CACTUS. 



with about eight angles; petals fiinjred, fruit fpinous, 

 fcarlct." Stemi growing many together, about tht thicknefs 

 of a man's thigh, and from eighteen to twenty feet high ; 

 conic and very fpinous at their fummit, bcfet at their angles 

 with tlufters of white, long, very (liarp fpines. Flowers at 

 the fummit of the ftem, i-atiier large ; llyle much longer 

 than the ftamens. Fruit globular, flelhy, nearly the fizc of 

 an orange, of a bright (liining red coloiu-, rough with 

 tubercles and armed with whitiOi, (liarp fpines ; flefli of 

 a flame colour, very tender, of an agreeable, acidulous 

 flavour, and iilled with numerous black feeds. La Marck 

 from the MSS. of Plumier. A native of St. Domingo. 

 iS. C. doly^onui. La Marck. Burm. Americ. tab. 196. 

 " Ered, branched, with eleven angles ; fruit warty, red." 

 This fpecies is nearly allied to C. repandus, but is diftin- 

 guiflied from it by the number of its angles, and by the red 

 colour of its fruit, and of the down on its fummit. Stem 

 perennial, about ten feet high, and fix or fevcn inches in 

 diameter ; angles waved, and befet witli clufters of fmall 

 fpines: bark greyi(h, thick, covering a woody fubftaiice 

 nearly as durable as oak, with an abundant, fucculent, 

 greenilh pith. Branches from the fummit of the ftem, 

 ftraight, long, a little larger than a man's arm, flefhy, 

 greeuifli, with angles and fpines fimilar to thofe of the 

 Uem, terminating in the (hape of a cone and cloathed 

 near the fummit with a very red woolly Aown. Flowers grow- 

 ing near the fummit, folitary, white, about the fize of a crown 

 piece. Fruit flefhy, the (hape and fize of a fig, reddifli 

 brown without, fucculent, nearly iufipid, feeds fmall, black. 

 La Marck from the MSS. of Plumier. A native of St. 

 Domingo, ig. C. men/arum, lincyc. Diftion. Agricul. 

 Bofc. Nouv. Dift. Thierry de Menoville, Traite de la 

 Culture du Nepal 1786. " Ereft, with many angles, 

 branched ; fruit without fpines, fcaly, brown without, 

 red within." Nearly allied to the preceding, but lefs in 

 fize, not fo much branched or fpinous, and of a darker 

 green colour. Flozvers red. A native of Guaxaca and 

 rheguacan in South America, where it is known by the 

 name of Pitahiaha, and is greatly efteemed bj' the natives 

 on account of its delicious fruit. Linnasus has applied the 

 fame name to a very different fpecies, which La Marck, 

 whom in this inftance we have followed, has called trigonus. 

 20. C, auranliiformis, Encyc. Dift. Agric. Bofc. Thierry. 

 " Ereft, with many angles, branched ; fruit fpherical, gold- 

 coloured." Habit of the preceding. Flowers white. Fruit 

 containing a white, infipid, but refrelliing pulp. A native 

 of St. Domingo, it. C divaricatus. La Marck. (Melo- 

 caftus, Plum. Spec. 19. Burm. Am. Tab. 193.) " Very 

 fpinous ; trunk ereft, ftriated, branched at the top ; branches 

 ftraight, ftriated, ftanding out on all fides ; fruit gold-co- 

 loured, tubercled." Stem a little thicker than a man's 

 thigh, three or four feet high, greenifli ; formidably armed 

 ■with numerous, very ftiarp, diverging fpines. Flowers 

 lateral, near the fummits of the branches. Fruit globular, 

 a little larger than a man's fill ; pulp white, fvveetifh ; feeds 

 fmall, brown. A native of St. Domingo. 



■ * Creeping Cereuses with lateral roots. 

 11. C. grnndiftorus, great or night-flowering, creeping 

 cereus, Linn. Spec. Plant. (Cereus fcandens minor. Miller 

 Icon. Tab. go. C. gracilis fcandens ramofus, flore 

 ingcnti, &c. Trew. Ehr. Tab. 31, 32. Eph. Nat. Cur. 

 1752, vol. ix. app. 184. Tab. 11, iz, 13. C. americanus, 

 major articulatus, Volk. Hefp. i. 133. t. 134.) " Cree- 

 ping, with about five angles." Stem cyhndric, branched, 

 .greenifli ; angles not very prominent ; fpines fmall, cluftered, 

 diverging. Flowers lateral, about fix inches, fometimes 

 near a foot in diameter, fweet-fcented ; calyx large, long, 



tubular, fcaly below, compofed in its upper part of ftraight, 

 linear, pointed, yellowifli leaflets, difpofed in feveral rows, 

 and forming a kind of ray to the flower ; petals white, 

 numerous, lanceolate, difpofed in feveral rows, in a beautiful 

 rofaceous form ; ftyle a little longer than the ftamens ; ftigma 

 with twenty divifions. The flowers begin to open between 

 feven and eight o'clock in the evening, ufually in the month 

 of July, are fully blown by eleven, and by three or four in 

 the morning they begin to fade, and foon after hang down 

 in a ftate of irrecoverable decay. When the plants are 

 large, feveral flowers will open in the fame night, and there 

 will be a fucceftion of them for feveral nights together. 

 Fruit a little larger than a goofe's egg, covered with fcaly 

 tubercles, flefliy, orange or red, of an agreeable acid flavour ; 

 feeds very fmall. A native of Jamaica, Vera Cruz, and 

 St. Domingo. 23. C. flagelliformis, pink-flowered, creeping 

 cereus. Linn. Spec. PI. Kniph. Cent. i. Tab. 12. Knorr. 

 Del. I. f. 8. Curtis Bot. Mag. 17. 54. (Cereus minor 

 fcandens, flore purpurco, Ehr. Sel. 2. f. 2. Trew. Ehret. 

 t. 30. Ficoides Americanum, Pluk. Aim. 148. t. 158. f. 6. 

 Sloane Jam. 197. Hill. 2. p. 258.) " Creeping, with ten 

 angles." Stems cylindric, channelled, about the fize of 

 a man's little finger, from three to five feet 'ong ; fpines 

 numerous, weak, cluftered, proceeding from elevated points 

 or tubercles. Flowers lateral, fcflile, oblong, of a lively 

 pink colour ; calyx coloured, tubular, its lower part com- 

 pofed of fmall, ftraight, fharp fcales ; petals and upper leaves 

 of the calyx, oblong, acuminate, of a fimilar colour, and 

 diftinguiflied from each other only by their fize ; ftamens the 

 length of the interior petals ; filaments very white ; anthers 

 fmall, yellow ; ftyle the length of the ftamens, ftigma 

 fcarcely divided. It produces more flowers than the pre- 

 ceding fpecies, which keep open three or four days, if they 

 have not too much warmth. The fruit had been produced, 

 but not ripened, at Chelfea, in the time of Mr. Miller. A 

 native of the warmer climates of South America. 24. 

 C. paraftticus. Parafitic creeping cereus. Linn. Spec. 

 PI. " Creeping, round, ftriated, without fpines." Profeffor 

 Martyn fufpefts it to be the root of fome fpecies of Epiden- 

 drum, but La Marck gives the following fynonyms and de- 

 fcription. Caftus repens parafiticus inermis aphyllus, ramo- 

 fus, propendens. Burn. Jam. 238. Opuntia minima. Plum. 

 Sp. 6. Burm. Amer. tab. 197. f. 2- femj flender, cylindric, 

 jointed, branched, climbing or pendant from the trunks of 

 large trees: when young befet with prickles, but lofing them 

 when old, and retaining only the remnants of them, which 

 form greyifli, fliarp tubercles. Flowers fmall, lateral, feflile. 

 Fruit not fo large as a common pea. A native of St. 

 Domingo. 2j. C. pendulus, flender, creeping cereus. 

 Willden. Martyn, Swartz. 77. Burm, Jam. 23S. (Caflyta 

 baccifera, I. Mil. Illuft. Cafl^yta polyfperma. Ait. Cat. 

 Hort. Kew. Rhipfalis Caffytha, Gsrt. 1. p. 137. Tab. 

 28. f. 1.) " Branches in whorls, round, fraooth, without 

 fpines." A native of Jamaica, hanging from the largefl: 

 trees to the length of two or three feet. Gaertner obfcrves 

 that, though fir Jofeph Banks had hinted to him in 

 a letter that it ought to be referred to the genus caftus, he 

 was induced to keep it feparate, becaufe the embryo of 

 caftus is Ilightly fpiral, and the albumen of the feed fariua- 

 ceoHS ; whereas there is no albumen in this, and the em- 

 bryo fills the whole cavity of the feed. 26. C. triangularis, 

 triangular creeping cereus, Linn. Sp. PI. Brown. Jam. 468. 

 Jacq. Amer. 152. 75. Aft. Helv. 5. 26S. t. 2. (Cereus 

 Bradl. Sue. i. p. 4. t. 3. Eph. Nat. Cur. 1752. v. ix. 

 app. 199. tab. 10. f. 14. 1754. v. ix. app. 349. t. 3. 

 Ficoides, Pluk. Aim. 147. t. 29. f. 3.) "Creeping, tri- 

 angular." Perennial. Stems long, climbing up trees, 



and 



