172 



Epiphyllum. 



tude of 6000 feet in the Organ mountains. It is a profuse bloomer r 

 the flowers three or four inches long, of a clear rose-crimson. It was 

 discovered by Mr. Gardner and named in honor of the Duke of Bed- 

 ford to whose famous collection of cacti the first plants were sent 

 about the year 1839. 



Mr. Gardner's account of its discovery is interesting and is here- 

 with copied from Lewis Castle's little book on Cactaceous Plants: 



Through dense masses of bamboos with stems often more than half a foot thick 

 and sixty to seventy feet high we had to cut our way up the Organ mountains till 

 we came, after a toilsome day's journey, to a small waterfall, where we encamped 

 for the night. On the trunks of the large trees growing near this spot I saw abun- 

 dance of Epiphyllum truncatum beautifully in flower; and higher up the moun- 

 tain next morning I found a lovely new species belonging to the same group as E. 

 truncatum and much resembling it in many points, equally large, but with a more 

 graceful mode of growth and lighter colore I blossoms, the stamens, too, being uni- 

 formly pink. 



This species blooms at a dif- 

 ferent period of the year than 

 E. truncatum naturally, and by 

 hybridizing varieties have been 

 produced that remain much 

 longer in flower than either 

 parent. 



The following distinct var- 

 ieties of this have been in 

 general favor in cultivation 

 and are believed to have mostly 

 originated by cross fertilization 

 with E. truncatum or by other 

 hybridization. Those indicated 

 with an asterisk (*) are known 

 hybrids : 



*1 — Rubrum ; flowers of 

 bright rose, double the size of 

 the typical form. 

 *2 — Cupreum ; flowers smaller, of a ' coppery tinge, suffused with 

 purple.' 



*3 — Superbum ; ' the purple of E. Russellianum and the reddish 

 tinge of E. truncatum are beautifully blended' in this form of 

 hybrid. 



*4 — Snowii; is a very pretty hybrid, raised by Mr. Snow, an En- 

 glish gardener. 



5 — Gaertneri; flowers bright scarlet. This appears to be a hybrid 

 between an Epiphyllum and a Phyllocactus, but its origin is un- 

 known. 



Epiphyllum Altensteinii Pfeiffer. — The third recognized 

 species of the genus has longer and slender stems than E. trunca- 



EPIPHYLLUM TRUNCATUM. 

 Grafted on Cereus colubrinus. 



