ADDISONIA 63 
(Plate 192) 
EPIPHYLLUM HOOKERI 
Hooker’s Epiphyllum 
Native of Trinidad 
Family CacTACEAE Cactus Family 
Cereus Hookeri Link & Otto, Cat. Sem. Hort. Berol. 1828. 
Epiphyllum Hookeri Haworth, Phil. Mag. 6: 108. 1829. 
Phyllocactus Hookeri Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. 38. 1842. 
In tropical America there is found a very interesting genus of 
cacti known as Epiphyllum. Unlike the cacti from the desert 
regions of Arizona and Mexico with which we are most familiar, 
the plants of this genus do not grow in dry regions but are often 
found in dense rain-forests; like their desert allies they too must 
have xerophytic conditions, so they grow on the bark of trees and 
are known as epiphytes. These plants do not have leaves but the 
stems are flat, green and leaflike, functioning as leaves. The 
flattened stems were at one time supposed to be leaves upon which 
the flowers were borne, which is the origin of the name Epiphyllum. 
The genus contains about twenty-four species, ranging from 
central Mexico through Central America to central South America. 
None are known to be native in the West Indies, except in Trinidad. 
One or more, however, have been described from Cuba, but these 
were doubtless based on cultivated plants. It is possible that there 
are species in the mountains of Santo Domingo or in the southern 
Antilles which will be found when those regions are more thoroughly 
explored. A number of epiphyllums are in cultivation and some 
of them are highly prized as ornamentals. Some are night-bloomers 
while others are day-bloomers; some have large sweet-scented 
flowers. Epiphyllum oxypetalum, bmg known as Phyllocactus 
bifrons in the trade, is a great fav 
The name Epiphyllum dates Back # 1689 when it was first used 
by P. Hermann. Its use, however, as a generic name in the modern 
sense dates from 1812 when it was used by Adrian H. Haworth, 
who made it a new genus based upon Cactus phyllanthus. Some 
years later other plants were referred to Epiphylium, and still later 
the type of the genus Epiphyllum was made the type of a new genus, 
Phyllocactus, and the name Epiphyllum was used for a totally 
different plant, namely Epiphyllum truncatum. Epiphyllum has 
recently been restored to its original type, while the “ Epiphyllum”’ 
