5^4 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



Fig. 220I. Cekki Grown kv Mr. Cailander. 



sorts which are very seldom seen, is the 

 Cereus, in its greatly varied style. This 

 species comprises forms that differ very 

 much in style of growth, from the slender 

 C. flagelliformis. which grows in hanging 

 baskets, and is called the " Rat-tail," to 

 the immense C. giganteus, the giant of the 

 Cactus family, which reaches the height of 

 forty to fifty feet. There are so many at- 

 tractive Cerei, that in a short general de- 

 scription, it is hard to tell which to describe. 

 The best known, perhaps, next to the Rat- 

 tail, is the C. grandiflorus, or Queen of 

 Night. This is a slender climber, the young 

 growth of which is quite handsome, but it 

 is the flowers of this, and all the other 

 climbing varieties, that are their special fea- 

 ture. These are indeed grand, and form a 



notable attraction wherever seen. Some of 

 them are nearly a foot across, and very fra- 

 grant. Nearly all are white, though one or 

 two are said to be pink. In Alston's green- 

 houses, Winnipeg, there is a large plant 

 which blooms regularly, and a notice put in 

 the paper that a flower is expected to open 

 that night will bring hundreds of visitors to 

 see it. There is a noted plant in California, 

 which grows all over one side of the house 

 of Mrs. Shepherd, Ventura-by-the-Sea. It 

 is C. triangularis, and annually bears great 

 numbers of enormous and beautiful flowers. 

 Some of the stouter stems of these climbers 

 being of very fast growth, are used for graft- 

 ing other slower growers on, and this makes 

 a very interesting study. Some very curi- 

 ous effects can be produced by this process, 

 and the different varieties readily lend them- 

 selves to the work, and quickly unite and 

 commence a rapid growth on the new stock. 

 The favorite trial with amateurs is to take 

 a well rooted and growing stock of C. Colu- 

 brinus two feet high or more, and graft on 

 it two or three small pieces of the Rat-tail 

 cactus. It is surprising how quickly this 

 will form a head of long drooping stems, 

 which also flower very freely when grafted. 

 K fine specimen of this is shown in the front 



Fi 



!202. AnHAI.OMUM. 



