720 



FLOWER GARDEN. 



best applied early in the day, and also to a less 

 extent. Many of the Cactese, or Opuntiacese, 

 may be speedily grown to a large size by being 

 plunged during summer in a moderate bottom- 

 heat and kept moist and close ; but this must not 

 be attempted during winter, or continued too 

 late in autumn, that the cellular tissue may 

 become properly hardened and matured before 

 the dark days of winter arrive. 



Many of the splendid hybrid varieties of 

 Epiphyllum and Cereus are grown successfully 

 in rich well-drained soil, attaining a large size, 

 and producing abundance of gorgeous blooms. 

 Others of the same section, particularly Epiphyl- 

 lum truncatum, thrive well when grafted upon any 

 of the strong upright-growing species of Cactese ; 

 indeed, they do better in this way than when 

 upon their own roots. Pereskia acculiata makes 

 an excellent stock for this operation. It is of 

 rapid growth, and, when trained over arches, or 

 longitudinally along the roof, and thickly covered 

 with the various varieties of Epiphylhim trunca- 

 tum, has a fine and novel effect ; and these, when 

 wrought upon the upright-growing Cereus specio- 

 sissimus, Peruvianus, tetragonus, &c, may also be 

 made to form in a few years very fine specimens. 

 The operation is exceedingly simple, and in the 

 former case requires only the removal of a thin 

 slice of the stem of Pereskia, to which a small 

 portion of E. truncatum is fitted, and secured by 

 placing a little moss over the bandage of mat- 

 ting, and if placed in a partially shaded place 

 adhesion will take place in a week or two. A 

 slit is usually made in the angular parts of the 

 Cereuses, and the scion is inserted and secured 

 in the same manner. A plant several feet in 

 height may be covered at once by this means, 

 although a portion of the lower part is usually 

 left uncovered, so as to form the specimen in 

 habit of a tree. 



With the exception of a few of the Cacteee, 

 which are natives of the West Indies, and 

 require a pretty high temperature, the rest of 

 the succulent tribes are more injured by heat 

 than the reverse. The great majority being na- 

 tives of the temperate parts of South America, 

 Peru, the Cape of Good Hope, &c, prosper bet- 

 ter in the temperature of a moderate greenhouse 

 than elsewhere, but always fully exposed to the 

 brightest light. This, however, is not the usual 

 practice, for in nine cases out of ten we find 

 them placed in the most out-of-the-way place, 

 and where scarcely any other plant would live, 

 much less continue to prosper. Few of the 

 tenderest will suffer in a temperature as low as 

 45° or 50°. They require seldom to be re- 

 potted, unless by inattention their roots have 

 been allowed to suffer from too much wet. 



Most of the Opuntiacese or Cactege propagate 

 readily by cuttings, which should be allowed to 

 remain a day or two after removal from the 

 plant before setting in the soil, that a portion of 

 the sap may escape, and so prevent decay tak- 

 ing place at the part where the incision was 

 made. Some seed freely, and are thus multi- 

 plied, as in the case of several Opuntias, Epi- 

 phyllums, and Mammiilarias, which produce 

 fruit readily. The young shoots of Opuntia and 



Epiphyllum, which must be regarded as analo- 

 gous with leaves, propagate freely, and throw 

 out roots from all parts of their surface when- 

 ever they come in contact with the soil. In the 

 case of Mammillaria, Echinocactus, and Melo- 

 cactus, the case is otherwise ; for although de- 

 scribed by most botanists as being destitute of 

 a woody axis or central column, this has been 

 discovered by Mr Beaton to be a " fallacy of the 

 Faculty." In a private communication received 

 some years ago by us from that gentleman, he 

 says : " All the sections of the genus have not 

 only a woody axis, but a medulliferous column 

 inside their woody axis, like other exogenous 

 plants. This axis, however, is not formed dur- 

 ing the first few years of their existence, and pro- 

 bably different species require different periods 

 to form it ; while, in its turn, it is not at first 

 supplied with its medulla or pith. Both the 

 woody axis and pith make their first appear- 

 ance at the collar of the plant, at the point 

 where the roots start from the stem. As the 

 axis increases, it throws out fibres into all parts 

 of the succulent portion of the plant, and is the 

 channel through which the nourishment is sup- 

 plied from the roots ; and I am of opinion," he 

 continues, " that the Melocactus, Echinocactus, 

 and Mammillaria, will not form roots from cut- 

 tings until they first form their woody axis." 

 This explains clearly enough the difficulty of 

 multiplying the above sections by extension. 



The extensive genus Mesembryanthemum, with 

 the exception of a few in the first section 

 (Acaulia), such as minutum, testiculare, &c, 

 and a few others which are annuals, propagate 

 readily by cuttings ; the first of these exceptions 

 by division of the plant when sufficiently estab- 

 lished, and the second by seed. Almost all 

 other succulent plants, not absolutely annuals, 

 propagate most readily by cuttings ; while some 

 which rarely produce branches, as Sempervivum 

 tabulseforme, some of the Echeverias, &c, pro- 

 pagate by the leaves, these being slightly broken 

 at the edges and laid upon the soil. The latter 

 genus produces abundance of cauline leaves, 

 that is, small scale -like appendages upon the 

 stem. These strike root freely when slightly 

 planted in the soil like ordinary cuttings. 



The following genera constitute what are in 

 general called succulent plants : — Dyckia, Eche- 

 veria, Echinocactus, Sempervivum, Monanthes, 

 Cactus, Mammillaria, Cereus, Epiphyllum, 

 Opuntia, Rhipsalis, Pereskia, Aizoon, Tetragonia, 

 Mesembryanthemum, Hoya, Stapelia (now di- 

 vided into nine genera), Crassula, Agave, Fur- 

 crcea, Lettsea, Bowiea, Rhipidodendr :m, Pachi- 

 dendron, Aloe, Gasteria, Haworthia, Apicra, 

 Kalanchoe, Bryophyllum, Cotyledon, Portulaca, 

 Talinum, Anacampseros, Euphorbia, Rochea, 

 Kalosanthes, Turgosia, Globulea, &c. All these 

 require abundance of light to enable them to 

 expand their flowers properly, and some of them, 

 such as the stronger-growing species of Mesem- 

 bryanthemums and Kalosanthes, make excel- 

 lent bedding-out plants, particularly in warm 

 and dry situations. The finest flowering plants 

 of this division are to be found in the genera 

 Cereus, Epiphyllum, Hoya, Rochea, Kalosan- 



