SUCCULENT PLANTS 125 



flowers is another favourite. Most of the species have the 

 drawback of only opening in sunshine, but there are a 

 few, like M. lacerum, which have not this failing. Indeed, 

 the different hours at which Mesembryanthemums open is 

 one of their most interesting peculiarities. Some expand in 

 the morning, some at noon-day, others at four o'clock in the 

 afternoon, and a few are night-flowering ; but if for any 

 hygrometrical reason they refuse to open at the right hour, it 

 is seldom that any amount of coaxing from later sunshine 

 tempts them out of their fit of sulks for the day. Besides 

 their bright flowers, moreover, Mesembryanthemums take some 

 of the most curious forms of leafage. Best known of these, 

 perhaps, is M. tigrinum, with stemless boat-shaped leaves, 

 furnished with wicked-looking interlacing claws, between 

 which the large, solitary, golden-hued flower pushes its way. 

 But this is only one amongst many which will repay a little 

 study. No plants are more easily grown from cuttings. With 

 such species as M. polyanthon the copious-flowered section, 

 as they are called by their historian, Ha worth small tops may 

 be pricked over the surface of a pot or pan in the early spring. 

 Every bit will root, and the young plants, without any dis- 

 turbance, will give a mass of colour in two or three months' 

 time with less trouble than any plant I know. The larger- 

 flowered sorts require rather more patience but the main 

 points are to let the rooted cuttings have as much open air 

 and sunshine as possible, to harden their tissues, and to give 

 water with moderation and good judgment, as the softer and 

 more succulent species are easily ruined by over-watering, and 

 should be kept quite dry during the colder months. No one 

 who takes the trouble to understand and to grow these fine 

 plants well will have reason to be disappointed in them if 

 they choose the right sorts. 



All kinds of Mammillarias and Echinocacti present features 

 of interest, though it sometimes lies more particularly in their 



