If you don't like that, you'll hate the NCL version! At least Anderson manages a sentence. The NCL entry reads as follows:peterb wrote:Cylindropuntia viridiflora, for example, gets this treatment in Anderson:
"Cyindropuntia X viridiflora is a naturally occurring hybrid, C. imbricata X C. whipplei. Distribution: New Mexico."
That's it. Notice the flat out assertion *is*.
08725 C. xviridiflora (B+R) Knuth 1936/K-ABC 124. B: 01896 Opuntia viridiflora B+R 1919/CBR 1:55. [Cylindropuntia imbricata x C. whipplei]. Distr: US (New Mexico).
This style is typical of the NCL. A proper species with a description is reported as this random example (Lasiocereus rupicola):
00929 L. rupicola Ritt 1981/KSA 4: 1478, figs 1348, 1349, 1351-1354; [1966/SuNL 45(8 ): 119, sine typ.] T: PE, Cajamarca, San Marcos, 1957, Ritter 661.
Bo tree-like, 3-4 m; trsp < 10 cm; br irregular, 4.5-7 cm Ø, broadly spreading, dark green; ri 18-21, 5-7 mm high, c. 5 mm broad; ar c. 5 mm, 4-6 mm apart, csp c. 12, mostly resembling the rsp, sometimes 1-2 stronger, 1-3 cm, darker; rsp c. 20, 5-10 mm, acicular, pale yellow; flgar near br apex, somewhat larger, orange-felted; fl subtended by a ring of bristles, tubular-funnelform, 5 x 2 cm, regular, unscented; pc+hyp c. 3 cm overall; sc numerous, black, c. 1 cm, aristate, with thick white wool and numerous long orange-brown bristles; tep c. 20 x 5 mm, linear-aristate; otep white below, black above; itep white; sti 7 mm, white; fr globose, c. 2.5 cm Ø; sd 1.2 mm, black. ............195.3-4
Compare this with Anderson's:
Lasiocereus rupicola F. Ritter 1966
Plants treelike, spreading widely, 3-4 m (9.8-13 ft) high. Stems dark green, 4.5-7 cm (1.8-2.8 in) in diameter. Ribs 18-21, 5-7 mm (0.2-0.3 in) high, to 5 mm wide, with distinct tubercles. Areoles with whitish wool. Flowering areoles large, round, with orange to golden brown wool. Central spines about 6 with 1-2 heavier, 1-3 cm (0.4-1.2 in) long. Radial spines about 20, needle-like, erect, 0.5-1 cm (0.2-0.4 in) long. Flowers to 5 cm (2 in) long. Fruits globose, to 2.5 cm (1 in) in diameter. Distribution: San Marcos, Cajamarca, Peru.
You can bet that both descriptions are based on Ritter's original description in Succulenta, hence the similarities.