The North American Species of Cactus, Anhalonium, and Lophophora | Page 3

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A Preliminary Revision of the North American Species of Cactus,
Anhalonium, and Lophophora by John M. Coulter.

U. S. Department of Agriculture Division of Botany
CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE U. S. NATIONAL HERBARIUM
Vol. III--No. 2 Issued June 10, 1894 Preliminary Revision of the North
American Species of Cactus, Anhalonium, and Lophophora. by John M.
Coulter. Published by Authority of the Secretary of Agriculture
Washington Government Printing Office 1894 LETTER OF
TRANSMITTAL U. S. Department of Agriculture Division of Botany
Washington, D. C., March 21, 1894 SIR: I have the honor to transmit

herewith, for publication as Vol. III, No. 2, of Contributions from the U.
S. National Herbarium, a Preliminary Revision of the North American
species of Cactus, Anhalonium, and Lophophora, by President John M.
Coulter. Respectfully, Frederick V. Coville, Chief of the Division of
Botany. Hon. J. Sterling Morton, Secretary of Agriculture.

PRELIMINARY REVISION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN
SPECIES OF CACTUS, ANHALONIUM, AND LOPHOPHORA.
Prefatory Note. In the fall of 1890 Dr. George Vasey, then Botanist of
the Department of Agriculture, arranged with me to prepare a revision
of North American Cactaceae. Owing to the peculiar difficulty of
preserving material the family was poorly represented, even in our
leading herbaria. To secure a large amount of additional material in the
way of specimens and field notes the Department authorized me to visit
the region of the Mexican boundary during the summer of 1891.
Preliminary to this exploration it was necessary to examine the
Engelmann collection of Cactaceae, in the possession of the Missouri
Botanical Garden. This collection, supplemented by the continual
additions made at the garden, is by far the largest collection of
skeletons and living specimens in this country, and also contains the
large majority of our types.
In March, 1891, I visited this collection and made such notes as seemed
necessary for use in the field, and in June, accompanied by Mr. W. H.
Evans and Mr. G. C. Nealley, I began field work in the neighborhood
of El Paso, Tex. After ten days of exploration it was necessary for me
to leave the field work in charge of Mr. Evans, who, with Mr. Nealley,
continued work westward, during July and a part of August, to southern
California, along the Southern Pacific Railway. As a result a large
number of complete plant bodies was secured, but very few of them
were in flower and the field notes indicated little besides collection
stations. During the following fall and winter preliminary
determinations of this material were made by Mr. Evans. In the fall of
1892 critical study of this and other collections was begun in
connection with my assistants, Dr. Elmon M. Fisher and Mr. Edwin B.
Uline, who have ever since rendered constant and most import
assistance in the examination of material and bibliography, which alone
has made the work possible in the midst of other pressing duties.

In the spring of 1893 these two gentlemen spent several weeks at the
Missouri Botanical Garden in the critical study of its rich material, and
during the latter part of their stay I assisted in the work. Dr. William
Trelease, the director of the garden, had hastened the arrangement of
the Engelmann material, and had mounted in convenient form the large
mass of notes left by Dr. Engelmann. These notes contained not only
critical remarks upon known species, but also the diagnoses of many
unpublished species which had come into his hands, notably those
collected by Mr. William Gabb in 1867 in Lower California. The
collections that have thus far been studied are:
(1) Those of the Missouri Botanical Garden; and thanks are especially
due to Dr. Trelease for his generous cooperation in the use of this
material, without which the work would have