Chapter XVII. 

 RHIPSALIS. 



ABOUT thirty specieu of Rhipsalis are known, most of them 

 more peculiar than ornamental. The/ are remarkable for their 

 great variety of form and habit. E. Cassytka-, with long, fleshy, 

 whip-like branches and white berries is very similar to Mistletoe ; 

 R. salicornoides, with its leafless, knotty branches, resembles a 

 Salicornia, or Marsh Samphire ; another is like a Mesembryanthe- 

 mum ; and so on. The flowers are usually small, and composed of 

 numerous linear sepals and petals, arranged more or less like a star, 

 with a cluster of thin stamens in the centre, and an erect, rayed 

 stigma. In the flat- join ted kinds the flowers are developed singly 

 in notches along the margins of the young, ripened joints ; and in 

 the knotted, Samphire-like kinds they are borne on the ends of the 

 branches ; occasional^ they develop joints which are furrowed, and 

 bear clusters of spines exactly as in other Cacti. 



The geographical distribution of Rhipsalis is exceptional. It 

 in the only genus of Cacti that has representatives in the Old 

 World, excluding, of course, those which have been introduced by 

 man. Most of the species occur in Central and South America, 

 and the West Indies ; but several are natives of Africa, Mauritius, 

 Madagascar, and Ceylon. 



Cultivation. 



All the species grow and flower freely under cultivation. 

 In their natural homes they are invariably found clinging to trees 

 or rocks, seldom or never on the ground ; but in greenhouses they 

 may be grown in pots, a few being happiest when suspended near 

 the glass. They do not like bright sunshine, nor should they be 

 kept in a very shaded, moist position. There is a good collection 

 of them at Kew. Lepismium is now included in Rhipsalis. 



Propagation. 



Seeds of Rhipsalis ripen freely, and these, if sown on sandy soil, 

 and placed on a shelf in a warm house, germinate in a few days. 

 The development of the seedlings is exceptionally interesting, aa 

 they are in the early stages quite Cactus-like; the gradual transi- 

 tion to the diverse forms which many of the species assume when 



