(5)Those of Dr. Louis Eschanzier, of San Luis Potosi, Mexico, who send a large series of Mexican forms collected in 1891.
(6)Numerous small sets from different correspondents, who havegiven both time and material in aiding the work.
It is needless to say that Dr. George Engelmann, the great pioneer student of this difficult family, has opened the paths in which we must follow, and it was exceedingly unfortunate that he was not able to complete the final revision that he had in mind.
The difficulties which beset the critical study of this group can not be easily exaggerated.Such scanty material as has been collected has been for the most part very incomplete, consisting of plant bodies without flower or fruit, flower or fruit without plant bodies, and bunches of spines without either.The species are displayed also in the most inaccessible regions, and their culmination is found in the still poorly known regions of Mexico.
On account of their singular forms and often brilliant flowers they have long been extensively cultivated, especially in Europe. These cultivated forms have formed the basis of original descriptions in almost all of the European publications, and in very rare cases have any types been preserved.As a result, the bibliography of Cactaceae is appalling, and it is questionable whether satisfactory conclusions can be reached in the case of hundreds of published names.The earlier descriptions were not only meager, but were based upon what are now regarded very insufficient characters, and in the absence of types it is not only unsafe, but impossible to venture an opinion concerning their identity.In view of these facts, I have thought it advisable to present a preliminary revision of the order, which shall contain the results of the study of material confessedly insufficient.With such knowledge as we possess brought together, it is hoped that the study of this very interesting and much neglected group will be stimulated, and that more critical exploration of our southwestern territory and adjacent Mexico will make a more satisfactory presentation possible.It would be useless to notice the vast number of reputed species that are not represented by actual specimens in our possession.
In the proposed preliminary account of the family, of which the present paper is the first part, only those genera are considered which form a part of the flora of the United States, and those species which I have been able to examine and to identify with reasonable certainty.All forms credited to the United States have been studied, and the account of thesespecies may be considered fairly complete, but the far more numerous Mexican species are but scantily represented.The Mexican boundary is so unnatural a dividing line in the distribution of Cactaceae that it has been disregarded, and all the species studied have been arranged in a lineal series of uniform prominence.So far as known the subject of geographical distribution is considered, but it will be seen how meager is our knowledge of this subject.It is to be hoped that this preliminary presentation will provoke exploration and study, and that species will not only be collected, but all the facts of their distribution noted.It is more than probable that our present notion of species in this group must be much modified, and doubtless many forms are at present kept specifically distinct which will prove to be but different phases of a single species.
In the matter of generic delimitation we are in still greater uncertainty, and several generic lines at present recognized must be regarded as purely arbitrary, a fact which must become still more evident with additional material.The whole group is to be regarded as made up of poorly differentiated forms and only long observation under cultivation can determine the possibilities of specific variation under the influence of environment, of age, of inherent tendencies.For instance, that these plants change in form and in spine characters with increasing age and after they have begun to flower can not be doubted, but what described forms have thus been separated in descriptions can only be guessed at.
John M. Coulter.Lake Forest University,Lake Forest, Ill., January, 1891.
