This has been long cultivated in the Royal Botanic 

 Gardens of Kevv, under the name here retained, and is a 

 very handsome species, growing erect, bearing very large, 

 showy flowers, and with stems of a singularly glaucous- 

 green tint. There is much difficulty in determining the 

 synonyms of this Cereus. Pfeiffer appears to have chang- 

 ed the old specific name, conferred by Jacquin solely on 

 account of the variable character, and he has included 

 under it two figures of Plumiere, which appear to me 

 extremely different in habit from this plant, and from each 

 other, and which I have quoted with a mark of doubt : — 

 and he refers the Cereus undulosus of De Candolle hither, 

 which is described as having spines two inches long; while, 

 on the other hand, he keeps the C. oblusus of Haworth 

 distinct, which seems too nearly allied to the present. A 

 good series of figures alone can well illustrate the species of 

 this difficult and now extrusive family. Our plant is de- 

 scribed as an inhabitant of Carthagena; but Pfeiffer adds 

 Mexico, Peru, Brazil, and the West Indies. Its noble 

 flowers are produced with us in July, generally expanding 

 towards evening, and fading in the morning of the follow- 

 ing day, 



Descr. A tall-growing, erect, simple, or branched spe- 

 cies, with stems three to four inches in diameter, constricted 

 at very uncertain distances, glaucous, especially the young 

 shoots, presenting sometimes three, generally four, occasion- 

 ally five, deep and broad furrows, and as many projecting, 

 much compressed angles or wings, obtuse at the margin, 

 and crenato-repand. Areola distant, densely woolly, com- 

 pact. Spines scarcely half an inch long, straight, stellated, 

 disposed irregularly in length, four to six or eight in num- 

 ber, the central one often the stoutest, all of a palish -brown 

 colour. Flowers large, handsome, showy, from an areola of 

 the margin of the costae. Tube a span long, widening up- 

 wards, set with distant, appressed, triangular scales, which 

 gradually pass into the linear-oblong, acuminate, white, 

 tinged with brownish - green, sepals. Petals numerous, 

 spreading, (as well as the sepals) white or cream-coloured, 

 obovato-lanceolate, acuminate, sharply-serrated. Stamens 

 numerous. Filaments assurgent. Anthers yellow. Stigma 

 rayed, as in the Genua 



Fig. 1. Much reduced figure of the entire flowering Plant. 2. Por- 



'— rirfr* pit/* 



ion ; — nat, size. 



