PERESEU. 87 



Tenders them easily lecognised, Thirteen species are known, all natives 

 •of tropical America and the West Indies, but few are in cultivation, and 

 these aie in England chiefly employed as stocks foi other kinds of Oacte^ 

 ,Buch as the Eipiphyllams. 



The genus was named in honour of N. F. Peiresk, a senator of Aix, 

 who is said to have " collected a considerable library and herbarium, bat 

 ^published nothing." The name is sometimes spelled Peirescia. 



P. ACULBATA, Plumier (,Cactus Pereskia, Linnasua), The Babbadoes 

 GOOSEBBBRT OK Blad APPLE. — Though this plant is rarely seen in England 

 •except as a stock for Epiphyllums, or in course of preparation for that 

 purpose, it is decidedly ornamental when trained to the roof of a house and 

 •allowed to flower. Its white blooms are much like a, single Rose, or some 

 form o£ Eubns, are produced in panicles of a dozen or more, slightly drooping 

 :and very graceful, the narrow white petals and similar green sepals con- 

 trasting rather pleasingly. The leaves are ovate or elliptical, 3 to 4 inches 

 long, 2 to 3 inches broad, dark shining green ; and the stems, which attain the 

 height of 10 to 12 feet, and 1 to 4 inches in diameter, have numerous dense 

 ■clusters of strong spines. As the popular name implies, the fruit is much 

 like a Gooseberry, the similarity being observable not only in the form and 

 4jize, but in the colour and flavour also, and in some of the West Indian 

 Islands, especially in Barbadoes, a much-valued preserve is prepared from 

 the fruits, and is said to possess expectorant qualities. The use of this plant 

 as a stock has been described under Epiphyllum, and it need only be added 

 that it can be raised from seeds as well as from cuttings, the latter being, 

 however, the quicker method. The time of flowering varies, sometimes 

 ■occurring in the summer mouths, July, August, or September, and at others 

 in early spring. 



This species has been an inhabitant of English gardens for a great 

 number of years, as it is recorded as included in the Hampton Court 

 ■collection in 1696, and is mentioned by Dillenius thirty or forty years sub- 

 ■eequently. When it was flrst used as a stock for Epiphyllums is uncertain, 

 but it was employed in that way early in the present century. Several 

 varieties have been described diflrering in the leaves, snoh as lanceolata, 

 rotundifolia, and rubescens, the names indicating the characters. 



P. Bleo, Decandolle. — An extremely distinct and bold-looking plant, 

 with strong cylindrical sterna, clusters of long formidable spines, and large 

 ■dark green obovate leaves, 4 to 6 inches long, and 3 to 4 inches broad. It 

 attains considerable size, growing rapidly, and soon reaching under cultiva- 

 tion a height of 10 feet, frequently requiring to be cut down to keep it within 

 bounds. The flowers are round, 1 to 2 inches across, the petals similarly 

 placed to those in P. aculeata, but broader, and of a rich rosy crimson colour^ 

 varying slightly in depth of tint, being sometimes more delicate in hue ; 

 ibut all are pretty, as the flowers are borne in clusters or close panicles on the 

 upper part of the branches, and are produced about the same time as in 



