538 



SPINES AND PRICKLES. 



usual size being eight or nine inches. The sspals are 

 narrow, acute and spreading, about one-quarter of an 

 inch broad, four to five inches long, and thirty to forty 

 in number, forming a beautiful fringe round the broader 

 pure white petals, which are more in the form of a cup, 

 the stamens being exceedingly numerous, with very long 

 filaments. — Lewis Castle. 



Cactuses as Window Plants. — Cactaceous plants 

 have much to recommend them to lovers of the curious 

 and beautiful, but the majority also possess another 

 very valuable character, i. c. , they are easily grown, so 

 easily in fact that the cottager who can only devote a 

 small space to them in his window may, and often does, 

 grow many of them as successfully as the greatest 

 magnate in Europe with all the most elaborate horti- 

 cultural appliances at his command. In the dry and 

 heated atmosphere of a room, which is so trying to 

 most plants, they are perfectly at home, and their de- 

 mands upon the attention of their host are so slight 

 they may be left for weeks, nay months, without the 

 smallest supply of water. It is not surprising, there- 

 fore, that many of the cactuses are favorites with 

 dwellers in English towns, and many a toiler has had 

 his heart lightened by a sight of the lovely flowers pro- 

 duced by his window "cactus," or has felt the pleasure 

 of exhibiting his vegetable curiosities to his friends. 

 Amateurs, too, in many other grades of life, have found 

 in the cultivation of these plants the satisfaction which 

 is derived from the constant study of the wonderful 

 phases of plant existence ; and though it can never be 

 expected that they will rise to a popularity approaching 

 that of the rose, yet there is a steadily increasing de- 

 mand for them, and several nurserymen now make a 

 specialty of \.h&va..— Lewis Castle. 



Some Cactus History. — The word cactus or cactos 

 was used by Theophrastus for a spring plant of Sicily, 

 probably the garden artichoke. Linna;us used the word 

 as a generic name, and made all the kinds which he 

 knew species of it. Some of the species have been long 

 in cultivation. The Opuntia vulgaris was recorded as a 

 cultivated plant by Gerarde in 1596. In 1716 Bradley 

 described five kinds of cactuses. In 1796, 29 species 

 were known to botanists. In 1807, 20 species were de- 

 scribed, and in 1811, 24 kinds were grown at Kew. In 

 1819, nearly 50 species were known, and in 1826, 94 were 

 in cultivation. The explorations of Mexican and adja- 

 cent regions early in the century resulted in great addi- 

 tions to the numbers in European collections. In 1850 

 Labouret described 670 species. About 1,000 species 

 are now known, of which perhaps over one-third are 

 in cultivation. — L. H. B. 



Notes on Phyllocactuses. — There are a number of 

 good garden phyllocactuses, mostly artificial varieties, 

 aside from those described by Professor Bailey in the 

 August issue, p. 448 : albus superbus, white and fra- 

 grant ; alexandrina, violet ; aurantiacus, orange ; caulor- 

 rhizus, white, with pale green sepals ; Conway's Giant, 

 scarlet ; Cooperi, yellow ; Franzi, reddish purple ; Haa- 

 gei, salmon ; ignescens, lustrous scarlet ; Jenkinsoni, 



crimson ; Pfersdorffi, white and yellow ; stenopetalus, 

 salmon and white, and the fragrant yellowish Wrayi. 

 Two new sorts, Brilliant and Exquisite, were exhibited 

 by the Messrs. Veitch at a recent meeting of the Royal 

 Botanical Society, of England, and were awarded cer- 

 tificates, a fact which goes to show that hybridizers have 

 in these plants something which can be turned to good 

 account. The flowers are easily pollinated, and produce 

 and ripen seeds readily. Fig. i (page 537) shows a good 

 hybrid phyllocactus. 



The phyllocactus will succeed admirably in a sunny 

 greenhouse or window, but care must be taken to keep 

 frost at a safe distance. Although these positions are 

 desirable, they are by no means necessary, for by plac- 

 ing the plants in a dry airy cellar they may be kept in 

 perfect health throughout the winter. The development 

 of new branches usually succeeds the flowering period, 

 but occasionally these phenomena proceed contempora- 

 neously. To pot the plants (should that operation be 

 necessary) to the greatest advantage, the work should be 

 done immediately after the flowering stage, and even if 

 they have made a little growth in the meantime, the 

 operation has no hurtful result when performed with 

 ordinary care. Where it is desirable to make large 

 specimens of small ones in the shortest possible space 

 of time, the most satisfactory results will be obtained 

 by potting every year, but pot-bound plants flower much 

 more freely than those that are treated in this manner. 

 Good drainage is strictly essential, as the plants like a 

 free supply of water when growing actively, but are 

 quick to resent anything in the way of stagnant moist- 

 ure. Rich loam, peat, decomposed manure, and sand, 

 in eqnal parts, make a highly satisfactory mixture for 



Fig. 2. 



potting. Occasional applications of liquid manure, 

 during the season of growth will be of material aid to 

 specimens which have not been repotted during several 

 successive years. It is very advantageous to keep the 

 plants in a moist, warm atmosphere while growth is in 

 progress, but they thrive very well in the open garden 

 from the middle of June onward through the summer 

 months. Those plants that are kept under glass during 

 the growing period should always be placed outside 



