20 THE FANTASTIC CLAN 



conservatories and greenhouses where the temperatures 

 drop lower. 



SeNITA, ZiNA, or SiNA (Cereus Schottii) 



(Named from its appearance of old age, and for F. A. Schott, 

 a botanical explorer of western United States) 



How to identify and how it grows 



These plants grow in colonies or patches in the mountain 

 canons, twenty to fifty stems in a clump, the dense branches 

 interlocking in huge clusters twenty-five feet high and twenty 

 feet or more across. The yellow-green stems are scalloped 

 and cylindric, five or six inches in diameter, growing four to 

 twenty feet or more in height, with five to nine ridges run- 

 ning lengthwise from top to bottom. On these ridges cluster 

 the spines, silvery stout thorns about one-fourth inch long on 

 the young plants; the older spines are really dense bristles, 

 slender, flexible, symmetrically twisted, appearing like fine 

 purplish gray bands, one and one-half to three inches long, 

 and giving the appearance of old age. The flowers are 

 shaped like a bell an inch and a half long and about as broad, 

 pale pink and cream-white petals shading into deep pink at 

 their tips, opening only at night. The fruit is globose, an 

 inch or more in diameter, of a deep reddish tinge, and fleshy. 



How to grow 



Plants may be grown from seed in sandy soil in flats or 

 pots; young plants may be transplanted in spring in sandy, 

 gravelly, or rocky soil. Water during dry weather enough 

 to moisten the soil well. The plants can be grown out of 

 doors only where the coldest winter temperatures are but a 

 few degrees below freezing. In other parts of the country, 

 grow in hot, dry conservatories or greenhouses. 



