154 CACTUS FAMILY. 



§ 2, Stamens longer than the erect crimson petals, shorter than the stifle- 

 O. coccinellifera. Cult, from Mexico and West Indies : tree-like, 6°- 

 10° high, with joints of the branches obovatc-oblong, 4'- 12' long, spineless or 

 nearly so, when young with single recurved spines, pale ; berry red. One of the 

 plants upon which the cochineal insect feeds, whence the name. 



2. EPIPHYLLITM. (Name from Greek, meaning upon a leaf, i. e. the 

 flower from the top of what seems to be a leaf.) Fl. usually in summer. 



E. truuc^tum. Cult, from Brazil : low, bright green, with drooping 

 branches ; the oblong joints .scarcely 2' long, the upper end with a shallow 

 notch; flower 2' -3' long, oblique, with petals and short sepals spreading or 

 recurved, the former so arranged that the blossom often appears as if 2-lipped. 



3. PHYLLOCACTUS. (From Greek words meaning Leaf-Cactus.) 

 Cult, from South America and Mexico : fl. summer. 



• Flower with tube shorter than the petals, red, scentless, open through more tJian 

 one day : petals and stamens many, except in ihejirst species. 



P. biformis. The least showy species ; with slender stems, and two sorts 

 of branches, one ovate or oblong, the other lanceolate ; the latter producing 

 a slender pink flower, 2' long, with about 4 slender sepals, as many narrow 

 lanceolate erect petals with spreading tips, and only 8 - IC stamens. 



P. phyllantlioldes. Has nan'ow-oblong sinuate-toothed loaf-like branches, 

 numerous rose-colored oblong and similar sepals and petals, the outermost widely 

 spreading, the innermost erect. 



P. Ackej?m6,lllli. Like the preceding, but much more showy, with bright 

 red and sharp-pointed petals spreading and 2' - 3' long, and the scittered sepals 

 small and bract-like. 



» # Flower sweet-scented, vnth tube 4' - 10' long, hearing scattered and small scaly 

 sepals or bracts, ichich are considerably longer than the numerous spreading 

 white or cream-colored petals. 



P. crenatus. Leaf-like branches 10-2° long, 2' -3' broad, sinuately 

 notched; flower open m the daytime and for several days, 7' -8' in diameter, 

 with the stout tube 4' - 5' long, the outer petals or inner sepals brownish. 



P. Phyllinthus. Branches nearly as in the preceding ; but the flower 

 opening at evening and lasting only till morning, its slender tube many times 

 longer than the small petals. 



4. CEREUS. (Latin name of a wax-taper or candle, from the form of the 

 stem of some columnar species.) The following are the commonest in culti- 

 vation, mostly from Mexico and South America : fl. summer. 



§ 1. Stems and branches long, spreading, creeping or climbing, remotely jointed 

 more or less, only 3 - 1 -angled : ve>-y largeflowei-ed. 



* Flower red, open in daytime for several days : stamens much declined. 



C. speciosissimus. The commonest red-flowered Cactus ; with stems 

 2° - 3° high, rarely rooting, 3 or 4 broad and thin wavy-margined angles or 

 wings and crunson or rod flowers of various shades, 4' - 5' in diameter, the 

 tube shorter than the petals. — There are various hybrids of this with others. 



* » Flower ii)hite as to petals, opening at night, collapsing next morning, fragrant, 

 6'-9' m diameter tohen expanded, 'i/ie lube i' -5' long : stems' rooting and 

 so climbing: prickles, short and fine. NiGHT-ni.ooMiNG Cereus. 



C. triangul^is has sharply triangular stems, minute prickles, and flower 

 with glabroiis tube, olive-green sepals, and yellow stamens. 



C. nyetic&,Uus, has 4-6-angled stems with very mtaute prickles, and 

 flower much like tlie next but with brownish sepals. 



C. grandiflbrus, Common NroiiT-BLOOMiNo Cereus, has terete stems 

 with 5 - 7 slight grooves and blunt angles, bearing more conspicuous prickles 

 long bristles on the flower-tube, and dull yellow sepals. 



