May."} HOT-HOUSE OF REPOTTING, &c. 157 



meter. In its indigenous state it produces a fine fruit called 

 " Strawberry Pear," and is much esteemed in the West 

 Indies as being slightly acid, and, at the same time, sweet, 

 pleasant and cooling. 



Epiphyllums are those species of the Cactese family 

 which have flat shoots, or leaves without spines ; from the 

 edges of those leaves the flowers are produced. They are 

 extensively cultivated for their profusion of bloom, and are 

 frequently grafted on Cereus trianguldris and Pereskia, 

 which greatly promotes their growth, and prevents them 

 from so easily damping off by over watering. The original 

 species are E. speciosum, pink ; E. phylanthoides or Hook- 

 erii, white; E. aldtum, white; E. truncdtum, scarlet; 

 flowers tubular, from two to three inches in diameter. 

 The plant is of a very dwarf growth, and much branched ; 

 when in bloom, it is o^uite a picture, and rendered more 

 beautiful when grafted. There is also a variety of it called 

 E. truncation *ftlfensteinii, the flower of which is rather 

 larger, and is more rosy coloured. E. Rmsellidnum is 

 quite a new species, but has not yet bloomed in our collec- 

 tions ; it is represented as being a beautiful large crimson, 

 and of the truncdta habits. E. Jlckermania has a magni- 

 ficent large crimson flower. Besides these, there are many 

 superb hybrid varieties, vying with any of the originals. 

 Among them are the following: E. Hibbertii, E. Hoodii, 

 E. Boydii, E. De vduxii, E. quillardittii, E. Feastii, E. 

 Vdndesii, E. Mayfly, E. elegantissima, and E. Naiperii, 

 and no doubt many other varieties and sub-varieties will 

 be continually making their appearance. All the Epi- 

 phyllum tribe require a very rich^open soil, not of too sandy 

 a nature, as they thereby grow to wood, and bloom but 

 sparingly give plenty of drainage. (Soil No. 18.) 



Opiintias, upwards of fifty species, and 1 are those whose 

 branches are in thick joints, flat, oblong, or ovate ; spines 

 solitary or in clusters. Some of the plants are very desi- 

 rable for their singular appearance, and some of them, par- 

 ticularly O. cochinillifera, are valuable for feeding the Co- 

 chineal insect. O. microddsys, O. ferox, O. lacte-spina, 

 O. sericed, and some others, are beautiful plants, and will 

 grow in any kind of soil, but No. 2 will suit them best. 



Pereskias. About four species, and those that are of a 

 shrubby nature, producing leaves ; P. antJedta bears a fruit 

 14 



