460 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



be compared with that of shot-silk, and ranging from three or four to 

 ten inches in diameter. The species are natives of Mexico and tropical 

 America, and are usually more or less epiphytic on the trunks of large 

 trees, growing with Bromeliads and orchids. P. biformis, a native of 

 Honduras, was Disocactus biformis of Lindley (" Bot. Reg.," 1845, t. 9). 



Epiphyllum is a genus of few species, but all beautiful. As in 

 Phyllocactus, the stems are flat ; they are composed, however, of short 

 joints, and are quite different from those of Phyllocactus. In E. truncation 

 (" Bot. Mag.," t. 2562), of which there are many variations in violet-purples 

 and carmines, the flowers are irregular. In E. Gaertneri (" Bot. Mag.," 

 t. 7201) the flowers are more regular, of a beautiful red-orange colour, and 

 on account of the regularity, apparently, Schumann places it in Phyllo- 

 cactus, as he does E. Bussellianum ("Bot. Mag.," 3717). This is the 



Fio. 77.— Echinopsis multiplex in Mr. E. A. Bowles's Garden, Walth am "Cross- 



plant known as Schlumbergera cpiphylloides. All are natives of Brazil, 

 where they are common on trees, and they agree in distinction from 

 Phyllocactus by the terminal flowers. E. Gaertneri is one of the great 

 attractions in the Cambridge Botanic Gardens when in flower. 



Bhipsalis.—The plants of this genus are not usually attractive in 

 flower, but the stems are always curious. They are round, sometimes 

 very slender, often angled, or, again, flattened. The flowers are small, 

 regular, with spreading petals, usually white or whitish. In B. salicorn- 

 oides the flowers are orange. B. paradoxa (Lcpismium paradoxum) 

 is the most remarkable in stem character. B. Cassytha, having small 

 white berries, is known as the Mistletoe Cactus. A few species of this genus 

 are found in the Old World, in Ceylon, Mauritius, tropical Africa, and 

 Madagascar. B. madagascariensis is cultivated in the Botanic Garden 



