CACTI. 



some 



leaf 



paring off the grass the under part is a 

 net-work of fine fibrous roots in sandy 

 loam in which they thrive. The strap 

 leaved varieties can have 

 mould added as they can 

 stand richer soil. Former- 

 ly cacti were kept in pots 

 the year round, but now 

 nearly every one plants 

 them out in summer. 

 Mix the ordinary 

 garden soil with 

 an equal quantity 

 of sand, and have 

 the situation ele- 

 vated so that wa- 

 ter will run off. 

 They enjoy the 

 sun and rain and 

 the growth they 

 make is surprising. Their 

 fresh healthy appearance is 

 a contrast to the shrunken 

 specimens in pots. Phyl- 

 locactus when planted out 

 enjoy the heat, but should 

 be shaded from direct sun- 

 light which is apt to scald 

 and burn them. Regard- 

 ing the different varieties, 

 these are so numerous and 

 varied that time will only 

 permit the briefest men- 

 tion. The Phyllocactus 

 the flat or strap leaved 

 spineless family are the 

 best known, easily grown 

 and generally most satis- 

 factory. Some are day and 

 others night bloomers, and 

 all are veryfloriferous. The 

 variety Latifrons, or the 

 Queen cactus is one of the 

 best when a good size 



Fig. 128S.— Phyllo- 



at night and closing next morning. ^This 

 plant is often wrongly called " The 

 Night Blooming Cereus," which is an 

 entirely different plant, it is Cereus 

 Grandiflora of a 

 semi - climbing 

 habit with rope 

 like stems, seldom 

 thicker than a 

 man's thumb, hav- 

 ing four to eight 

 slight angles or 

 ridges. The flow- 

 ers are ten inches 

 in diameter with a 

 rich perfume, but 

 while this plant is 

 very easily grown 

 and largely used 

 to graft other var- 

 ieties on, flowers 

 are very rare, so 

 that Latifrons is a 

 much preferable plant to grow. 

 The Epiphyllums or crab or 

 lobster cacti are easily grown, 

 and profuse bloomers in Febru- 

 ary and March, being of a rather 

 drooping habit they are improv- 

 ed by being grafted on the Pere- 

 skia stock, or on some 

 of the Cereuses and 

 make handsome um- 

 brella like plants and 

 less liable to damp off 

 at the neck. The Cereus are a 

 largeand very varied family, from 

 the creeping Flagelliformis or 

 Rat tail up to Cereus giganteus 

 fifty to seventy feet high in a 

 straight unbranched column, 

 all are easily grown and mostly 

 free bloomers. 



CACTUS LATIFRONS Thcrc is a subsection of 



can be depended on for plenty of flow- of which Pilocereus senilis " The old 

 ers every summer. They are pure white, man Cactus " is the best known repre. 

 six inches in diameter, fragrant, opening sentative being covered with long white 



64 



