396 BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS 



Hot sun does not take the freshness out of Cacti as it does 

 out of Ferns, and consequently the question of shading does not 

 crop up. Here is another advantage for them in the case of the 

 absentee amateur. He can go away all day without harrowing 

 fears of his plants being scorched up or flagging from want 

 of water. 



At the first view, a collection of Cacti which does not contain 

 any plants in bloom is the reverse of inspiriting. There is an 

 air of torpor, of lifelessness about the plants which tends to 



the impression that they are lacking in 

 interest. Rough, knotted, gnarled, con- 

 torted, with no cheerful foliage to re- 

 fresh the eyes of the observer, they 

 have rather the effect of a museum 

 instructive, perhaps, but not entic- 

 ing. Closer acquaintance teaches better 

 things. There is interest in observing 

 the remarkable forms which the plants 



PHYLLOCACTUS CUTTINGS . 



assume, and the singular appendages 



A, A show suitable cuttings on old plant ; B, 



drainage ; C, coarse sand and fine gravel W ith which they are furnished. In 

 around base of cutting in pot. 



Pilocereus senilis, for instance, we have 



a fluted cylinder the crown of which is densely furnished with long 

 white hairs, in addition to white spines. This covering leads to the 

 plant being given the popular name of Old Man Cactus. It hardly 

 ever flowers, but that is of very small moment, in view of the 

 interest which arises from its venerable aspect. It may anticipate 

 a question to say that Pilocereus senilis has neither dark nor 

 flaxen hair when it is young, which gets white with age. It is 

 woolly white even in its youth. It succeeds in a greenhouse. 



Other Cacti possess interest owing to their singular shape, and 

 so it is that although the number of amateurs who specialise Cacti 

 is small, the band is a devoted and faithful one. 



Some of the Cacti have great beauty to recommend them, 



