AND SOME OTHER CALIFORNIAN CACTACEAE. BY Dr. GEORGE ENGELMANN, of St. Louis, Missouri. < Emory’ Notes of # Secret Reconna naissance, abl oat in 848 by Con a ventured, from. the data fur-_ hished by Col. aig, is sielise one of the la argest Cacti ever lant Col. Emory, now sg of the scientific corps of the 2, Dr. Engelmann on the Cereus giganteus of California. Cerets Gicayteus, Engelm. in E'mory’s ep, p- 158.— Erectus, aa simplex, sepius parce ramosus; ramis erectis eaule cylin versus apicem sensim attenuato brevioribus ; vertice parum ae resso lanato; costis ad basin 12 versus apicem 18-20) rectis compressis obtusiusculis (versus basin obtusissimis) subrepandis ; sinubus profundis angustis; areolis prominentibus orbiculatis albido-tomentosis ; aculeis rectis, radialibus 11-17 bre- Sitone obovatis nigris teins haeidia. Dr. Parry found this splendid species, which the Indians name “ Suwarrow,” in rocky crevices and on gravelly table lands, from Tueson, corti to the Rio Gila; he learned that it also occu urs in . Em middle towards the lower Gila; and Dr. LeConte, who explored California in 1850, informs me ‘that rs found it « common along Californian 1 mountains nothing but sand or rocks, on which grew a 2 Aco Cactus ( Orgaitidie del Tunal) of extteordiliny height. tems o 60 feet high and | to 2 feet in diameter, not abso- ates! esphitab ca but thickest aboiit the lower thicd, where generally the few (mostly 2-3) alternate or sometimes opposite r The ae pee of an exterior fleshy substance, 3—6 inches in thickness ; this encloses a circle of bundles of ligneous fibres, corr esponding with the intervals between the ribs; these bundles e quently anastomosing, increasing in thickness towards the base, and swelling into irregular, knotted, Shand Spreading SB: This frame-work remains after the mposition of the fles ts. The exterior fleshy tissue Hime between the Nagai — forms in the centre of the stems the pith, of 4-6 inches di- meter. - he ribs are mostly vertical, at the base about 12 in number, broad, rounded, 4 inches or more wide, with broad and shallow intervals, (also 4 or 5 — Ae bit and aiciant: of ae . Dr. Engelmann on the Cereus giganteus of California. 3 Upwards, the number of ribs increases by bifurcation, or addi- tional ribs originate in the intervals. There the ribs are “ sharply Won : 0 inch distant from another. Radiate spines }—? inch long; central Spines stouter and longer; the lowest deflexed AB inches long, he two next esti’ not three upper ones pointing upwards an oti wakdls and s Dr. Parry was i le that the flowers were bad in May and June, from the summit of stem and branches; they are said to be white, with a red centre, and three inches in og Stee fs The fruit matures in August, and is set with small spines: it is obo- vate, one and a half inches in diameter, red, pulpy, of sweet taste. he seeds obtained by Col. Emory and by Dr. LeConte have already been noticed in Emory’s Report; they are 0°7 lines long, obovate, obliquely truncate at base, black, smooth, shining. Em- bryo hooked, without an albumen ; cotyledons foliaceous, une- qual, incumbent. My opinion that our plant is a true Cereus and not a Pilocereus, which was based on the structure of the seeds (the foliaceous, not globose cotyledons), appears to be further confirmed by the fact that this Cactus bears no hair-like spines, and no cephalium, or distinct woolly head, and that the fruits are (as is said) spinu- ese and not scaly. It i is by far the largest Cereus known; and only some Pilocerei approach it in size. The only Cactacee thus far known to grow in California were those vaguely noticed by Humboldt (the “ Organos del tS and some Opuntiz); the Achinocactus virtdescens and Cer Californicus discovered by Nuttall in 1834; the Cacti aiid % és the Gila by Col. Emory in the fall of 1846 and mentioned in his report; Mamillaria Goodrichti, lately described by Scheer, of Kew, and E'chinocactus Californicus of Monville. Dr. Parry has in the years 1849 and 1850, when he was also attached to Col. Emory’s corps in the survey of the Mexican boundary, examined and described ten or eleven distinct species of Cactacez, all found along the southern boundary of California, from the sea-coast to the mouth of the Gila. e, as well as Dr. LeConte, states that much farther to the north no species of this family are found, except an Opuntia, cultivated and now natural- ized abont the missions. I subjoin here a short memorandum of Dr. Parry’s Californian Cactacee, reserving a fuller description for a more extended me- oir. Manreiarra TETRANCISTRA, N. Sp.: subglobosa ; aculeis radi- aiibis brevibus albis numerosis, centralibus 4 longioribns eruci- Mist uneinatis ; floribus centralibus parvulis Monti oh stig- = 4 Z : Dr. Engelmann on the Cereus giganteus of —— is matibus 3; bacca coccinea pyriformi; seminibus nigris hilo spon- me) Aang fasco auctis From San Diego to the junction of the Gila with the Colorado. is —M. Groodrichii, Scheer, obtained on the island of Cerro on the coast ‘of California, is distinguished by the ave central spine only being hooked, by much smaller tubercles, : Ecuinocactus virrpescens, Nutt. Depr ee ; berry sub- globo ose green, coated with lunate membranaceous scales, On dry hills and ridges near San Diego. = 3 RIDESCENS, §? CYLINDRACEUS, is distinguished by its — oval or cylindrical shape, larger size, longer spines. Found n San Felipe, on the eastern slope of the California mountains. Note.—E. Catirorsicus, Monv., is the name of young plants rom seed in Europe. I am informed that neither the identity nor the native country of these seedlings is satisfactorily Se ee ne 4° Cerevs Enmoryt, n. sp.: caule prostrato ; ramis erectis cyl- indraceis ciate aculeis radialibus 40-50, centrali singulo robustiore porrecto ; baeca globosa spinulosa. In thick patches, on dry hills near the sea shore, about the boundary line. Erect branches 6—9 inches hi igh. 5. C. Excetmannt, Parry in litt.: caulibus pluribus pedali- bus; costis 13 tuberculatis ; ; aculeis 4 centralibus ineequalibus ra- diales tenuiores superantibus : bacea ovali aculeata pul ee Mountains about San Felipe, on the eastern declivity of the es Cordilleras. - Wote-—C.? Carirorsicus, Nutt. in Torr. and Gray's Flora, is most probably a eylindraceous nae with “small yellow owers,” which I cannot now iden get ie 6. Opuntia Encetmannt, Salm n Diego, on dry hillsides, in Z patches, et * 6 feet high. Origitially discovered about Chihua- ) hua, this species apple to extend westward to the Pacifie. es 7. O. Tuna, Mill., is cultivated for fences, and naturalized _ about the eae called “Tuna.” It is 10-15 feet thigh; the frnit large and edi ble. : _8. O. protirema, n. sp.: caule erecto ligneo ; ramulis cylindri- cis Siac ies died: aculeis fuscis vaginatis; bacea spin- San Diego, on arid hill§ and in dry creek oe Plant Eas feet high, forming impenetrable thickets. Near O = oe Mexico ; but the red flowers smaller, the ae ay spinous, ete. O. SeRPENTINA, n. sp.: pro cumbens ; artienlis _cylindricis ee hen tuberenlatis : aculeis 7-9 Vaginatis; bacea sicca hemis- — » pherica aculeatissima. oe me: hillaiclee, aie siege On the Crew Greggii; by ue Brortaasa [The followi rvati e for a sentence on page 339, jul were roeewas too late for seri fat that place.—Eps. ~ My collection under study includes about 12 ‘species’of 8 Echinoeacti, 1 12 —o and 12 a most Bk ich Dr. Engelmann on the wei giganteus of Cana e 5 0. O. Ramosissma, n. sp. : cate erecto ligneo dhivarient ee osissimo ; articulis Seats cylindricis tuberculatis Cesiis ; - aculeis subsolitariis saccato-vaginatis; bacca sicca tuberculata se- tosa et aculeata. __ Gravelly soil near the Colorado, and in the desert. Plant two feet high; the joints half an inch in diameter. Approaches the Soe cylindracee graciliores. ¥I, n. sp.: caule prostrato; articulis adscendenti- _ bus sna setis fuscis; aculeis brevibus albidis, singulo _ longiore deflexo ; bacca subelobosa setoso-aculeata. A Eouattn slope of the Califoraia mountains, near San Felipe. Joints four to eight inches long; the longest spines half an inch long. Flower one and a half inch in diameter, yellowish-green. Approaches the Opuntie clavate. _ Mr. Charles Wright, well known to the botanical world by his ‘collections made in the southwest, now also attached to the Mex- _ iean boundary commission, has, under the instruction of Col. Graham, made large and interesting collections of Cacti in west- ern n Texas and southern New Mexico, and sent them to me for _ examination = is impossible here to give as full an account of them as — would. be desirable; but most of them are now in cultivation = Most of the Cactacee di e copper oe and the lower Gila, appears to be rare every