262 



The Canadian Horticulturist. 



CACTUS NOTES. 



\ y / E next come to the Globular, or " Hedgehog " cacti, con- 

 yy sisting of Echinocacti, Echinocereus, Echinopsis and Mam- 

 illaria. The other classes, Melocactus and Pelecyphora 

 cannot be successfully grown by amateurs, and are not 

 worth considering in these notes. But the four classes 

 named above are the gems of the Cacti fancier, as they 

 comprise many of the quaintest and most handsome of 

 plants. The Echinocacti are a large class, over 260 varie- 

 ties being cultivated, and new ones are frequently found. 

 Some grow up very large ; a specimen of Visnaga, 9 feet in 

 height, 9^ feet in circumference, and weighing a ton, was 

 taken to Kew Gardens, England, while others never attain 

 a size of over an inch or two in diameter. They are gen- 

 erally ribbed, spines in clusters on the ribs, which are 

 usually prominent. A few are separated into tubercles like the Mammillaria ; 

 flowers near the top or centre ; and large in comparison to the size of the plant, 

 many of them remain open for days. Their cultivation is simple ; they do not 

 require as strong a soil as Phyllocactus ; made porous with sand, sufficient water 

 when growing, little, if any, in winter, sunlight at all times — they will not bloom 

 unless placed in the sun. We can only mention a few of the most desirable and 

 best known. Grusoni or The Golden Cactus (named after Gruson, a manufac- 

 turer in Madgeburg, Germany, who is said to have the finest collection of 

 cacti in Europe), is generally perfectly globular in shape, its golden-colored, 

 almost transparent spines, closely resembling a ball of gold. This is a plant that 

 is always admired by every one; a specimen 18 inches in diameter was the 

 centre of attraction, and the gem of 

 the collection in the Mexican exhi- 

 bit, at the World's Fair, in Chicago ; 

 small plants are equally handsome, 

 and excellent growers and never 

 troubled with insects. Cornigerus 

 or Horn-bearing, another very hand- 

 some plant; ridges, prominent spines 

 in clusters, the centre one fiat and 

 tongue like, curved at the end, the 

 broadest spine of any cactus ; purple 

 in color and as strong as iron, other 

 spines round and strong, a good 

 grower and excellent bloomer ; flow- 

 ers purple and not very large. Cap- 

 ricornis, one of the most peculiar 

 looking, with eight thin prominent Pir,. 801.— E;Hi.voc\cr(js. 



