CACTUSES AND OTHER SUCCULENTS I53 



them the following morning, when they 

 collapse. 



These plants need a richer soil than the 

 ordinary run of cactus. Give them a fibrous 

 compost, and mix some broken charcoal 

 with it, to insure good drainage. 



A HANDFUL OF DWARF PLANTS 



Regarded purely as window garden plants 

 the dwarf species — growing to about a 

 foot, or less — are the most desirable. They 

 possess a great variety of queer forms, and 

 some are most viciously spiny. 



One of the most peculiarly shaped is the 

 "bishop's cap'' {Echinocactus myrtosttgma, 

 also known as Astrophytum myriostigma). 

 The outline of this plant is that of a flattened 

 globe, and at the most is only about five 

 inches in diameter. It has five or six very 

 prominent ribs, on the edges of which the 

 pale yellow flowers are borne. The surface 

 of the plant is more or less covered with a 

 white scale-like growth (clusters of minute 

 spines), which reminds one of scale insects. 

 This plant seems particularly prone to rot 

 at the surface of the soil, to avoid which it 

 can be grafted on a cereus. 



