70 CACTACEOUS PLANTS. 



the plants in a horticultural point of view, as the colours have been improved 

 and multiplied considerably. One of the most successful raisers of Epi- 

 phyllums in recent years was Mr. "W. Buckley of Tooting, who succeeded 

 in obtaining some very distinct and beautiful hybrids between the species 

 already named. These have not been surpassed, and the list as given by the 

 raiser in the " Florist and Pomologist " (page 14, January, 1868) is well worth 

 reproduction here : — 



" The varieties of E. Bnssellianum were E. E. rubrum,*, flower double 

 the size of E. Eussellianum, and of a bright rosy red ; E. E. cupreum,* not 

 so large as the last, of a coppery tinge, slightly suffused with purple ; E. E. 

 superbum,* in which the purple of E. Eussellianum and the reddish tinge of 

 B. truncatum are beautifully blended. Added to these, a very pretty hybrid 

 of the Eussellianum section was raised by Mr. Snow, gardener to the Earl 

 De Grey, called B. E. Suowii. The following are the best and most showy 

 varieties of the E. truncatum section : — E. truncatum majus,* larger than 

 the species, and of a. deep rose colour ; albo-lateritium,* petals silky white, 

 margined with brick red ; amabile, white and purple ; aurantiacum, reddish 

 orange; bicolor, white and rose-edged ; coccineum,* deep scarlet ; cruentum,* 

 dark, purplish red ; magnificum, large, bright rose and white ; pui-pureum,* 

 deep purple, nearly self-coloured ; roseum,* bright rose ; rubro-tinctum, 

 white and purplish red ; Euckerianum, purplish red, tinged with violet ; 

 splendens,* deep rose ; spectabile, white with purplish margin ; spectabile 

 carminatum, white with reddish margin ; salmoneum, salmony red ; tricolor, 

 deep reddish purple and white ; violaceum, silvery white, with light purple 

 margin ; violaceum grandiflorum, like the last, but larger ; violaceum super- 

 bum, deep purple and white. Those marked with an asterisk are hybrids, 

 raised at the Tooting nursery." 



E. EUSSELLIANU3I, Eooker. — By some writers this has been, and still is, 

 regarded as a variety of B. truncatum, but it is cleirly distinguished by 

 several well-marked characters. The flowers are 8 to 4 inches long with 

 straight narrow petals, not reflexed as in E. truncatum. The branches are 

 much more slender and not so distinctly truncated or cut at the ends of the 

 joints. The time of flowering, too, is quite diiierent, being in May or June ; 

 and according to Mr. Gardner, who discovered the plant on the Organ 

 Mountains, it is found up to an elevation of 6000 feet, or nearly 2000 higher 

 than E. truncatum. The flowers are of a rosy crimson colour, very clear and 

 pretty, and they are produced with great freedom. Mr. Gardner's account 

 of the discovery of this plant is interesting. " Through dense masses of 

 large Bamboos with stems often more than half a foot thick and 60 to 70 feet 

 high we had to cut our way up the Organ Mountains till we came, after a 

 toilsome day's journey, to a small waterfall where we encamped for the 

 night. On the trunks of the large trees growing near this spot I saw abun- 

 dance of Epiphyllum truncatum beautifully in flower ; and higher up the 

 Mountain the next morning I found a lovely new species belonging to the 

 same group as E. truncatum and much resembling it in many points, equally 



