112 GARDENING INDOORS AND UNDER GLASS 
deep scarlet flowers, is one of the best. Rucker- 
tanum, light purple with violet center; Magni- 
ficum, white, slightly pinkish at the edge; and wio- 
laceum superbum, white with rich purple edge, are 
some of the other good varieties of these beautiful 
plants. Phyllocactus is perhaps the next best 
flowering sort. The flowers are larger, more gor- 
geous, but borne only fora very short time. P. Ack- 
ermannt is one of the best of these. It has very 
large flowers, lily-shaped, bright red shading to light 
red with the inner petals, and the long gracefully 
curved stamens add to its beauty. It blossoms in 
May or early June, but the season is usually limited 
to two or three weeks. The night blooming Phyl- 
locactus, with white flowers, is commonly confused 
with the Night-Blooming cereus. Cereus may be 
distinguished by its angular stems as compared to 
the broad flat stems of Phyllocactus. C. grandi- 
florus and C. Macdonaldiae, the famous Night- 
blooming cereuses, have white flowers which remain 
open only one night. They are, however, though so 
transient, a marvelous sight. Prone to strange tasks 
indeed is the hand of Nature which has fashioned 
these grotesque, clumsy, lifeless looking plants to 
accumulate nourishment and moisture for months 
from the niggardly desert sands, and to mature for 
a few hours’ existence only these marvelously fash- 
ioned flowers which collapse with the first rays of 
the heat-giving sunshine. C. flagelliformis, and 
