170 THE FANTASTIC CLAN 



and incurving. The four central spines do not appear till 

 after the plant has begun to flower; usually three turn up- 

 ward while the other one grows outward. They are a dull 

 gray suffused with red or brown, or in some instances are 

 brownish. The flowers form in a cluster at the top of the 

 plant and are about an inch and a half long, having light pur- 

 ple sepals and from eighteen to twenty petals, the latter 

 oblanceolate with a white center that changes to light pink 

 or purple. The style of the flower is a pale yellow-green 

 suffused with purple. The fruit is very small and is 

 covered with scales which are colorless. These plants grow 

 singly in coarse gravelly or sandy soils at altitudes of four 

 or five thousand feet, and their blossoms come forth in May. 



How to grow 



Set out plants at any season, preferably in the spring, In 

 sandy or gravelly clay loam in part shade and give some ir- 

 rigation monthly to keep the soil moist. They may be 

 grown from seed in sandy loam in flats with sufficient water 

 to keep the soil moist. The flats should be in part shade. 

 The plants grow indoors and out and are not injured by zero 

 temperatures. In colder climates they can be grown in dry 

 sunny conservatories or indoor rock gardens. 



Purple SpiNED ViSNAGITA (Echinocactus erecto- 

 centrus — Echinomastus erectocentrus) 



(Named erectocentrus from the erect central spines) 



How to identify and how it grows 



The stems of the Purple Spined Visnaglta grow singly and 

 to the height of nine inches, are conical or cylindrical, and 

 have twenty or more ridges which are spirally arranged. 

 The areolas are set closely together and are gray-green. 

 There are as many as sixteen radial spines, less than an inch 



