88 CACTACEOUS PLANTS. 



P. aculeata, varying like that species. It is one of Humboldt's discoTeries^ 

 having been found on the banks of the Magdalena in New Grenada, but it 

 was first received in Britain from Mexico, whence it was sent to the Glasgow 

 Botanic Gardens in 1827. In America the native name for the plant is- 

 Bleo, and in some parts the leaves are said to be used as a salad. 



Owing to its quick growth, and the stem being stronger than P. aculeata^ 

 this would probably make a good stock for large specimen Epiphyllums j. 

 but no instance of its being so employed has come under my notice, though, 

 it would be well worth a trial. 



Few of the other Pereskias are cultivated, but one, P. calandrinitefolia, is 

 used on the Continent as a stock for Epiphyllums, though I am not aware- 

 that it is superior in any way to P. aculeata. Several are named after the- 

 resemblance of their flowers to other plants, as P. lychnidiflora, P. opunti^- 

 flora, and P. zinniseflora, most of the others having names referring to the- 

 form of the leaves, the flowers being generally rose-coloured, while in a 

 few cases the leaves are small and almost as rudimentary as in some of the 

 Opuntias. 



CACTUSES OUT OP DOORS AND IN COLD 

 FRAMES. 



In the preceding notes some reference has been made to species that 

 can be grown out of doors in England, but the following summary of Mr. 

 B. G. Loder's practice as described by him at the evening meeting o£ the- 

 Eoyal Horticultural Society in Burlington House, May 8th, 1883, will 

 indicate what success may be expected under this system. "When planted 

 out of doors a dry sloping border is selected, or a position near the 

 rockery where the plants are protected from rain by projecting ledges of 

 stone, where some fifty species of Cacteas and other succulent plants have 

 endured 16° of frost without injury. Of the Cactese the following have 

 been so treated : — Echinocactua Simpsoni, Echinocereus phceniceus, E. viri- 

 difiorus, Mamillaria vivipara var . texensia, Opuntia arborescens, 0. mis- 

 fiouriensis, 0. missouiiensis var. humilis, 0. m. var, trichophora, 0. eriuacea, 

 O. Eafinesquei, and O. vulgaris. No doubt many others could he given 

 JQ the same way ; but a preferable mode of cultivating even these hardy 

 species is in a cold frame, as the plants always have a better appearance. 

 Mr. Loder's method is to place the pots on planks raised slightly above 

 the soil, and cocoa-nut fibre refuse is packed between the pots. No virater 

 is given throughout the winter, but in the spring and during the summer 

 the plants are watered and syringed freely, closing the frames early in the 

 afternoon. By this means a quick healthy growth is induced, which is 

 well matured in the autumn by removing the lights except in wet weather, 

 and the plants flower even more readily than some of those grown in. 



