same.
5. Aporocactus martianus (Zuccarini).
Cereus martianus Zuccarini, Flora 15 2: Beibl. 66. 1832.
Eriocereus martianus Riccobono, Boll. R. Ort. Bot. Palermo 8: 240. 1909.
Stems rather stout, somewhat branched, 15 to 18 mm. in diameter; ribs about 8, low, obtuse;
areoles 12 mm. apart; spines 6 to 8, acicular to bristle-like; flowers a deep rose-color, 8 to 10 cm,
long; outer perianth-segments narrowly lanceolate, acuminate; inner perianth-segments similar but
long-acuminate; style long exserted; fruit globular, 2 cm. in diameter, greenish, spiny.
221
STROPHOCACTUS
Type locality: Mexico.
Distribution: Central Mexico.
This species is usually associated with Aporocactus flagelliformis, but, owing to its more regular flower, Berger was disposed
to refer it elsewhere. It is known to us
only from description and illustrations.
Illustrations: Blühende Kakteen 2:
pl. 65; Curtis’s Bot. Mag. 66: pl. 3768;
Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 9: 105; Rep.
Mo. Bot. Gard. 16: pl. 12, f. 1, as
Cereus martianus.
Figure 301 is copied from Curtis’s
Botanical Magazine plate 3768.
The following description is based
on a plant of this relationship, but it
differs from figured specimens in the
broader
perianth-segments, shorter
Fig. 300.—Flower of Aporocactus conzattii.
flower-tube, and red filaments. It was
Fig. 301.—Flower of Aporocactus martianus.
obtained from the Theodosia B. Shepherd Company, Ventura, California, and flowered in Washington, D. C., in 1916.
Ribs 5 to 7, separated by broad intervals, somewhat undulate; areoles about 1 cm. apart,
circular, bearing white wool and spines; spines about 10, acicular, yellow; flower-bud acute; flowers
dark red, 9 cm. long, the tube shorter than the limb; tube-proper about 2 cm. long; throat 1.5 cm.
long; scales on the ovary numerous, narrow, their axils with white wool and clusters of spines; axils
of upper scales naked; outer perianth-segments narrow, acute; inner perianth-segments broadly
lanceolate, 1.5 cm. broad, acute, carmine; stamens erect, not quite as long as the inner perianthsegments; filaments carmine; style carmine, weak, about as long as the filaments; stigma-lobes
white; fruit not known.
The only flower seen opened in the early morning and was still open at half-past one.
9. STROPHOCACTUS Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 16: 262.
1913.
As epiphytic cactus, the stems twining and climbing by aërial roots emitted along the midnerve,
thin, broad, flat, somewhat branching, the margins bearing numerous closely-set areoles; spines
numerous, acicular; flowers large, red, narrowly funnelform, nocturnal; ovary and flower-tube with
numerous hairs and bristles in, the axils of the scales; perianth cutting off from the ovary as in
Cereus; fruit ovoid, with a truncate apex, its areoles bristly; seeds black, ear-shaped, with an open
hilum.
Mr. Berger proposed a subgenus Phyllocereus for this plant, supposing it represented
a connecting link between Phyllocactus and Cereus. Its flat stems are like those of Epiphyllum; its flower is most like that of Selenicereus. Berger’s name, while appropriate,
could not be used because of the Phyllocereus Miquel (Bull. Sci. Phys. Nat. Neerl. 112. 1839).
The name is from the Greek, referring to the twisting or turning of the stem about trees.
A monotypic genus of the Amazonian forests, still rare in collections.
1. Strophocactus wittii (Schumann) Britton, and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 16: 262.
1913.
Cereus wittii Schumann, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 10: 154. 1900.
A thin, very flat plant, often 1 dm. broad, growing appressed to trunk of trees; joints broad,
leaf-like, 3 or 4 times as long as broad, rounded at base and a’ ex, with a stout central vein and nearly
entire margin; areoles small, closely set along the margin of the joints, 6 to 8 mm. apart, bearing
tufts of wool and bristles besides the spines; spines numerous, acicular, yellowish brown, 12 mm.
long or less; flowers elongated, large, 25 cm. long; tube elongated, tapering upward, only about half
222
THE CACTACEAE.
as thick at top as at base; limb short; outer perianth-segments linear, about 10, nearly twice as long
as the inner ones; inner perianth-segments narrowly oblanceolate, acute or acuminate; filaments
not extending beyond the inner perianth-segments;
limb short; fruit 2.5 to 3.5 cm. long, spiny.
Type locality: In the swampy woods near
Manaos, Brazil.
Distribution: Very abundant and widely
distributed in the swampy forests of the
Amazon, Brazil.
We have in our collection a part of the
type material.
The following account of this very remarkable plant is from the pen of Karl Schumann and was published in the Gardeners’
Chronicle in 1901 p. 78:
“Among the numerous novelties which the
last decade of the past century brought to Europe,
the above named is surely one of the most interesting for both the amateur and the professional
cultivator. I received this curious plant through
the kindness of Mr. N. H. Witt, of Manaos,
Erlado do Amazonas, Brazil. He told me long
before he was able to send specimens that a climbing species of a genus he was not able to determine,
grew in the swampy forest, or Igape, on the Amazon
river. Closely appressed to the stems of the trees,
and fixed to them by numerous roots, in the
region of the yearly inundation, there creeps a
cactus with the habit of a Phyllocactus, but
armed with very sharp spines. It is so closely
connected with the plant on which it grows that
Fig. 302.—Strophocactus wittii.
one must look carefully to distinguish it.
“When I had the specimen in my hand after it was taken out, I did not at all know how to class
it. I was not able even to indicate the genus. It could not belong to Phyllocactus, however much
the form of the leaf-like joints suggested that genus. Perhaps it might be a very abnormal species
of Rhipsalis, but the flowers or fruits being absent, the question could not be answered.
“Last autumn I was fortunate enough to get, by the aid of Mr. N. H. Witt, plentiful specimens
of the plant. After having carefully examined it, I found two fruits of ovoid form as large as a
pigeon’s egg, beset with very sharp prickles. This organ had all the characteristics of the genus
Cereus, and I could now name the species, and did so in honour of the finder, Cereus wittii. The
species is very interesting, because it is the ‘missing link’ between the genera Phyllocactus and
Cereus. The form of the joints is perfectly typical of the former; the characteristics of the fruits
and spines are those of a Cereus.
“Some days ago I received a notice from Dr. E. Ule, a botanist, whom I had sent from Manaos
to the river Puma, a tributary, stream on the right side of the Amazon-that he had found a peculiar
cactus in the upper part of the swampy forest, densely appressed to the tree-stems. His further
description of the plant informed us that C. wittii is widely distributed. He told me that the older
joints of C. wittii turn from green to a beautiful wine-red or purple colour, a peculiarity which I had
also seen on the plants we cultivate in the Royal Botanic Garden of Berlin.”
Illustrations: Gard. Chron. III. 29: 1. 17; Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 10: 155; 12: 139;
15: 25; Schumann, Gesamtb. Kakteen Nachtr. f. 6, all as Cereus wittii; Contr. U. S. Nat.
Herb. 16: pl. 84.
Figure 302 is a copy of the plate above cited (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 10: 155)
APPENDIX.
We bring together here records of some species described in Germany during the war
period, 1916-1918, cited f rom periodicals only recently received in the United States,
together with a few supplementary observations upon other species described in this
volume.
Cereus hexagonus. (See page 4, ante.)
Dr. Britton has recently studied this species on the western mainland of Trinidad
and the small islands, Gasparee, Monos, and Chacachacare, adjacent. Here it inhabits
rocky hillsides, attaining a height up to 15 meters; planted individuals observed were considerably taller. At St. Joseph large numbers of young plants up to 4 meters tall were
seen growing upon branches of saman trees, evidently germinated from seeds carried by
birds from the fruit of large planted specimens nearby, an interesting illustration of induced epiphytic habit of a typically saxicolous plant. Repeated field observations showed
that this Cereus is usually 4-ridged when young, becoming 6-ridged later in life, many
plants bearing some joints 4-ridged, some 6-ridged.
Illustration: Loudon, Encycl. Pl. 410. f. 6854, as Cactus hexagonus.
Cereus chalybaeus. (See page 16, ante.)
Cereus beysiegelii (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 29: 48. 1919) is an abnormal form, similar
to Cereus peruvianus monstruosus, which Mr. W. Weingart says looks like Cereus chalybaeus
on account of its black spines and turquoise-green skin. Its origin is unknown.
Fig. 303.—Cereus grenadensis.
Fig. 304.—Section of flowering branch
of C. grenadensis
23. Cereus grenadensis sp. nov. (See page 18, ante.)
Tall, much branched, up to 7 meters high, the trunk short, sometimes 2.5 dm. in diameter,
the branches grayish green, erect-ascending, about 7 cm. in diameter, 7 to 9-ribbed, the ribs about 1
cm. high, transversely grooved above each areole; areoles about 1 cm. apart, borne in slight depressions of the ribs, gray-pulverulent; spines about 17, subulate, straight, brownish or gray, the largest
about 2 cm. long, the shortest about 3 mm, the central one often twice as long as any of the others;
flowers many, borne towards the ends of the branches, about 7 cm. long, short-funnelform, open in
the early morning, the buds rounded; outer perianth-segments with broad purple rounded or apiculate tips, the few inner ones rounded, purplish; ovary oblong, with a few naked areoles; stamens
many, not exserted; immature fruit green, ellipsoid, 3 to 4 cm. long.
223
224
THE CACTACEAE.
Collected on island of Grenada, British West Indies, by N. L. Britton and T. E. Hazen,
February 24, 1920. Type from a slope on the harbor of St. George’s.
As observed on the date of collection, this cactus is abundant about the harbor of St.
George’s and a conspicuous element of the vegetation; it was also studied on hills elsewhere in the southern part of the island, but only the type plant was seen in bloom. The
species is closely related to Cereus repandus Miller of Curaçao, differing in its shorter
spines, somewhat smaller, purple flowers, continuous unconstricted branches and transversely grooved ribs, and also to Cereus margaritensis Johnston of Margarita, from which
it differs by straight spines, somewhat larger flowers, and grooved ribs. The fruit was
said by negroes to be edible when ripe. It is called dildo, a common West Indian name
for the tall-branching, cereus-like cacti.
Figure 303 shows the type plant; figure 304 shows one of its branches photographed
by T. E. Hazen.
Cereus. (See page 21, ante.)
Cephalocereus californicus Hortus is credited by the Index Kewensis to Schumann
(Engler and Prantl, Pflanzenfam. 3 6a: 182. 1894), although it is not quite certain whether
Schumann intended to list this name under Cephalocereus or as Cereus californicus. The
Cereus californicus Nuttall we have already referred to Opuntia serpentina (see 1: 58, ante).
Cereus chlorocarpus De Candolle (Prodr. 3: 466. 1828; Cactus chlorocarpus Humboldt,
Bonpland, and Kunth, Nov. Gen. et Sp. 6: 67. 1823) which originally came from the Peruvian and Ecuadorean boundary has not been identified. It is evidently not a true Cereus.
Cereus columnaris Loddiges (Voigt, Hort. Suburb. Calcutt. 61. 1845) is said to have
been introduced into suburbs of Calcutta in 1840. Otherwise it is unknown. This
name may apply to Cereus hexagonus (L.) Miller.
Cereus flavispinus hexagonus Salm-Dyck (Hort. Dyck. 63. 1834) is only a name.
Cereus geminisetus Reichenbach (Terscheck, Suppl. Cact. Verz. 3) we know only from
Walpers’s (Repert. Bot. 2: 340. 1843) brief description of a sterile plant of unknown origin.
Cereus heteracanthus Tweedie (Sweet, Hort. Brit. ed. 3. 284. 1839) was described simply
as a variable-spined Cereus.
Cereus ictidurus (Hort. Univ. 1: 224. 1839), called the martin’s-tail-cereus, reported
as soon to be figured and described, we do not know.
Cereus zizkaanus or C. ziczkaanus (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 5: 44. 1895) is figured in
the Gardeners’ Chronicle for 1873 (75. f. 15) where it is referred to Cereus eburneus with
a question. It is said to have come from Gruson’s garden. This is doubtless the same as
Cereus chilensis zizkaanus, sometimes spelled zizkeanus (see page 137, ante).
Pilocereus pfeifferi, sometimes credited to Otto, occurs frequently in German cactus
works, but we have seen no description. The name is not found in the Index Kewensis
or in Schumann’s Monograph. Dr. Rose saw a living specimen in the Berlin Botanical
Garden labeled “Pilocereus pfeifferi, Mexico” which he noted at the time as near Lemaireocereus treleasei.
Monvillea cavendishii. (See page 21, ante.)
Related to this species is the following which we know only from description:
Cereus chacoanus Vaupel, Monatsschr. Kakteenk, 26: 121.
1916.
Erect, 2 to 4 meters high, 6 cm. in diameter; ribs 8; spines 9 or 10; central spine solitary,
6 cm. long; flowers funnelform, 15 cm. long; outer perianth-segments rose-colored; inner perianthsegments white; fruit subglobose to ovoid, 3 cm. long.
Type locality: Gran Chaco, Paraguay.
Distribution: Paraguay.
APPENDIX
225
Cephalocereus hoppenstedtii. (See page 27, ante.)
A wonderful display of this plant is shown in the photograph taken by C. A. Purpus
near the type locality in 1912. A mountainside is shown with many of the plants which
form the conspicuous objects in the landscape.
Cereus hoogendorpii (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 4: 80. 1894) and Pilocereus hoogendorpii
(Schumann in Engler and Prantl, Pflanzenfam. 36a: 181. 1894), only names, are the same
as this plant, according to Schumann.
Espostoa lanata. (See page 61, ante.)
Our attention has been called to a paper by Vincenzo Riccobono (Bull. R. Ort. Firenze IV. 4: 94. 1919) on the first flowering of Pilocereus dautwitzii in Europe and a flower
of the plant has also been sent us by Riccobono. This seems to be the same plant as
the one collected by Dr. Rose in southern Ecuador in 1918.
Illustration: Gartenflora 22: 115, as Pilocereus dautwitzii.
Lemaireocereus hystrix. (See page 86, ante.)
Cereus olivaceus, Lemaire, Rev. Hort. IV. 8. 643. 1859.
The plant upon which Cereus olivaceus was based came from Santo Domingo.
Lemaireocereus griseus. (See page 87, ante.)
Both Cereus eburneus Salm-Dyck and Cactus eburneus Link (Enum. Hort. Berol. 2: 22)
were published in 1822 and to both Cactus peruvianus Willdenow (Enum. Hort. Berol.
Suppl. 32. 1813) was referred. Willdenow’s plant, from the description, suggests a Cephalocereus but is referred to Cereus eburneus by the Index Kewensis. Link also refers it
to Hortus Dyckensis and to Haworth (Syn. Pl. Succ. 179), while Salm-Dyck’s description indicates that he had a plant before him different from Willdenow’s. The Cereus
eburneus described by Pfeiffer (Enum. Cact. 90) was certainly a complex, a part coming
from Curaçao and a part from Chile. For this reason, doubtless, Schumann (Gesamtb.,
Kakteen 59, 108) has referred both names to Cereus coquimbanus and Cereus eburneus.
Leocereus. (See page 108, ante.)
Cereus oligolepis Vaupel (Notizbl. Bot. Gart. Berlin 5: 285. 1913) we know only
from description. It is evidently not a Cereus but it suggests one of the species of Leocereus and comes from Campo der Serra do Mel on the Rio Surumu, northern Brazil,
the region where these plants are found. It may be briefly described as follows: Plant 1
meter high; ribs 5, 1 cm. high; areoles 1 cm. apart; radial spines 8 to 10, 5 mm. long;
central spine 1, 2 cm. long; ovary bearing small scales.
Cereus xanthochaetus Reichenbach (Terscheck. Suppl. Cact. Verz. 4) we know only
from the description of Walpers (Repert. Bot. 2: 340. 1843). He describes it as follows:
Erect, light green; ribs 7, nearly continuous, compressed above, obtuse; areoles yellowish
tomentose; spines 21, slender, yellowish, straight, the upper spines longer than the others.
Heliocereus schrankii. (See page 127, ante.)
Related to this species is Cereus ruber (Weingart, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 15: 22.
1905). The flowers are described as orange-yellow, passing into scarlet. It is said to
come from Brazil, but no species of Heliocereus are known from South America. Weingart
(Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 29: 57. 1919) expresses his belief that C. ruber is of hybrid origin.
Trichocereus pasacana. (See page 133, ante.)
Of this relationship the following species are known only from descriptions:
Cereus tacaquirensis Vaupel, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 26: 122. 1916.
Columnar, 2.5 meters high; ribs low, about 1 cm. high, obtuse; spines numerous, setiform;
hardly pungent, unequal, the longest 8 cm. long; flowers large, white, 20 cm. long, funnelform;
inner perianth-segments oblong-spatulate; stamens in 2 series, shorter than the perianth-segments.
226
THE CACTACEAE.
Type locality: Tacaquira, Bolivia.
Distribution: Southern Bolivia.
Cereus tarijensis Vaupel, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 26: 123. 1916.
Columnar, 1.5 meters high, 2.5 dm. in diameter; areoles broadly elliptic to oval; radial spines
10 to 13, stout, pungent, unequal, reddish brown; central spine solitary, 7 cm. long; flower 10 cm.
long; outer perianth-segments lanceolate; inner perianth-segments spatulate.
Type locality: Escayache, near Tarijo, Bolivia.
Distribution: Southern Bolivia.
8. Borzicactus aurivillus (Schumann). (See page 163, ante.)
Cereus aurivillus Schumann, Monatsschr. Kakteenk 13: 67. 1903.
Cylindric, 2.5 dm. high or more, 2.5 cm. in diameter; ribs 17, crenate; areoles closely set,
only 5 to 7 mm. apart, elliptic, bearing yellow curly wool; spines 30 or more, nearly equal, short,
colorless except the yellow bases; flower from near the top of the plant, somewhat zygomorphic,
6 cm. long; inner perianth-segments obtuse.
Type locality: Probably Peru.
Distribution: Andes of Peru.
Illustrations: Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 29: 7, 9, as Cereus aurivillus.
Oreocereus celsianus. (See page 171, ante.)
Restudy of Pilocereus straussii may show that it is specifically distinct from Oreocereus
celsianus. The name Cereus straussii was really published by Heese in Gartenflora (62: 383)
in 1907, although the illustration accompanying it bears the legend, Pilocereus straussii.
Illustrations: Möllers Deutsche Gärt. Zeit. 25: 483. f. 15, as Pilocereus celsianus
bruennowii; Schelle, Handb. Kakteenk. 100. f. 39, as Pilocereus celsianus; Gartenflora
62: 383. f. 55, as Pilocereus straussii.
Cleistocactus baumannii. (See page 174. ante.)
Of this relationship is the following:
Cereus tupizensis Vaupel, Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 26: 124. 1916.
Slender, 2 to 3 meters high; ribs unknown; areoles large, oval; spines 15 to 20, subulate,
pungent, reddish brown; central spines 2, one above the other, 4.5 cm. long; flower tubular, somewhat zygomorphic, 8 cm. long, pale salmon-colored; outer perianth-segments small; inner perianthsegments broader than the outer; stigma-lobes 8, 4 mm. long.
Type locality: Tupiza, Bolivia.
Distribution: Southern Bolivia.
5a. Hylocereus venezuelensis sp. nov. (See page 186, ante.)
Vines rather slender, climbing, bluish, 3-angled, the joints 3 to 4 cm. broad; margin of ribs
not horny; spines 2 or 3, short, stubby, brown to black; flowers very fragrant, large, 2.5 dm. long;
scales on ovary and perianth-tube green with purple margins; inner perianth-segments large, oblong,
white above, pink below; stigma-lobes cream-colored, deeply cleft.
Collected by J. N. Rose near Valencia, Venezuela, in 1917 (No. 21835).
We were at first disposed to refer this plant to H. polyrhizus but when it flowered
in the New York Botanical Garden in June 1920, it produced a flower strikingly different in its stigma-lobes, which are deeply cleft as in H. lemairei. In H. polyrhizus
the stigma-lobes, so far as we know, are always entire. According to W. Weingart, a
keen student of these plants, H. lemairei and H. monacanthus are the only two species
he knows with bifid stigma-lobes; they may also occur in H. bronxensis.
INDEX.
(Pages of principal entries in heavy-face type.)
Acanthocereus, 1, 2, 15, 121-126, 207
albicaulis, 122, 125, 126
brasiliensis, 122, 125, 126
colombianus, 122
horridus, 122, 123
occidentalis, 122, 125
pentagonus, 122, 123, 124, 191
subinermis, 122, 125
Acutangules, 122
Agua-colla, 135
Anomali, 22
Aporocactus, 183, 217-221
baumannii, 174
colubrinus, 174
conzattii, 217, 220, 221
flagelliformis, 217, 218, 219, 221
flagriformis, 217, 218, 219
leptophis, 217, 218
martianus, 217, 220, 221
Arrojadoa, 2, 170, 171, 178
penicillata, 170, 171
rhodantha, 170
Azureae, 4
Bande du sud, 151
Bauhinia, 92
Bavoso, 86
Bergerocactus, 2, 107, 108
emoryi, 107, 108
Bergerocereus, 108
Binghamia, 2, 167-169
acrantha, 167, 168
melanostele, 167, 168
Borzicactus, 2, 159-164, 173
acanthurus, 159, 161
aurivillus, 159, 163, 226
decumbens, 159, 162
humboldtii, 159, 163
icosagonus, 159, 160
morleyanus, 159, 160, 161
plagiostoma, 159, 163
sepium, 159, 160
ventimigliae, 159, 160
Bottle cactus, 60
Brachycereus, 2, 120, 121
thouarsii, 120, 121
Breebee, 18
Bromeliads, 42
Browningia, 2, 63, 64
candelaris, 63, 64
Cabeça branca, 30
Cactaceae, 1, 211
Cactanae, 1
Cacti, 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 19, 21, 23, 25, 28, 32, 6, 67, 77, 82,
113, 116, 117, 121, 122, 124, 127, 145, 147, 159,
165, 166, 167, 169, 173, 176, 177, 178, 182, 183,
185, 189, 196, 212, 214, 216, 217,224
Cactus, 1, 5, 9, 19, 23, 25, 40, 42, 8, 61, 62, 64, 65, 70,
71, 72, 76, 87, 88, 90, 92, 102, 107, 111, 113,
115, 124, 125, 135, 140, 147, 150, 151, 153,
158, 159, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 170, 172, 179,
181, 191, 192, 195, 210, 212, 221, 222, 224
abnormis, 12
Cactus—continued.
ambiguus, 118, 119
aureus, 105
bradypus, 27
candelaris, 63, 145
caripensis, 124
chiloensis, 137
chlorocarpus, 224
coquimbanus, 88,139
divaricatus, 151
eburneus, 225
euphorbioides, 33
fascicularis, 141
fimbriatus, 87, 151
flagelliformis, 2 17, 2 18, 219
flavispinus, 60
fulvispinosus, 50
gracilis, 151
grandiflorus, 196, 197, 198
haworthii, 44
heptagonus, 43
hexagonus, 3, 4, 5, 43, 223
humboldtii, 163
hystrix, 86
icosagonus, 160
jamacaru, 8
kageneckii, 20
laetus, 99
lanatus, 61, 62
lanuginosus, 49
lanuginosus aureus, 20
lecchii, 20
mallisonii, 2 19
melocactus, 29, 30
mexicanus, 197
multangularis, 19
napoleonis, 191
niger, 44
octogonus, 4
ovatus, 20
paniculatus, 82
pentagonus, 15, 121, 123, 193
peruvianus, 11, 13, 225
pitajaya, 15, 123
polygonus, 47
polymorphus, 139
prismaticus, 123
pruinosus, 88
quadrangularis, 124
repandus, 17, 151, 152
royenii, 50
senilis, 25, 27
sepium, 160
serpens, 163
serpentinus, 118, 119
speciosissimus, 128, 129
speciosissimus lateritius, 128
speciosus, 127, 128
strictus, 44
tetragonus, 9, 14
triangularis, 183, 187, 188, 192, 193, 194, 212
triangularis aphyllus, 187
227
228
Cactus—continued.
triangularis foliaceus, 192
trigonus, 192
triqueter, 192
undulosus, 123
Cactuses, 116
Candebobe, 96
Cardon, 70, 96
Cardon grande, 140
Cardoncillo, 112
Carnegiea, 2, 164-167, 178
gigantea, 133, 164, 165, 166, 178
Cephalocereus, 1, 3, 13, 25-60, 178, 224, 225
alensis, 26, 55
arrabidae, 26, 42, 43, 136.
bahamensis, 26, 38
bakeri, 39, 40
barbadensis, 26, 44, 45, 46
brasiliensis, 26, 57
brooksianus, 26, 49
californicus, 224
catingicola, 26, 49, 56
chrysacanthus, 26, 48
chrysomallus, 72
colombianus, 26, 34, 55, 56
columna, 76
columna-trajani, 76
cometes, 26, 51,52
compressus, 193
deeringii, 26, 38, 39
dybowskii, 25, 30,58
euphorbioides, 25, 33
exerens, 42
fluminensis, 25, 29, 33, 57
fouachianus, 51
gaumeri, 26, 47
gounellei, 25, 34, 35
hermentianus, 58
hoppenstedtii, 25, 27, 225
keyensis, 26, 40
lanuginosus, 18, 26, 49, 50
leucocephalus, 26, 52, 53
leucostele, 25, 36, 37, 59, 60
macrocephalus, 25, 31, 75, 76
maxonii, 26, 48, 53
melanostele, 167
melocactus, 29, 30, 8
millspaughii, 26, 45, 46
monoclonos, 26, 40, 41
moritzianus, 26, 41, 42
nobilis, 26, 44, 45
palmeri, 26, 53
pentaedrophorus, 25, 31
phaeacanthus, 26, 57
piauhyensis, 26, 48, 49
polygonus, 26, 47
polylophus, 25, 32
purpureus, 25, 28, 29
purpusii, 26, 56
robinii, 26, 39, 40
robustus, 26, 51, 52
royenii, 26, 46, 50
russelianus, 25, 33, 34, 6
sartorianus, 26, 53
scoparius, 26, 41
senilis, 25, 27, 28, 31
smithianus, 26, 36, 37
THE CACTACEAE.
Cephalocereus—continued.
swartzii, 26, 46, 47
tweedyanus, 26, 54, 55
ulei, 26, 52, 58
urbanianus, 26, 43
zehntneri, 25, 35
Cephalophora, 25
Cephalophorus, 25
columna-trajani, 76
senilis, 27
Cereeae, 1, 111
Cereanae, 1
Cerei, 59, 70
Cereus, 1, 3-21, 33, 41, 42, 47, 8, 59, 68, 77, 82, 87,105,
108, 110, 118, 122, 127, 144, 145, 147, 152, 158,
163, 164, 170, 173, 192, 219, 221, 222, 223, 224,
225
abnormis, 12
acanthosphaera, 209
acanthurus, 161
acidus, 84
acranthus, 168
acromelas, 59
aculeatus, 21
acutangulus, 123, 124, 157
adscendens, 155, 156
aethiops, 4, 16, 17, 18
affinis, 14
alacriportanus, 4, 6, 7
alamosensis, 169
albertinii, 21
albiflorus, 128
albisetosus, . 8
albispinus, 37, 59, 118
albispinus major, 59
alensis, 55
amazonicus, 24
ambiguus, 118
ambiguus strictior, 118
amblyogonus, 20
amecaensis, 129
amecamensis, 129
americanus octangularis, 89
americanus triangularis, 193
andryanus, 59
anguiniformis, 22, 174
anguinus, 175
angulosus, 32
anisacanthus, 102
anisacanthus ortholophus, 102
anisacanthus subspiralis, 102
anisitsii, 23
anizogonus, 193
antoinii, 20 1
apiciflorus, 107
aquicaulensis, 180
aragonii, 92, 103
aragonii palmatus, 92
arboreus, 80
arcuatus, 124
arendtii, 154
areolatus, 159
arequipensis, 134, 145
argentinensis, 4, 11, 12
armatus, 50
arrabidae, 42, 43
arrigens, 180
INDEX
Cereus—continued.
assurgens, 77, 79
atacamensis, 145
atropurpureus, 154
atrovirens, 21
aurantiacum superbus, 129
aurantiacus, 128
aureus, 44, 105, 106, 107
aureus pallidior, 44
aurivillus, 173, 226
aurora, 219
azureus, 4, 15, 16
azureus seidelii, 15
bahamensis, 38
bajanensis, 124
bakeri, 39
balansaei, 157, 158
barbatus, 51
baumannii, 173, 174, 217
baumannii colubrinus, 174
baumannii flavispinus, 174
baumannii smaragdiflorus, 174
bavosus, 86
baxaniensis, 123, 124
baxaniensis ramosus, 124
belieuli, 96
beneckei, 18
beneckei farinosus, 18
bergerianus, 72
beysiegelii, 223
bifrons, 128
biolleyi, 215
boeckmannii, 202
bolivianus, 136
bonariensis, 7
bonplandii, 157, 158
bonplandii brevispinus, 157
bonplandii pomanensis, 155
brachiatus, 86
brachypetalus, 67
bradypus, 27
brandii, 14
breviflorus, 82, 83
brevispinulus, 200
brevistylus, 66
bridgesii, 134
bridgesii brevispinus, 134
bridgesii lageniformis, 134
bridgesii longispinus, 134
brookii, 151
brooksianus, 49
caesius, 4, 13, 15
calcaratus, 193
californicus, 224
callicanthus, 197
calvescens, 11
calvus, 69, 70
candelabrius, 126
candelabrum, 95, 96
candelaris, 63
candicans, 142, 143
candicans courantii, 142
candicans dumesnilianus, 143
candicans gladiatus, 142
candicans robustior, 142
candicans spinosior, 143
candicans tenuispinus, 142
caripensis, 124
Cereus—continued.
castaneus, 84
catamarcensis, 146
catingicola, 56
cauchinii, 8
caudatus, 20
cavendishii, 21, 22
celsianus, 171, 172
chalybaeus, 4, 16, 17, 223
chakoanus, 224
chende, 90, 91
chichipe, 89, 90
chilensis, 137, 138, 139
chilensis acidus, 84
chilensis breviflorus, 83
chilensis brevispinulus, 139
chilensis eburneus, 139
chilensis flavescens, 139
chilensis fulvibarbis, 139
chilensis funkianus, 138
chilensis heteromorphus, 137
chilensis linnaei, 139
chilensis nigripilis, 140
chilensis panhoplites, 137
chilensis polygonus, 137
chilensis poselgeri, 137
chilensis pycnacanthus, 137
chilensis quisco, 139
chilensis spinosior, 139
chilensis zizkaanus, 137, 224
chilensis zizkeanus, 224
chiloensis, 84, 137, 138
chiloensis lamprochlorus, 133
chiotilla, 6, 66
chlorocarpus, 224
chotaensis, 163
chrysacanthus, 48
chrysomallus, 72
cinnabarinus, 129
clavatus, 94
coccineus, 127, 210, 211, 212
cochal, 180
coerulescens, 17, 59
coerulescens fulvispinus, 17
coerulescens landbeckii, 17
coerulescens longispinus, 17
coerulescens melanacanthus, 17
coeruleus, 17
cognatus, 123
colombianus, 55
colubrinus, 174, 217
colubrinus flavispinus, 74
colubrinus smaragdiflorus, 175
columna-trajani, 76
columnaris, 224
colvillii, 14
cometes, 52
compressus, 192, 193
concinnus, 21
conformis, 103
conicus, 33
coniflorus, 199
coquimbanus, 83, 139, 225
coracare, 10
coryne, 64, 65
cossyrensis, 152
crenatus, 59
crenulatus, 49, 59
229
230
Cereus—continued.
crenulatus gracilior, 49
crenulatus griseus, 87
crimsonii, 2 19
cubensis, 149
cumengei, 116
cupulatus, 74
curtisii, 44
damacaro, 21
damazioi, 159
dautwitzii, 61, 62
davisii, 154
dayamii, 4, 11
de laguna, 20
decagonus, 59
decandollii, 13
decorus, 20
decumbens, 162
deficiens, 94
del moralii, 90, 91
devauxii, 128
diguetii, 111
divaricatus, 151
divergens, 151
donatii, 203
donkelaarii, 200
donkelaerii, 200
donkelarii, 200
duledevantii, 139
dumesnilianus, 143, 159
dumortieri, 102
dussii, 123
dybowskii, 30
dyckii, 92, 93
eburneus, 20, 87, 89, 99, 103, 224, 225
eburneus clavatus, 94
eburneus monstrosus, 88
eburneus polygonus, 87, 88
edulis, 89
elegans, 139
emoryi, 108
enriquezii, 88
erectus, 49, 152
erectus cristatus, 193
erectus maximus, 13
ericomus, 43
eriocarpus, 145
eriophorus, 149, 202
eriophorus laeteviridis, 149
eruca, 114, 115, 116
estrellensis, 216
euchlorus, 21, 22
euphorbioides, 33
exerens, 42, 43
extensus, 191
eyriesii, 159
farinosus, 18
fascicularis, 141
fercheckii, 140
fernambucensis, 14
ferox, 30
fimbriatus, 151
flagelliformis, 218, 219
flagelliformis funkii, 219
flagelliformis leptophis, 2 18
flagelliformis mallisoni, 219
flagelliformis minor, 2 18, 2 19
flagelliformis nothus, 219
THE CACTACEAE.
Cereus—continued.
flagelliformis scotii, 2 19
flagelliformis smithii, 2 19
flagelliformis speciosus, 2 19
flagriformis, 219, 220
flavescens, 20
flavicomus, 52
flavispinus, 20, 60
flavispinus hexagonus, 224
flexuosus, 116
floccosus, 50, 51
fluminensis, 29
foersteri, 53
forbesii, 7
formosus, 14
fouachianus, 50
fulgens, 210
fulgidus, 210
fulvibarbis, 139
fulviceps, 72
fulvispinosus, 50
fulvispinus, 140
funkii, 137
galapagensis, 146, 147
garambello, 180
gemmatus, 74
geminisetus, 224
geometrizans, 20, 179, 180
geometrizans cochal, 180
geometrizans pugioniferus, 179, 180
geometrizans quadrangularispinus, 179, 180
geometrizans quadrangulispinus, 180
ghiesbreghtii, 60
giganteus, 135, 164, 167
gilvus, 137
glaber, 216
gladiator, 179
gladiator geometrizans, 180
gladiatus, 142
gladiger, 87, 88, 180
gladiiger, 87
gladilger, 87
glaucescens, 59
glaucus, 8, 15
glaucus speciosus, 14
glaziovii, 109
gloriosus, 51
gonzalezii, 77, 214
gracilis, 19, 147, 151, 209
gracilis scandens, 198
grandifloro-speciosissimus maynardii, 210
grandiflorus, 197, 198, 199
grandiflorus affinis, 197
grandiflorus barbadensis, 198
grandiflorus callicanthus, 197
grandiflorus grusonianus, 197
grandiflorus haitiensis, 197
grandiflorus hybridus, 210
grandiflorus major, 198
grandiflorus maynardii, 210
grandiflorus maximiliani, 197
grandiflorus mexicanus, 197
grandiflorus minor, 197
grandiflorus ophites, 197
grandiflorus ruber, 210
grandiflorus schmidtii, 197
grandiflorus speciosissimus, 210
grandiflorus spectabilis, 197
INDEX
Cereus—continued.
grandiflorus uranos, 197
grandiflorus viridiflorus, 197
grandis, 14
grandis gracilior, 14
grandis ramosior, 14
grandispinus, 87
greggii, 112, 113, 122
greggii cismontanus, 112
greggii roseiflorus, 112
greggii transmontanus, 112, 113
grenadensis, 4, 18, 223
griseus, 87
grossei, 174
grusonianus, 203
guatemalensis, 89, 119
guelichii, 158
gummatus, 117
gumminosus, 117
gummosus, 116, 117
haageanus, 19
haematuricus, 8
hamatus, 203, 205
hankeanus, 3, 7, 8
hansii, 128
hassleri, 211
haworthii, 44
hempelianus, 136
hermannianus, 17
hermentianus, 8
heteracanthus, 224
heteromorphus, 137
hexagonus, 4, 5, 9, 13, 223, 224
hexangularis, 14
hildmannii, 103
hildmannianus, 4, 6
hirschtianus, 119
hollianus, 8, 86
hondurensis, 199
hoogendorpii, 225
hoppenstedtii, 27
horizontalis, 20
horrens, 195
horribarbis, 8
horridus, 5, 9
houlletii, 52, 53
huascha, 142
huascha flaviflorus, 142
huascha flaviformis, 142
humboldtii, 163
humilis, 209, 210
humilis major, 210
humilis minor, 209
humilis myriacaulon, 2 10
humilis rigidior, 210
hyalacanthus, 173, 176
hybridus, 210
hypogaeus, 106, 107
hystrix, 86, 87, 99, 103
icosagonus, 160
ictidurus, 224
incrassatus, 21
incrustans, 74
incrustatus, 74
inermis, 207, 208
inermis laetevirens, 208
insularis, 23
intricatus, 143
Cereus—continued.
inversus, 191
iquiquensis, 83
irradians, 202
isogonus, 160, 161
jacquinii, 21
jalapaensis, 199
jamacaru, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 15, 182
jamacaru caesius, 15
jamacaru glaucus, 9
jenkinsoni, 128
jenkinsonii verus, 128
joconostle, 93
josselinaeus, 129
jubatus, 52
jusbertii, 157, 158
kageneckii, 20
kalbreyerianus, 118
karstenii, 5, 207, 208
karwinskii, 21
kerberi, 170
keyensis, 40
kostratus, 205
kunthianus, 200, 201
labouretianus, 8
laetevirens, 8
laetevirens caesius, 15
laetus, 99
laevigatus, 88
laevigatus guatemalensis, 89
lagenaeformis, 134
lamprochlorus, 132, 133
lamprochlorus salinicolus, 133
lamprospermus, 4, 10
lanatus, 61, 62
lanceanus, 191
landbeckii, 17
langlassei, 20
laniceps, 173. 175
lanuginosus, 49
lanuginosus aureus, 20
lanuginosus glaucescens, 49
lasianthus, 134
lateribarbatus, 76
lateritius, 128
lauterbachii, 22
lecchii, 20
leiocarpus, so
lemairei, 189
lemoinei, 189
leonii, 78
lepidanthus, 76
lepidotus, 4, 5, 6
leptophis, 218
leucostele, 36, 37
limensis, 20
lindbergianus, 211
lindenzweigianus, 23
lindmanii, 211
linnaei, 137
lividus, 8, 9
lividus glaucior, 9
longicaudatus, 205
longifolius, 20
longipedunculatus, 21
longispinus, 137
lormata, 21
lutescens, 44
231
232
Cereus—continued.
macdonaldiae, 202, 203
macrocephalus, 31
macrogonus, 43, 130, 136
macrostibas, 181, 182
magnus, 159
malletianus, 145
mallisonii, 219
margaritensis, 4, 18, 224
marginatus, 69, 74
marginatus gemmatus, 74
marginatus gibbosus, 74
mariculi, 209
marmoratus, 23
martianus, 219, 220, 221
martinii, 155, 190
martinii perviridis, 155
maximiliani, 197
maxonii, 48
maynardae, 210
maynardii, 210
megalanthus, 212
melanacanthus, 17
melanotrichus, 68
melanurus, 109, 110
melocactus, 29
mendory, 17
mexicanus, 129
microsphaericus, 159
militaris, 73
militaris californicus, 86
millspaughii, 45
minor, 218
minutiflorus, 195
miravallensis, 213
mirbelii, 74
mixtecensis, 89, 90
moennighoffii, 219
mollis, 44
mollis nigricans, 44
monacanthus, 155, 190
monoclonos, 13, 41
monstrosus, 12
monstrosus minor, 12
monstruosus, 12
montezumae, 143
monvilleanus, 173
moritzianus, 41, 42
moritzianus pfeifferi, 42
multangularis, 19, 20, 30
multangularis albispinus, 20
multangularis limensis, 20
multangularis pallidior, 19
multangularis prolifer, 20
multangularis rufispinus, 21
myriacaulon, 209
myriophyllus, 143
nanus, 19
napoleonis, 185, 187, 191
nashii, 151
nesioticus, 120, 121
neumannii, 119
nickelsii, 32
niger, 44
niger gracilior, 44
nigricans, 44
nigripilis, 139, 140
nigrispinus, 17
THE CACTACEAE.
Cereus—continued.
nitens, 132
nitidus, 123
nobilis, 44
northumberlandia, 4
northumberlandianus, 4
nothus, 201
nudiflorus, 113, 114
nycticallus, 200, 201, 216
nycticalus, 196, 199
nycticalus armatus, 199
nycticalus gracilior, 201
nycticalus maximiliani, 197, 201
nycticalus viridior, 201
nyriacaulon, 209
obtusangulus, 22
obtusus, 4, 13, 14, 15, 16
ocamponis, 184, 185
ochracanthus, 20
octogonus, 59
olfersii, 33
oligolepis, 225
olivaceus, 225
ophites, 21
orcuttii, 70
ovatus, 20
pachyrhizus, 4, 10
palmeri, 177
paniculatus, 82
panoplaeatus, 82, 137, 138
paradisiacus, 198
paraguayensis, 6, 7
parviflorus, 173, 176
parvisetus, 175
pasacana, 133
paxtonianus, 21, 22
peanii, 201
pecten-aboriginum, 70, 71
pellucidus, 79, 122, 153
penicillatus, 171
pentaedrophorus, 31
pentagonus, 123, 195, 210, 213
pentagonus glaucus, 31
pentalophorus, 31
pentalophus radicans, 210
pentapterus, 213
pepinianus, 137
perlucens, 4, 13
pernambucensis, 4, 14, 15, 213
perotetti, 9
perrottetianus, 4, 6
peruvianus, 3, 4, 5, 11, 13, 135, 147
peruvianus alacriportanus, 6
peruvianus brasiliensis, 13
peruvianus cristatus, 12
peruvianus monstrosus, 12, 13
peruvianus monstrosus minor, 13
peruvianus monstruosus, 223
peruvianus monstruosus nanus, 12
peruvianus spinosus, 13
peruvianus tortuosus, 12
peruvianus tortus, 12
pfeifferi, 42
pfersdorffii, 117
phaeacanthus, 57
phatnospermus, 24
philippii, 105
piauhyensis, 49
INDEX
Cereus—continued.
pitajaya, 13, 14, 15, 123
plagiostoma, 163
platygonus, 11, 156, 157, 159
plumieri, 191
polychaetus, 17
polygonatus, 88
polygonus, 47
polylophus, 32, 33
polymorphus, 138, 139
polyrhizus, 185
pomanensis, 155, 158
pomanensis grossei, 155
portoricensis, 150
poselgeri, 111
pottsii, 112
princeps, 123
pringlei, 68, 69, 70
prismaticus, 123, 212
prismatiformis, 14
pruinatus, 21
pruinosus, 88, 89
pseudosonorensis, 169
pteranthus, 200
pterogonus, 201, 213
pugionifer, 96
pugioniferus, 179, 180
pugioniferus quadrangulispinus, 180
purpusii, 184
pycnacanthus 137, 138
quadrangularis, 124
quadrangulispinus, 180
quadricostatus, 81
queretaroensis, 96, 97
quintero, 139
quisco, 137
radicans, 195
ramosus, 123
reflexus, 43
regalis, 20
regelii, 155
repandus, 4, 17, 18, 151, 152, 224
repandus laetevirens, 149
reptans, 8, 195
resupinatus, 87
retroflexus, 43
rhodanthus, 170
rhodocephalus, 158
rhodoleucanthus, 21, 22
rigidispinus, 103
rigidus, 210
robustus, 21
rogalli, 21
roridus, 89
rosaceus, 201
roseanus, 198
rostratus, 203, 204, 205
royeni, 44, 50
royenii armatus, 40, 51
royenii floccosus, 51
ruber, 225
ruferi, 219
ruferi major, 219
ruficeps, 75
russelianus, 33
salpingensis, 21
santiaguensis, 131
Cereus—continued.
sargentianus, 177, 178
saxicola, 21, 22
saxicola anguiniformis, 22
scandens minor, 197
schenckii, 180
schickendantzii, 144
schmidtii, 197
schoenemannii, 21
schomburgkii, 191,
schottii, 177, 178
schottii australis, 177
schrankii, 127
schumannii, 103
sclerocarpus, 146, 147
scoparius, 41
seidelii, 15
senilis, 27
sepium, 160
serpens, 163
serpentinus, 20, 117, 118, 119
serpentinus albispinus, 59, 118
serpentinus splendens, 21, 118
serpentinus stellatus, 118
serpentinus strictior, 118
serratus, 129
serruliflorus, 151
setaceus, 211, 212
setaceus viridior, 211
setiger, 129
setosus, 34, 35
simonii, 169
sirul, 123
smaragdiflorus, 174, 175
smithii, 218
sonorensis, 169
spachianus, 131, 132
spathulatus, 21
speciosissimus, 128, 129
speciosissimus albiflorus, 128
speciosissimus aurantiacus, 128
speciosissimus blindii, 128
speciosissimus bodii, 128
speciosissimus boliwillerianus, 128
speciosissimus bowtrianus, 128
speciosissimus coccineus, 127, 128
speciosissimus colmariensis, 128
speciosissimus curtisii, 128
speciosissimus danielsii, 128
speciosissimus devauxii, 128
speciosissimus edesii, 128
speciosissimus elegans, 128
speciosissimus eugenia, 128
speciosissimus finkii, 128
speciosissimus gebvillerianus, 128
speciosissimus gloriosus, 128
speciosissimus grandiflorus, 128
speciosissimus guillardieri, 128
speciosissimus hansii, 128
speciosissimus hitchensii, 128
speciosissimus hitchensii hybridus, 128
speciosissimus hitchensii speciosus, 128
speciosissimus hoveyi, 128
speciosissimus ignescens, 128
speciosissimus jenkinsonii, 128
speciosissimus kampmannii, 128
speciosissimus kiardii, 128
233
234
Cereus—continued.
speciosissimus kobii, 128
speciosissimus latifrons, 128
speciosissimus lateritius, 128
speciosissimus longipes, 128
speciosissimus lothii, 128
speciosissimus loudonii, 128
speciosissimus macqueanus, 128
speciosissimus maelenii, 128
speciosissimus maurantianus, 128
speciosissimus merckii, 128
speciosissimus mexicanus, 128
speciosissimus mittleri, 128
speciosissimus muhlhausianus, 128
speciosissimus peacocki, 128
speciosissimus peintneri, 128
speciosissimus rintzii, 128
speciosissimus roidii, 128
speciosissimus roseus albus, 128
speciosissimus roseus superbus, 128
speciosissimus roydii, 128
speciosissimus sarniensis, 128
speciosissimus seidelii, 128
speciosissimus seitzii, 128
speciosissimus selloi, 128
speciosissimus smithii, 128
speciosissimus superbus, 128
speciosissimus suwaroffii, 128
speciosissimus suwarowii, 128
speciosissimus triumphans, 128
speciosissimus unduliflorus, 128
speciosissimus vandesii, 128
speciosissimus vitellinus, 128
speciosus, 128, 129
speciosus albiflorus, 128
speciosus coccineus, 127
spegazzinii, 23
spinibarbis, 82
spinibarbis flavidus, 144
spinibarbis minor, 139
spinibarbis purpureus, 139
spinosissimus, 11
spinulosus, 207
splendens, 21, 118
squamosus, 173, 176
squarrosus, 104
steckmannii, 21
stellatus, 92, 93, 169
stenogonus, 4, 9, 10, 11
stenopterus. 190
straussii, 171, 226
striatus, 22, 111
strictus, 44
strigosus, 143, 144
strigosus intricatus, 143
strigosus longispinus, 143
strigosus rufispinus, 144
strigosus spinosior, 144
subintortus, 19
subintortus flavispinus, 19
sublanatus, 43
subrepandus, 151
subsquamatus, 191
subtortuosus, 174
subuliferus, 137
surinamensis, 13
swartzii, 46, 87
THE CACTACEAE.
Cereus—continued.
tacaquirensis, 225
tarijensis, 226
taylori, 153
tellii, 21
tenellus, 126
tenuis, 19
tephracanthus bolivianus, 136
terscheckii, 143
testudo, 213
tetazo, 76
tetracanthus, 136
tetragonus, 3, 4, 7, 9, 14
tetragonus major, 9
tetragonus minor, 14
tetragonus ramosior, 9
thalassinus, 3, 9
thalassinus quadrangularis, 5
thelegonoides, 131
thelegonus, 130, 131
thouarsii, 120, 121
thurberi, 68, 97, 98, 99
thurberi littoralis, 97
thurberi monstrosus, 98
tilophorus, 43
tinei, 152
titan, 69, 70
tonduzii, 77, 216
tonelianus, 92
tortuosus, 154, 155
tortus, 83
treleasei, 93
triangularis, 187, 188, 192, 193
triangularis major, 187, 191
triangularis pictus, 192
triangularis uhdeanus, 193
trichacanthus, 44
trichocentrus, 21
tricostatus, 187
trigonodendron, 19
trigonus, 186, 192
trigonus costaricensis, 186
trigonus guatemalensis, 184
trigonus quadrangularis, 124
trinitatensis, 189
tuberosus, 111
tunilla, 214
tupizensis, 226
tweediei, 174
ulei, 52
undatus, 149, 151, 152, 187
undulatus, 124
undulosus, 123
uranos, 197
uranus nycticalus, 197
urbanianus, 43, 198
ureacanthus, 158
vagans,205
validus, 4, 7
variabilis, 4, 13, 14, 123, 124
variabilis glaucescens, 14
variabilis gracilior, 14
variabilis laetevirens, 14
variabilis micracanthus, 14
variabilis obtusus, 14
variabilis ramosior, 14
variabilis salm-dyckianus, 14
INDEX
Cereus—continued.
vasmeri, 123
vaupelii, 202
venditus, 192
ventimigliae, 160
verschaffeltii, 21
victoriensis, 53
violaceus, 44
viperinus, 110
virens, 43
vulcan, 219
warmingii, 42
weberbaueri, 141
weberi, 95, 96
weingartianus, 77, 78
wercklei, 208
wittii, 221, 222
xanthocarpus, 4, 10
xanthochaetus, 225
ziczkaanus, 224
zizkaanus, 224
Chacoub, 187
Chende, 91
Chente, 91
Chichibe, 90
Chichipe, 90
Chichituna, 90
Chinoa, 91
Chiotilla, 66
Chique-chique, 35
Chique-chique das pedras, 35
Chirinola, 115
Cina, 169
Cleistocactus, 2, 173-176
anguinus, 173, 175
areolatus, 159
aureus, 105
baumannii, 163, 173, 174, 175, 226
baumannii colubrinus, 174
baumannii flavispinus, 174
celsianus, 171
chotaensis, 163
colubrinus, 174
humboldtii, 163
hyalacanthus, 176
icosagonus, 160
kerberi, 170
lanatus, 61
laniceps, 175
monvilleanus, 173
parviflorus, 176
parvisetus, 175
sepium, 160
serpens, 163
smaragdiflorus, 173, 174, 175
Cochal, 180
Coerulescentes, 3, 59
Compresso-costati, 3
Copado, 83
Corryocactus, 2, 66-68
brachypetalus, 66, 67, 68
brevistylus, 66, 67, 68
melanotrichus, 66, 68
Coryphanthanae, 1
Creeping devil cactus, 115
Daatoe, 88
Deamia, 183, 212-214
testudo, 209, 213, 214
Deerhorn cactus, 113
Dendrocereus, 2, 113, 114
nudiflorus, 113, 114
Dildo, 224
Echinocactanae, 1
Echinocactus, 1, 105, 137, 171
auratus, 143
aureus, 105
candicans, 143
catamarcensis, 146
ceratistes, 143
echinoides, 138
echinoides pepinianus, 137
elegans, 139
farinosus, 19
fascicularis, 141
ghiesbrechtii, 60
hystrix, 86
jeneschianus, 138
lecchii, 20
pepinianus, 137
pepinianus echinoides, 138
philippii, 105
pruinosus, 88, 89
pyramidalis, 139
senilis, 27
staplesiae, 27
wangertii, 133
Echinocereanae, 1
Echinocereus, 3, 104, 110
candicans, 142
candicans tenuispinus, 143
chiloensis, 138
clavatus, 106
emoryi, 108
flavescens. 20
gladiatus, 142
hypogaeus, 106
intricatus, 143
lamprochlorus, 132
limensis, 20
multangularis, 19
multangularis limensis, 20
multangularis pallidior, 19
poselgeri, 110, 111
serpentinus, 118
spachianus, 131
spinibarbis, 82
splendens, 118
strigosus, 143
strigosus rufispinus, 143
strigosus spinosior, 143
trichacanthus, 44
tuberosus, 111
Echinopsis, 3, 105, 130, 144, 158, 159, 219
aurata, 143
candicans, 142
catamarcensis, 146
dumeliana, 143
dumesniliana, 143
lamprochlora, 132
philippii, 105
schickendantzii, 144
Epiphyllanae, 1
Epiphyllum, 127, 221
ackermannii, 128, 219
phyllanthoides, 128
smithianum, 128
235
236
Erdisia, 2, 104-107
meyenii, 104, 105, 106
philippii, 104, 105
spiniflora, 104, 106
squarrosa, 104, 105, 107
Eriocerei, 154
Eriocereus, 22, 147, 148
bonplandii, 157
cavendishii, 21
jusbertii, 158
martianus, 220
martinii, 155
platygonus, 156
subrepandus, 151
tephracanthus, 136
tortuosus, 154
Eriosyce, 143
sandillon, 143
Escontria, 2, 63, 65, 66
chiotilla, 65, 66, 76
Espostoa, 2, 60-63
lanata, 61, 62, 225
Eucereus, 3, 117
Euharrisia, 148
Eulychnia, 2, 66, 82-85, 18,
acida, 82, 83, 84
breviflora, 82, 83
castanea, 82, 84
clavata, 106
eburnea, 139
iquiquensis, 82, 83
spinibarbis, 82, 83
Euphorbia hystrix, 19
Facheiro preto, 177
Facheiro preto da Serra de Cannabrava, 173
Facheiroa, 2, 173
publiflora, 173
Flor de copa, 114
Flor de cuerno, 218
Formosi, 3, 13
Furcraea, 92
Garrambullas, 179
Geotilla, 66
Giant cactus, 92, 164
Giganton, 135
Graciles, 159
Gymnocalycium, 1
Harrisia, 1, 2, 147-159
aboriginum, 148, 154
adscendens, 148, 155, 156
bonplandii, 148, 157
brookii, 148, 151
earlei, 148, 154
eriophora, 148, 149
fernowi, 148, 153
f ragrans, 148, 149
gracilis, 148, 151, 152
guelichii, 148, 158
martinii, 148, 155
nashii, 148, 150, 151
platygona, 148, 156
pomanensis, 148, 155, 156
portoricensis, 148, 150
simpsonii, 148, 152, 153
taylori, 153
tortuosa, 148, 154
undata, 15 1
Harrisiae, 154
THE CACTACEAE.
Heliocereus, 2, 127-129, 218, 225
amecamensis, 127, 129
cinnabarinus, 127, 129
coccineus, 12 7
elegantissimus, 127, 129
schrankii, 127, 225
speciosus, 127, 128,129,201,210
Hexagonae, 4
Hylocereanae, 1, 183
Hylocereus, 1, 63, 126, 183-195,210, 215, 216
antiguensis, 184, 193, 194
bronxensis, 183, 185, 226
calcaratus, 184, 193, 194
costaricensis, 183, 186
cubensis, 184, 188
extensus, 184, 190, 191
guatemalensis, 183, 184
lemairei, 184, 189, 194, 226
minutiflorus, 195, 196
monacanthus, 184, 190,226
napoleonis, 184, 191
ocamponis, 126, 183, 184, 185
polyrhizus, 183, 185, 226
purpusii, 183, 184
stenopterus, 184, 190
triangularis, 184, 185, 191, 192, 193
tricostatus, 187
trigonus, 184, 192, 193
undatus, 184, 187, 188, 189
venezuelensis, 183, 186, 226
Ipomoea, 92
Jaatoe, 88
Jaramataca, 111
Jasminocereus, 2, 146, 147
galapagensis, 146, 147
Joconostle, 93
Junco, 119
Junco espinoso, 119
Kadoesji, 18, 88
La bande de sud, 15 1
Lanuginosi, 59
Lemaireocereus, 2, 25, 43, 69, 85-103, 114, 135, 151
aragonii, 8, 92, 93, 103
cartwrightianus, 8, 100
chende, 8, 90, 91
chichipe, 85, 89
cumengei, 116
deficiens, 8, 94, 96
dumortieri, 8, 102
eichlamii, 8, 89, 90
eruca, 115, 116
godingianus, 8, 91, 92, 135
griseus, 20, 8, 87, 88, 89, 103, 225
gummosus, 116, 117
hollianus, 85, 86
humilis, 8, 100, 101
hystrix, 46, 85, 86, 87, 225
laetus, 8, 99, 100
longispinus, 8, 89, 90
mixtecensis, 89, 91
montanus, 8, 97
pruinosus, 8, 88, 89
queretaroensis, 8, 96, 97
schumannii, 103
stellatus, 8, 92, 93, 94, 169
thurberi, 8, 96, 97, 98
treleasei, 85, 93, 95, 224
weberi, 85, 95, 96, 97, 164
INDEX
Leocereus, 2, 108-110, 175, 225
bahiensis, 108, 109
glaziovii, 108, 109
melanurus, 108, 109
Leptocereus, 2, 77-82, 104, 122
arboreus, 77, 80
assurgens, 77, 79, 80
leonii, 77, 78, 79
maxonii, 77, 80
prostratus, 77, 79
quadricostatus, 77, 81
sylvestris, 77, 80, 81
weingartianus, 77, 82
Lophocereus, 3, 170, 177, 178, 179
australis, 177
sargentianus, 177
schottii, 177, 178, 179
Machaerocereus, 2, 114-117
eruca, 114, 115, 116
gummosus, 114, 116, 117
Mammillaria, 3, 118
obconella, 102
Mandacaru, 9
Mandacaru de boi, 9
Mandacaru de penacho, 30
Martin’s-tail-cereus, 224
Mediocactus, 183, 210-212
coccineus, 211, 212
megalanthus, 211, 212, 213
Melocactus, 170
bradypus, 27
columna-trajani, 76
monoclonos, 41
Monvillea, 1, 21-25
amazonica, 21, 24
cavendishii, 21, 22, 118, 224
diffusa, 21, 24
insularis, 21, 22, 23
maritima, 21, 24, 25
phatnosperma, 21, 24
spegazzinii, 21, 23
Muyusa, 160
Myrtillocactus, 3, 178-181
cochal, 179, 180
eichlamii, 179, 180, 181
geometrizans, 179, 181
schenckii, 179, 180
Neoraimondia, 3, 181-183
macrostibas, 181, 182
Night-blooming cereus, 113, 187, 188
Nyctocereus, 1, 2, 108, 117-120, 121
guatemalensis, 117, 118, 119, 120
hirschtianus, 118, 119
neumannii, 118, 119
oaxacensis, 118, 120
serpentinus, 20, 118
Obtusae, 4
Old man cactus, 27
Oligogoni, 3, 77
Opuntia, 3, 92, 118, 156, 164
bicolor, 106
clavata, 106, 107
glomerata, 138
pestifer, 19
polymorpha, 138
serpentina, 224
spiniflora, 106
Orchids, 42
Oreocereus, 2, 60, 108, 171-173
celsianus, 171, 172, 173, 226
celsianus bruennowii, 171
lanatus, 61
Organito de vibora, 111
Organo, 48, 74
Pachycereus, 2, 28, 68-76, 96
calvus, 69
chrysomallus, 69, 72, 73, 74
columna-trajani, 69, 76
gaumeri, 69, 71
grandis, 69, 72
lepidanthus, 69, 76
marginatus, 69, 74, 75, 92, 102
orcuttii, 69, 70
pecten-aboriginum, 69, 70, 71, 72, 76
pringlei, 69, 70
queretaroensis, 96
ruficeps, 69, 75
titan, 69
Pasacana, 133
Passiflora, 92
Peniocereus, 2, 112, 113
greggii, 112
Peruvianae, 4
Phyllocactus, 3, 221, 222
Phyllocereus, 221
Pilocereus, 3, 13, 25, 44, 51, 52, 58, 59, 178, 181
acranthus, 169
albisetosus, 58
albispinus, 59
albispinus crenatus, 59
alensis, 55
andryanus, 59
arrabidae, 42
barbatus, 50
bruennowii, 171, 172
celsianus, 171, 172, 226
celsianus bruennowii, 171, 172, 226
celsianus fossulatus, 172
celsianus gracilior, 171
celsianus lanuginosior, 171, 172
celsianus williamsii, 171
chrysacanthus, 48
chrysomallus, 59, 72
coerulescens, 59
columna, 59, 76
columna-trajani, 76
cometes, 52
consolei, 44
crenulatus, 49
curtisii, 44
dautwitzii, 61, 63, 225
dautwitzii cristatus, 63
divaricatus, 151
engelmannii, 164
euphorbioides, 33
exerens, 42, 43
fimbriatus, 151
flavicomus, 52
flavispinus, 60
floccosus, 50
foersteri, 52
fossulatus, 171, 172
fossulatus gracilis, 171
fossulatus pilosior, 171
fouachianus, 50
foveolatus, 172
237
238
Pilocereus—continued.
fulviceps, 72, 73
fulvispinosus, 50
ghiesbrechtii, 60
giganteus, 164, 167
glaucescens, 59
gounellei, 34
grandispinus, 87
haageanus, 62
haagei, 61
haworthii, 44
hagendorpii, 27
hermentianus, 8
hoogendorpii, 225
hoppenstedtii, 27, 28
houlletianus, 53
houlletii, 52, 53
jubatus, 52
kanzleri, 171
lanatus, 61, 63
lanatus cristatus, 63
lanatus haagei, 61, 63
lanuginosus, 49
lateralis, 27, 28
lateribarbatus, 76
leucocephalus, 52
lutescens, 44
macrocephalus, 3 I
macrostibas, 182
marschalleckianus, 53
melocactus, 29, 30
militaris, 73
monacanthus, 155
moritzianus, 41
niger, 44
nigricans, 44
nobilis, 44
pasacana, 133
pentaedrophorus, 31
pfeifferi, 224
plumieri, 47
polyedrophorus, 31
polygonus, 47
polylophus, 32
pringlei, 69
repandus, 17, 18
robinii, 39
royenii, 50, 51
royenii armatus, 50
ruficeps, 75
russelianus, 33, 34
sargentianus, 177, 178
schlumbergeri, 47
schottii, 177, 178
scoparius, 41
senilis, 27
senilis cristatus, 27
senilis flavispinus, 27
senilis longisetus, 27
senilis longispinus, 27
setosus, 34, 35
sterkmannii, 41
straussii, 171, 172, 226
strictus, 44, 60
strictus consolei, 44
strictus fouachianus, 50
swartzii, 47
terscheckii, 140
THE CACTACEAE.
Pilocereus—continued.
tetetzo, 76
thurberi, 97
trichacanthus, 44
ulei, 52
urbanianus, 43
vellozoi, 29
verheinei, 58
virens, 43
williamsii, 172
Piptanthocereus, 3, 22
azureus, 15
beneckei, 18
chalybaeus, 16
forbesii, 7
hankeanus, 7
labouretianus, 7
jamacaru, 8
jamacaru caesius, 15
jamacaru cyaneus, 8
jamacaru glaucus, 8
validus, 7
Piscol colorado, 62
Pitahaya, 96, 98, 122, 165
agre, 117, 122
agria, 117, 122
de San Juan, 122
dulce, 98,122
Pitahayita, 111, 122
Pitajaya, 122
Pitajuia, 122
Pitalla, 122
Pitaya, 122
Pitayita, 111, 122
Pithaya, 122
Rabo de raposa, 109
Rat tail cactus, 218
Rathbunia, 2, 159, 169, 170
alamosensis, 117, 169, 170
kerberi, 169, 170
sonorensis, 169
Repandae, 4
Rhipsalidanae,
Rhipsalis, 3, 124, 209, 214, 222
biolleyi, 215
Sacamatraca, 111
Sacasil, 111
Saguaro, 165
Sahuaro, 165, 166
Saman, 223
Saramatraca, 111
Sebucan, 81
Selenicereus, 1, 8, 183, 195, 196-210, 221
boeckmannii, 197, 202
brevispinus, 197, 201, 202
coniflorus, 197, 198, 199
donkelaarii, 197, 200
grandiflorus, 128, 196, 197, 198, 201, 210, 218
hamatus, 196, 197, 203, 204
hondurensis, 197, 199
inermis, 197, 207, 208, 209
kunthianus, 197, 201
macdonaldiae, 196, 197, 202,203
maxonii, 198
miravallensis, 213
murrillii, 197, 206
pringlei, 199
pteranthus, 111, 196, 197, 200
INDEX
Selenicereus—continued.
spinulosus, 197, 207
urbanianus, 197, 198, 212
vagans, 197, 205, 206, 207
wercklei, 197, 208, 209
Sinita, 177
Soroco, 62
Spanish dildos, 87
Stenocereus, 69, 85
stellatus, 92
stellatus tenellianus, 92
stellatus tonelianus, 92
Stetsonia, 2, 64, 65
coryne, 64, 65
Strophocactus, 183, 221, 222
wittii, 221, 222
Suaharo, 165
Suguaro, 165
Suwarro, 165
Suwarrow, 165
Tail of the fox, 109
Tenuiores, 22
Tortuosi, 77
Trichocereus, 2, 92, 130-146
bridgesii, 130, 134, 136
candicans, 130, 134, 142
chiloensis, 130, 137, 138
coquimbanus, 130, 138, 139
cuzcoensis, 130, 136
fascicularis, 64, 130, 141
huascha, 130, 141, 142
lamprochlorus, 130, 132, 133
macrogonus, 130, 136
pachanoi, 130, 134, 135
Trichocereus—continued.
pasacana, 130, 132, 133, 134, 140, 145, 225
peruvianus, 130, 136
schickendantzii, 130, 144
shaferi, 130, 144
spachianus, 130, 131, 132
strigosus, 130, 143, 144
terscheckii, 130, 140
thelegonoides, 130, 131
thelegonus, 130, 131
Tuna, 66, 93
colorado, 101
de cobado, 84
Weberocereus, 183, 214-216
biolleyi, 214, 215
panamensis, 2 14, 215
tunilla, 214
Werckleocereus, 183, 216, 217
glaber, 216
tonduzii, 216, 217
Wilcoxia, 2, 22, 110-112
papillosa, 110, 112
poselgeri, 110, 111
striata, 110, 111
viperina, 110
Wilmattea, 183, 195, 196
minutiflora, 195, 196, 216
Zacoub, 187
Zanthoxylum, 92
Zehntnerella, 2, 176, 177
squamulosa, 176, 177
Zuwarrow, 165
Zygocactus, 22
239
242
THE CACTACEAE.