774 



THE BOOK OF GARDENING. 



which was 

 Nursery, and 



originally obtained from the famous 

 is therefore a somewhat historic plant. 



The kinds to 



Loddiges 



Fig. 



5 1 5 . — EcHiNOPsis 

 Pentlandi. 



be men- 

 tioned here all require 

 practically similar treatment 

 — a loamy soil, plenty 

 of drainage material, the 

 sunniest spot that can be 

 found, and the withholding 

 of water from late autumn 

 until April. The genus 

 Cereiis will furnish a very 

 large number of suitable 

 species and varieties, of 

 which the following are the best : 

 C. fla^elliformis (Rat's Tail Cactus), 

 with its pretty pinkish stems and 

 rose-coloured flowers, a capital sub- 

 ject for a hanging-basket for a 

 south window ; C. Berlandieri^ 

 purple, delicately scented ; C. ccespi- 

 tosiis^ bright rose ; C. pentalophiis 

 {C. Ieptacanth2is)^ rose; C. Blankii^ 

 deep pink, suffused with crimson ; 

 and C. poly acanthus^ deep red, free, 

 to the Hedgehog Cactuses {Echinocactiis)^ of which 

 the spines are so formidable, we find several species well 

 adapted for windows- — E. gib- 

 bosiis (white stems, beset with 

 large needle-like spines), and 

 E. hexcEdrophorus (white and 

 pink, with swollen tubercles). 

 Other genera furnishing some 

 very desirable kinds are 

 Echinopsis, MainmiUa?'ia, and 

 Phyllocactiis. In the first- 

 named the best are E. Pent- 

 landi (red) (Fig. 515), and 

 its varieties; E. Eyriesii 

 (w^hite), emitting a nice frag- 

 rance ; and E. oxygona, white 

 at first, but afterwards becom- 

 ing pinkish. Mammillarias are 

 very wonderful, even amongst 

 Cactuses, combining, as they 

 sometimes do, attractive 

 spines with pretty flowers and showy berries. M. bicolor, M. gracilis, 

 M. sangimtea (Fig. 516), and M. elongata, are all good. The 



Turning 



Fig. 



516. — Mammillaria 

 sanguine a. 



