430 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



n^-ierms^?r^:f icx 



Fig. 2166. Cactis Mamii.i akia. 



or Rainbow cactus, is indeed when in good 

 condition quite pretty, with its alternate 

 rings ot different colored spines, giving it 

 the appvearance from which its name is de- 

 rived. The three varieties of E. engelmanni, 

 must be mentioned amongst the attractive 

 cacti, as their long, heavy spines are beau- 

 tifully variegated from white, yellow and all 

 shades of red and purple to black. They 

 are bound to attract attention when seen in 

 a collection. 



This article has gone too far already in 

 speaking of attractive cacti, without men- 

 tioning that most wonderful plant of all, 

 Pilocereas senilis, or Old Man cactus. This 

 form of plant is the greatest curiosity in 

 nature. The plant itself grows upright, of 

 stout growth, and is covered with a remark- 

 able coat of long, snow-white hair, which is 

 trained down over the plant from what is 

 apparently the crown of an old man's head 

 at the top of the plant. The hair is quite 

 soft, and is sometimes six inches long and 

 so thick as to completely hide the body of 

 the plant itself. There are quite a number 

 of Pilocereus, but none of such distinctive 

 attractiveness as the Old Man. Amongst 

 the Mamillarias are some real little gems, 

 that can be used with good effect in carpet 



bedding, the spines of each variety being so 

 distinct as to make fine contrasts. A few 

 pretty ones are M. lasiacantha, which is 

 covered with soft feathery spines so closely 

 as to look like a ball of snow ; .M. microm- 

 eris, or Button cactus, a miniature plant 

 covered with tiny rosettes of spines that are 

 so soft as to have the resemblance of velvet 

 to the touch ; M. sanguinea is so closely 

 covered with bristly red spines as to re- 

 semble a brush ; M. nickelsonii, of very 

 regular form ; M. waltone and M. nivea 

 with snow-white spines, and M. pfeifferi 

 with clear yellow spines are also very pretty. 

 The effect of carpet-bedding of cacti can be 

 seen in a fine large bed in the grounds of 

 the Pan-American Exposition, where several 

 thousand cacti are grouped together in a 

 splendid design. .A.s there are between one 

 and two thousand varieties of cacti known, 

 it will be readily seen that only a very small 

 number could be mentioned in an article 

 like this. Some classes 1 have not even 

 touched. The Cereus, which grow in all 

 styles, from the slender Cer. grandiflorus, 

 that climbs over a trellis,. to the tall massive 

 varieties, such as Cer. peruvianus and 

 and Cer. giganteus, the latter attaining 

 enormous proportions. 



The Phvllocactus familv, which was treat- 



FiG. 2167. Mamii.laria Pectinate. 



