86 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER 
[ January 31, 1884. 
place the plants outside in a sunny position during the summer, but in 
our uncertain climate this is attended by many disadvantages, for they 
are liable to be much injured by sudden storms of rain or wind, and the 
varying temperature alternately accelerates and checks the growth, 
which consequently rarely becomes properly matured, and the delicate 
species are often irrecoverably damaged. On the continent, where the 
summer climate is more regular and the sun power greater, the case is 
quite different, and the practice is attended with proportionate success. 
The cottager and others who grow their small collections of Cacti 
in rooms must necessarily confine their attention to comparatively few 
species and varieties, but it is surprising how much pleasure and 
interest may be obtained from even such modest efforts as these. 
A table or shelf near a window is the position usually assigned to 
them, and under the circumstances it is the best they could have, 
as the plants are well exposed to light, they are surrounded by a 
dry atmosphere, and they are safe from frost. If in addition to these 
matters the plants are accorded a moderate share of attention in regard 
to the supply of water, there are very few of the Cactus family that 
will not thrive and occasionally flower. The Cereuses, Opuntias, 
Echinocactuses, and Mamillarias can all be so grown, but if a glass 
case can be provided for the smaller and more delicate kinds, it will 
be advantageous in protecting them from the dust and smuts that so 
soon accumulate in rooms, and which cling to the spines and surface 
of the stems, effectually spoiling their appearance and preventing their 
progress. Such cases can be readily constructed, or they can be pur¬ 
chased ready made, as several firms now sell them for the miniature 
Cacti that have obtained a good share of popularity during recent 
years. These miniature plants are particularly well adapted for rooms, 
and in their bright red diminutive pots have a very lively appearance. 
They are sold, too, at such moderate prices that they are within the 
reach of all. As room plants indeed the Cacti are unexcelled, for 
though they do not possess the brilliant and profuse flowers of Pelar¬ 
goniums and other ordinary softwooded plants, they never bear the 
sickly and miserable aspect that such too often do when they have 
been long grown indoors. I would by no means advocate the exclusion 
of the ordinary popular window plants, but as a reserve force the Cacti 
are invaluable. * 
MAMILLAFJA, HAWORTH. 
It would be very difficult to find any plants in the whole vegetable 
kingdom which present such beautiful examples of symmetry as the 
Mammillarias, and in their own family they are also unique in this 
respect, for though many of the grotesque Opuntias, Cereuses, and 
Echinocactuses possess larger and more brilliant flowers, and they are 
surpassed in horticultural value hy the Phyllocactuses and Epiphyllums, 
yet for delicacy of design they are unrivalled. A large number of them 
resemble exquisite pieces of mechanism finished with the greatest 
minuteness and accuracy. Others, again, might be imagined to have 
undergone a kind of crystallisation, their whole surface being frosted 
over with star-like spicul® arranged with geometrical precision ; and still 
others appear as if covered with the finest gossamer. The graphic 
remarks of Dr. Lindley which accompanied the figure of M. tenuis in 
the “ Botanical Begister ” in 1832 might well he applied to several species 
with even more accuracy than in that case:—“ Gentle reader, hast thou 
never seen in a display of fireworks a crowd of wheels all in motion at 
once, crossing and intersecting each other in every direction, and canst 
thou fancy those wheels arrested in their motion by some magic power, 
their rays retained, but their fires extinguished and their brightness gone. 
Then mayst thou conceive the curious beauty of this little herb, a plant 
so unlike all others that we would fain believe it the re-animated spirit 
of a race that flourished in former ages with those hideous monsters 
whose bones alone remain to tell the history of their existence in the 
quarries of our sandstone, slate, and clay.” Strangely beautiful indeed 
are most of the Mamillarias, and in contrast with their neat rosettes or 
stars of spines are the rosy, yellow, and white flowers, which are generally 
followed by small berry-like coral-coloured fruits, that, dotted amongst 
the spines, add another phase to the attractions of these plants. With 
so much to recommend them it is not surprising that they have become 
great favourites with cultivators of Cacti, and with that portion of the 
public who have obtained any knowledge of them. 
The genus Mamillaria was founded by Haworth upon the Cactus 
Mammillaris of Linnaeus, one of the oldest cultivated species, and this 
was re-named by the first-mentioned author M. simplex. Two others 
were associated with—viz., M. prolifera and M. discolor, which at that 
time, 1819, were all that were known. Since then, however, the number 
of described species has been increased to 300, which abound in Mexico, 
the head quarters of the genus, some being also found in the West Indies, 
Brazil, and Bolivia, their habitats and the elevation at which they are 
found varying considerably. In characters of flowers and fruit the 
Mamillarias resemble several other genera, but the chief distinguishing 
mark is found in the mamillse, papillae, or tubercles from which the plants 
derive their name. The stem is cylindrical, globular, or conical, seldom 
exceeding 10 or 12 inches high under cultivation, and more frequently 
only 3 to 6 inches high and 1 to 3 inches in diameter. From this axis 
arise the teat-like projection termed the mammillae, but for which the word 
tubercle is here adopted. These vary in size from minute elevations 
scarcely a sixteenth of an inch high to some 1 inch high and as much in 
diameter; in form they also vary, from cylindrical, spindle-shape, 
conical, or ovoid to angular and irregularly pyramidal. They are ar¬ 
ranged spirally round the stem with great regularity, and each bears at 
its apex a cluster of spines, often in two series, the outer white, very fine 
and hair-like, from six to twenty, very closely set, and radiating laterally 
in a star-like manner, much resembling the pappus crowning the frurt9 
of some plants in the Compositse family ; the inner series is usually com¬ 
posed of a few stiff spines, sometimes hooked at the points, and usually 
coloured differently from the others, being yellow, brown, red, or purplish. 
The variations in these organs or appendages furnish the chief charac¬ 
ters for distinguishing the species, and upon them some authors have 
constructed an elaborate system of classification in groups and sections. 
In Hooker and Bentham’s “ Genera Plantarum,” however, Engelmann’s 
three subgenera Eumamillaria, Coryphantha, and Anhalonium are 
adopted for the main divisions. The first includes the majority of the- 
species, which are characterised by the tubercles not being furrowed, and 
by the flowers being produced from the axils of the previous year’9 
tubercles—that is, from the side of the stem. The second has furrowed 
tubercles, and the flowers produced from the apex of the stem or from 
the axils of the tubercle of that season’s growth. The third was con¬ 
stituted a genus by Lemaire, but is regarded as inseparable from the 
Mamillarias, though in general appearance they are quite different, the 
tubercles in Anhalonium being spreading, thick, and leaf-like, somewhat’ 
after the style of the Gasterias. 
Culture. —Many of the Mamillarias are found in limestone districts, 
and though inhabiting varying climates and elevations, they may be' 
all grown in an intermediate temperature, such as a greenhouse, where 
they can be protected from frosts during the winter, but a higher tempe¬ 
rature is needed during the spring and early summer when growth is 
advancing. A free exposure to light and sun is requisite at all times. 
The soil should consist of two-tbirds sandy loam and one-third finely 
broken bricks and lime rubbish. The pots must be well drained, and 
water should always be carefully supplied, but much injury is often 
done by keeping the plants too dry. They should be examined at least 
once a week, even in the winter, and if the temperature is above 50° 
and the weather bright they may be safely watered. In colder quarters 
little will be needed during December and January. These plants may 
be advantageously grown in a glass case, as this protection keeps the 
dust from their beautiful spines. 
Propagation. —The majority of the tufted and branching species can 
be readily increased, either by the offsets from the base, or by removing 
the side branchlets. The former only need potting like ordinary plants, 
keeping them rather dry until growth commences. The branchlets can 
be laid upon dry soil until some roots show at the base, and they can 
then be treated similarly. The more delicate sorts, or those that pro¬ 
duce few offsets, can be grafted on any of the Cerei, to which they 
readily unite ; and this has a double advantage, for while the plants 
often grow more strongly, they are also less liable to decay, as such 
forms will do unless very great care is exercised in supplying water- 
Cereus tortuosus and others of slender habit may be chosen for the- 
small-growing species. 
SELECT SPECIES. 
M. akgularis, Port. Herd. —One of the more robust forms. The freely 
branching habit gives it a very distinct appearance, and when well grown it. 
has a fine appearance. The largest specimen I have seen is in Mr. Peacock’s 
collection, and is over a foot in diameter ; in excellent health. Decandolle’s 
M. triacantha and M. cirrifera of some gardens (not of Martius) have been 
regarded as varieties of this species, the last named corresponding to Salm’s 
M. angularis var. pulvescens. It can be readily increased by offsets. Intro¬ 
duced in 1835. Strong-growing; stem freely branched, 4 to 8 inches high, 
2 inches in diameter ; tubercles conical, thick, a quarter of an inch long, having- 
a tuft of white down at the top, and four or five white spines of irregular 
length ; flowers rosy purple. 
M. bicolor, Lehmann. —The whole surface of this plant appears as if 
covered with a fine cobweb, owing to the numerous closely-set white haira 
which form the outer series of spines; and if grown under a case or in a 
position where the dust can be excluded it is one of the most striking of the 
genus. Some crested forms of this are grown,but they possess little.beauty, 
and are usually simply deformities. The species was introduced in 1835.. 
Very distinct; stem cylindrical, somewhat club-shaped, 8 to 10 inches high, 
2 to 3 inches in diameter, branching from near the base ; tubercles very short,, 
dark green, but hidden by the spines, which are in two series, the outer fine 
and hair-like, closely set, and spreading, the others being fewer, erect, and of 
a yellowish tint. The flowers are small and purple. 
M. Caput-Medits.35, Otto. —The Medusa’s Head Mamillaria is by no 
means so formidable as its name implies, and though not so delicately 
beautiful as its neighbours it possesses a boldness that forms a striking; 
contrast with them. A fine specimen, probably the largest in England, is 
included in the collection of these plants grown by Mr. Boiler at the Wood' 
Green Nurseries, Harrow Road, N., for which he has been awarded numerous 
first-class certificates at metropolitan and provincial shows. Stem usually 
4 to 6 inches, or in exceptional cases 8 inches in height, globular or occa¬ 
sionally columnar ; tubercles four-angled or ovate, bearing four small whiter 
spines and two thicker and stronger ones j flowers white, about 1 inch in 
diameter. 
M. cirrifera, Martius. —A neat and pleasing little plant, which does 
not flower so frequently as several others, but is well worth growing on 
account of its symmetrical appearance. Introduced in 1835. A freely 
branching and pretty species, with a cylindrical stem 3 to 4 inches high ; 
tubercles short and conical, quarter of an inch long, glaucous green, and 
furnished with a crown of yellow spines ; flowers bright rose, with yellow 
anthers. 
M. DOLICHOCEXTRA, Lemaire. —A somewhat variable species of strong 
habit, especially abundant in the neighbourhood of Xalapa, and included in¬ 
most large collections of Cacti. It was grown in the continental collections 
thirty years ago, but the date of its first appearance in England is uncertain. 
Several varieties have been described under the names of phseacantha, 
straminea, Galeotti, Ac., but the last is generally considered synonymous with 
the first, and they are all chiefly confined to continental gardens. Stem. 
