284 POPULAR GEOGRAPHY OF PLANTS. 



The species of the genus Cereus strike the eye as some- 

 thing strange, from their singular " pillar-like stems, some 

 branched, others unbranched, the stem in some being three, 

 four, five, six, seven, and many- cornered, in others more or 

 less round;" sometimes indeed they creep on the ground, 

 but when upright they have the appearance of columns, 

 which stand collected together in larger or smaller groups. 

 In Peru (and also in Chili) " there are wide plains, which, 

 for vast distances, are covered solely by such groups of 

 Cerei, and thus present a singular and striking, though 

 cheerless, prospect;" particularly when, as often happens, 

 some of these columns are dead, and still continue to stand 

 after all their fleshy covering has disappeared, straight, 

 white, woody pillars in the midst of the green columns 

 surrounding them, frequently adorned, and almost concealed, 

 by a profusion of flowers seven or eight inches long. 



The wood of the Cactus is applied to various purposes in 

 the treeless regions of the western coast of South America ; 

 as it is very light it is easily carried up the mountains, and 

 on the plateaux, which lie " far above all arborescent vege- 

 tation, doors and beams are made of it without any previous 

 working/' Some of the most beautiful of these columnar 

 Cactuses were found by Meyen, close to the equator, above 



