224 GENERAL REVIEW. 



truncatum are beautifully blended. Added to these, a very 

 pretty hybrid of the Russellianum section was raised by Mr 

 Snow, gardener to Earl De Grey, called E. R. Snowii. No 

 further addition appears to have been made up to che present 

 time to this section. 



" In the following list I have enumerated and briefly de- 

 scribed the best and most showy seminal varieties of the E. 

 truncatum section : E. truncatum ma jus* larger than the 

 species, and of a deep rose colour; albo-lateritia* petals silky 

 white, margined with brick red ; amabile, white and purple ; 

 aurantiacum, reddish orange ; bicolor, white and rose edged ; 

 coccineum* deep scarlet; cruentum* dark purplish red; mag- 

 nificum, large, bright rose and white ; purpureum* deep purple, 

 nearly self-coloured ; roseum* bright rose ; rubro-tinctum, white 

 and purplish red; Ruckerianum, purplish red, tinged with 

 violet; splendent f deep rose; spectabile, white, with purplish 

 margin ; spectab'ile - carminatum, white, with reddish margin ; 

 satmoneum, salmony red; tricolor, deep reddish purple and 

 white ; violaceum, silvery white, with light purple margin ; vio- 

 laceum grandiflorum, like the last, but larger ; violaceum super- 

 bum, deep purple and white." 



Those marked with an asterisk were raised from seed by Mr 

 Buckley in the Tooting Nursery. Mr T. Brown, of the Exotic 

 Nursery, Tooting, has also raised some very fine seedling 

 Epiphyllums. Seedlings flower the third or fourth year ; and 

 it would be an interesting experiment for amateurs, and others 

 having time at their disposal, to endeavour to obtain a hybrid 

 between E. truncatum and Cereus flagelliformis ; and it is more 

 than probable that a distinct and useful progeny would be the 

 result. In order to accomplish this, the former would need re- 

 tarding, as C. flagelliformis does not usually flower till late in 

 the spring or in the early summer months. 



Epiphyllums root freely from cuttings of the stem or leaf; and 

 the cuttings may either be a single leaf or a portion of a plant 

 three or four inches in length. They are also easily propagated 

 by grafting on Pereskia aculeata or its allies, or on Cereus 

 speciosissimus as a stock.t The texture of both stock and scion 

 being of a cellular or' fleshy consistence, they unite very readily. 

 Pereskia cuttings root easily; and when 12-15 inches in height, 

 and as thick as a pencil, they are fit for working. Some 

 operators head off the stock and split it with a sharp knife, so 



"\- When Epiphyllums are grafted on the succulent stems of Cereus or 

 other Cacti as stocks, not only do the cellular tissues of stock and scion 

 unite, but the scions frequently root into the tissues of the stock, and so 

 derive additional nutriment. 



