April Flowers in Northern California. 187 



A CACTUS CORNER IN THE MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN. 



The garden maintained for manyyears in the private grounds of 

 the late Henry Shaw, at St. Louis, is known to most people who 

 have passed through that city, and few people traveling for pleasure 

 have stopped there for a day without a visit to Shaw's Garden. At 

 the death of Henr\ r Shaw, in 1889, this garden was left in the care 

 of a board of trustees, to be maintained as a botanical garden, and 

 is endowed with practically the whole of his large fortune. 



The accompanying view is from the first report on the garden 

 under the management of the trustees, and represents one of the sev- 

 eral groups of large cacti which are set out during the summer. 

 Many of the specimens of Opuntia and Cereus are large and old 

 plants, and possess historical interest for students of this group of 

 succulents, since they came originally from Prince Salm Dyck, one of 

 the greatest authorities on the cacti, and were closely observed by 

 Dr. Engelmann, whose studies laid the foundation for the knowl- 

 edge of our own species. The collection in this group is believed to 

 be one of the largest and most complete in existence, and the library 

 and herbarium of the garden are also very rich in material referring 

 to the cacti. The managers desire that every species of cactus grow- 

 ing in the United States, as well as Mexican species, shall be repre- 

 sented in the near future. For botanical study, as well as popular 

 observation, St. Louis is likely for some time to come to be the cac- 

 tus center of the country. 



In Southern California, however, the cactus is more at home, 

 and the Arizona garden at Monterey famous among trav- 

 elers. A large private collection is at Pasadena, comprising about 

 two or three hundred species, and is in thriving condition. The 

 proprietors of the Hotel del Coronado planted about five hundred 

 varieties, furnished' by the writer, who has personally collected, or 

 received from correspondents, more than half the varieties as yet 

 known to botanists. Nearly twelve hundred species have been de- 

 scribed, of which many will doubtless have to be, ultimatelv, re- 

 ferred to synonymy. 



The writer has recently added nearly two hundred species to his 

 collections, including some new and many rare ones from Mexico 

 and other localities, and hopes ultimately to have the most com- 

 plete private collection in the world. C. R. Orcutt. 



APRIL FLOWERS IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. 



(From Garden and Forest, iv. 214.) 

 The middle of April, in California, north of San Francisco bay, 

 finds the wild flowers, in hundreds of species, and often in vast 

 quantities, covering acres on .acres of ground. As yet the height of 



