536 



SPINES AND PRICKLES. 



the open ground, the different species and varieties of 

 phyllocactus must be grown under shelter to protect 

 them from sun and rain, as well as from frost. Most 

 of them bloom freely, and the blossoms are usually very 

 showy. 



Within the last year I have had blossoms upon sev- 

 eral curious varieties of cactuses that are not common 

 in cultivation, and are still more rarely seen in bloom. 

 About two years ago I received from a friend three little 

 offsets of some species of cactus without any name. 

 They were almost round and very small, none of them 

 being over i% to I'i inches in diameter. The three 

 were potted in one four-inch pot, in rich soil. They 

 grew quite rapidly, and by May, 1889, were from 2|'2 to 

 2% inches in diameter, and about 2}^ inches high. 

 About that time the largest of the three bloomed, and 

 proved to be EcJiiiiopsis Ziiccariniana . For several weeks 

 after its first appearance the bud seemed to be merely 

 a little point covered with black woolly hairs; but to- 

 wards the last it grew very rapidly. When it bloomed, 

 the tube of the flower was about six inches long. The 

 flower itself was pure white, and from 3j4 to 4 inches 

 across when fully expanded. There was a little fra- 

 grance, but only a very little. It began to open just 

 before sunset, and was fully open by eight o'clock p, m. ; 

 it began to close about daylight, and by eight o'clock 

 A. M. its beauty was gone, and it hung limp and wither- 

 ing on its stem. These plants were kept dormant all 

 the past winter and until quite late this spring. They 

 were then repotted, and have not yet bloomed this 

 season. 



Another cactus rarely seen in bloom is Rhipsalis sali- 

 cornoides. This is quite a long name for a very small 

 plant. It lacks what is considered the special distin- 



guishing characteristic of the cactus, viz., thorns. I have 

 several plants of this species ; the two largest, two years 

 old, bloomed in February. The tallest, nearly 10 inches 

 high, had 16 blossoms ; the other plant, just 6 inches 

 high, had 30 flowers. The main stem of the largest 

 plant is almost a quarter of an inch in diameter. There 

 are numerous sub-divisions of the stem — branches they 

 would commonly be called — composed of joints vary- 

 ing from one-half to seven-eighths of an inch in length, 

 and in diameter from one to three-sixteenths of an inch. 



The rhipsalis tribe is closely related to the opuntias 

 and the flowers are very much like miniature "prickly 

 pear" blossoms, except that they are longer than broad, 

 and do not open out so flat. They are borne on the tips 

 of the upper joints, and are orange yellow in color. Each 

 one, when expanded, measures about three-fourths of an 

 inch in length by about one-half inch in diameter. Be- 

 ing so small, one flower would not attract any special 

 attention, and a half-dozen do not make a great display. 

 But as a curiosity, the plant deserves a place in every 

 collection. 



This list by no means includes all the curious and 

 beautiful species of cactuses that have bloomed here 

 within the past year. All members of the family are 

 curious, and they are becoming deservedly popular. No 

 other class of plants is so easily grown, or gives such 

 good results for the small amount of care required. I 

 would specially recommend for trial as a house plant, 

 FiTt'skiii aculcata. It will not give as satisfactory results 

 when grown in a pot as when planted in the open ground 

 in our warm climate ; but if given rich soil and plenty 

 of sunlight, I believe it will fully repay all the care re- 

 quired to grow it. 



St. Johns Co., Florida. W. C. Steele. 



SPINES AND PRICKLES. 



A BATCH OF CACTACEOUS POINTERS. 



Cactuses in Landscape Gardening. — The expres- 

 sion which a landscape gardener gives to any piece of 

 ground on which he works should be one that is appro- 

 priate to the climate and in harmony with the effects 

 which nature has already produced about him. In this 

 region we find but one cactus — the prickly pear. This 

 is an insignificant plant that grows on sand dunes where 

 the soil is so poor that it is only partially covered with 

 vegetation. It is more curious than beautiful. If we 

 come across a specimen, we experience the pleasure 

 that one is apt to feel when he finds a curiosity, but not 

 the pleasure we derive from looking at a beautiful shrub 

 or flower. The prickly pear has an attractive blossom, 

 but if one touches the plant he will probably regret it 

 constantly for some time afterward, on account of the 

 little spines that stick in his fingers. If this plant is 

 used at all in pleasure grounds of the northern states, it 

 should be placed where it will be discovered as if by 

 accident. It would be quite suitable for a sandy knoll 



or a bit of rock work, where it will feel at home and 

 not be crowded out by other plants. There are other 

 kinds of cactuses that make very ornamental plants for 

 the conservatory, and at certain seasons of the year 

 these might be used about the house for out-of-door 

 decoration, but we should not attempt to use them to 

 give character to our landscapes. — O. C. Simonds, 

 Chicai;o. 



Cactuses in Africa. — Cactuses are used by the 

 natives of the Sou'dan for hedging in their villages and 

 gardens. Whether these cactuses, as the opuntia of the 

 Mediterranean sea, have all been introduced from 

 America, deserves closer investigation. Since the 

 genus rhipsalis has been found in the Old World by 

 Welwitsch in Angola, and by Thwaites in Ceylon, the 

 pure American origin of the entire family may be 

 doubted. But the berries of rhipsalis are greedily eaten 

 by birds, and this genus could, therefore, cross the 

 ocean more easily than the others. And the identity of 



