774 



THE BOOK OF GARDENING. 



which was originally obtained from the famous Loddiges 

 Nursery, and is therefore a somewhat historic plant. 



The kinds to be men- 

 tioned here all require 

 practically similar treatment 

 — a loamy soil, plenty 

 of drainage material, the 

 sunniest spot that can be 

 found, and the withholding 

 of water from late autumn 

 until April. The genus 

 Cereus will furnish a very 

 large number of suitable 

 species and varieties, of 

 which the following are the best: 

 C. flagelliformis (Rat's Tail Cactus), 

 with its pretty pinkish stems and 

 rose-coloured flowers, a capital sub- 

 ject for a hanging-basket for a 

 south window ; C. Berlandieri, 

 purple, delicately scented; C. caspi- 

 tosus, bright rose ; C. pentalophus 

 (C leptacanthus),TOS&; C. Blankii, 

 deep pink, suffused with crimson; 

 and C. polyacanthus, deep red, free. 

 Turning to the Hedgehog Cactuses (EMnocactus), of which 

 the spines are so formidable, we find several- species well 

 adapted for windows — E. gib- 

 bosus (white stems, beset with 

 large needle-like spines), and 

 E. hexadrophorus (white and 

 pink, with swollen tubercles). 

 Other genera furnishing some 

 very desirable kinds are 

 Echinopsis, Mammillaria, and 

 Phyllocactus. In the first- 

 named the best are E. Pent- 

 landi (red) (Fig. 515), and 

 its varieties; E. Eyriesh 

 (white), emitting a nice frag- 

 rance ; and E. oxygona, white 

 at first, but afterwards becom- 

 ing pinkish. Mammillarias are 

 very wonderful, even amongst 

 Cactuses; combining, as they 

 sometimes do, attractive 

 spines with pretty flowers and showy berries. M. bicolor, M. gracilis, 

 M. sanguined (Fig. 516), and M. elongata, are all good. , The 



Fig. 515. — Echinopsis 

 Pentlandi. 



Fig. 516. — Mammillaria 

 sanguinea. 



