AND CONSEETATOKT. 205 



CHAPTEE XYI. 



SUCCrLBNT-LEAVED PLANTS. 



In this class are included the cactus, sempervivum, stapelia, 

 mesembryanthemum, and their alliances,' the prevailing 

 characteristic being an excessively fleshy texture ; in some 

 cases stems and leaves are distinctly produced, in others, the 

 distinction is beyond the ken of the ordinary observer, for the 

 plant appears to consist of a columnar or spherical mass of 

 vegetable pulp beset with formidable spines and bristles. A 

 considerable number of succulent plants deserve to be 

 reckoned amongst the most interesting and useful subjects to 

 which an amateur gardener can give attention, for their 

 variety of form is endless ; many of them produce magnificent 

 flowers ; not a few are grotesque and comical in outline, and 

 they will all bear occasional neglect with less harm than any 

 other plants in our gardens. Alas ! their very virtues are 

 their bane as regards the favours they should enjoy in private 

 gardens, for as they bear neglect with patience, they are oft- 

 times neglected so much and treated so badly that they cease 

 to attract by their curious seasonal growth and splendour of 

 flowering, and so come to be regarded as worthless, and 

 are, at last, left in dusty windows to perish, or, if they refuse 

 to die, are possibly transported to the rubbish heap. 



It is proper, however, to remark that many who profess 

 to collect and cultivate succulent plants, treat them badly 

 through a misconception of their place in nature. The 

 tendency everywhere appears to be in favour of starving these 

 plants, and the fact that they cling to life tenaciously in spite 

 of the worst of treatment appears to justify the system. It is 

 true they can subsist for a great length of time in a state of 

 comparative desiccation at the roots, but it is also true that in 

 their native lands they have the advantage of abundant 

 supplies of water in the growing season, and, as a matter of 

 course, though often located amongst rocks, they are free to 



