178 



THE CACTACEAE. 



to 7 cm. long; tube 2 cm. long; inner perianth-segments scarlet to white, oblong, obtuse to acute, 

 reflexed; filaments white; style purple throughout; fruit obovoid, 1.5 to 2 cm. long. 



Type locality: Brazil. 



Distribution: Mountains, state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 



This species has been cultivated widely for many years under various names. It was 

 introduced into cultivation about 1 8 1 8 and , according to Edwards, flowered first in England 

 in 1822 and has since been a great favorite as a household plant, blooming freely about 

 the end of the year, hence the name Christmas cactus. It is also called crab cactus and 

 ringent-flowered cactus. 



Schumann gives as synonyms of this species Epiphyllimi salmoneum and E. spectabile, 

 referring them to Cels's Catalogue, which, however, we have not seen. 



Figs. 185 and i86. — Flowering branch and fruiting joint of Zygocactus truncatus. 



Cereus truncatus altensteinii (Salm-Dyck, Hort. Dyck. 65. 1834) occurs in literature, 

 sometimes attributed to Otto, but we have seen no description. We follow Lofgren, who 

 refers Zygocactus altensteinii to Z. truncatus. The type came from the Organ Mountains 

 near Rio de Janeiro; in 1915, Dr. Rose visited these mountains, where he found the true 

 Z. trujicatus. 



There are many garden varieties, most of which are very beautiful. Among these are 

 Epiphyllum gibsonii, introduced in 1886, with dark orange-red flowers, and Epiphyllum 

 guedeneyi, of unknown origin, with large flowers, the outer segments white, tinged with 

 sulphur, and the inner ones creamy white ; the variety is referred by some to Phyllocactus 

 guedeneyi. Nicholson (Diet. Gard. i: 517) describes some of the best as follows: 



" Bicolor, white, edged with rose; coccineum, rich deep scarlet; elegans, bright orange-red, 

 centre rich purple; magnijicum, flowers large, white, tips bright rose-colored; roseum, bright rose; 

 ruckerianum, deep reddish purple, with a rich violet centre; salmoneum, reddish salmon; spectabile, 

 white, with delicate purple margin; violaceum superbum, pure white, rich deep purple edge." 



Riimpler (Forster, Handb. Cact. ed. 2. 870, 871. 1885) described nine varieties, among 

 which are cruentiim and tricolor; E. truncatum cruentum was also briefly described by 

 Morren (Belg, Hort. 16: 260. 1866). Among other varieties are albiflorum, aurantiacum, 

 grandidens, minus, purpuraceum, and vanhoutteanum. 



