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OPUNTIA. THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN 



OPUNTIA. 



inch of cocoa-fibre and sand, so as to 

 keep it moist and compact about the 

 plants. Other interesting species for 

 a collection of hardy Orchids are O. 

 muscifera (Fly Orchis), arachnites 

 and ar an if era (Spider Orchis). 



OPUNTIA (Prickly Fig}. There are 

 several of these succulent plants in 

 cultivation, but few are hardy enough 

 for the open air in our climate. The 

 hardiest are 0. vulgaris, missouriensis, 

 humilis, brachyantha, and Rafinesquei ; 

 the finest being O. Rafinesquei, an ever- 

 green well worthy of culture, bearing 

 in summer large showy yellow blossoms 

 on fleshy branches. It thrives in a 

 sunny corner of the rock garden in 

 good dry soil, sheltered from any pass- 

 ing danger to the stems, for it is 

 rather fragile, and anything brush- 

 ing against it would injure it, but by 

 the skilful placing of a few rough 

 stones it is easy to prevent injury 

 without shading the plant. To prevent 

 splashings, the ground might be sur- 

 faced with a dwarf mossy Saxifrage 

 or Sandwort. Snails and slugs are 

 fond of this plant, and in spring, and 

 even in mild winters, may destroy it. 

 A dressing of soot will keep away 

 these pests. To increase the plant, 

 the cutting, a single joint, is potted 

 in sandy soil, and the pot placed in 

 a sunny airy spot under glass and 

 watered very sparingly, and in a short 

 time it will form roots, and commence 

 to push out young shoots. The hardier 

 kinds are from N.W. America, where 

 the winters are severe. 



Recently, the German traveller, Dr 

 Purpus, and various American botan- 

 ists have found in the mountains of 

 Arkansas, Texas, Colorado, and Arizona 

 a rich variety of hardy Cacti thriving 

 at elevations of 5,000 to 8,000 feet. 

 The entire collection contains upwards 

 of 100 kinds of Cacti (species and 

 variety) of proved hardiness through- 

 out C. Europe, many of them 

 plants of real beauty and value for 

 our rock and wall gardens. The 

 Darmstadt collection fills a large rock 

 garden formed of limestone blocks, 

 and Dr Purpus considers the use of 

 limestone essential for these plants, 

 all being found on soils of this nature. 

 In many botanical gardens in Ger- 

 many a feature is made of these hardy 

 Cacti, and their value is well seen at 

 Giessen, Jena, Leipzig, Magdeburg, 

 Dusseldorf, and many other places. 

 Many of the Opuntias produce beau- 

 tiful flowers from the middle of 



June to October, which in many 

 cases are remarkable for their bright 

 colour. 



The following kinds may be con- 

 sidered hardy for C. Europe : 



O. ARBORESCENS. Tree-like in its wild 

 state, with a stout stem 30 feet or more 

 in height, covered with clusters of sharp 

 spines, and many rose or rosy-purple 

 flowers. In C. Europe it spreads on the 

 ground instead, and is the least hardy of 

 outdoor kinds. Opuntia camanchica, with 

 its seven varieties, some so distinct that 

 they might be classed as separate species. 

 Thus, albispina, with large brown-yellow 

 flowers and long white spines upon the 

 joints ; pallida, with very pale yellow 

 flowers ; rubra, a beautiful little plant 

 with rosy or deep pink flowers, and golden 

 stamens ; spinocentra, with large yellow 

 flowers ; and gigantea, orbicularis, and 

 salwionea. 



The O. polyacantha, or missouriensis, 

 bears pale yellow flowers upon large flat 

 joints, studded with fine spines set in 

 bunches of yellow down. It is a creeping 

 plant in cultivation since 1814, but until 

 lately always under glass. There are two 

 beautiful varieties of it : erythrostemma , 

 with yellow flowers and red stamens ; and 

 salmonea, with salmon-pink flowers. O. 

 fragilis is an old greenhouse plant of droop- 

 ing habit, its short, rounded joints thickly 

 set with white spines and little yellow 

 flowers. Its variety cczspitosa is more 

 compact, with larger yellow flowers shad- 

 ing to brown in the centre, and bright red 

 stamens. O. mesacantha is a little tuft of 

 spreading, spiny growths, with bright 

 yellow flowers in summer. O. Greenii 

 bears beautiful pale lemon-yellow flowers. 

 O. Rhodantha and xanthostemma are, per- 

 haps, the finest of all. The first exists 

 under five distinct forms 0. Rhodantha, 

 with large rosy-lilac flowers of rich silky 

 texture, the stamens bright red, and the 

 style green ; var. brevispina, in which the 

 joints are large and of a dark grey-green, 

 covered with short spines and bearing very 

 large flowers of intense carmine colour ; 

 flavispina, with smaller, pale green joints 

 and with larger spines, which in their 

 early stages are yellow with green tips, 

 the flowers large and rose-coloured ; pisci- 

 formis, so called from the fish-like joints 

 studded with flowers of pale pink with 

 bright red stamens ; and Schumanniance , 

 with the largest flowers 2 inches or more 

 across and bright crimson, upon erect 

 growths of a pretty blue-green colour. O. 

 xanthostemma bears flowers of carmine- 

 purple, which, with the golden stamens, 

 are striking in effect ; it also exists in 

 several varieties, as follows : elegans, with 

 large rosy glossy flowers glistening when 

 newly expanded ; fulgens, with flowers of 

 glowing carmine ; gracilis, with smaller 

 pale pink flowers ; orbicularis, with 



