October 16, 1884. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
849 
desired height, then making a downward incision at the top, either 
removing a small wedge-shaped portion or simply splitting it, the former 
beiDg preferable. The scion, which may be 3 to G inches long, either a 
simple stem or branched, should have the base pared to a wedge shape, 
very gradually sloping, and then inserted in the stock. It may be secured 
■either with a small thorn thrust through the stock and scion, or by binding 
a little moss round the juncture with matting. The Pereskia stem should 
"be tied to a small stick to prevent damage to the scion, and in a few 
•weeks a union will be effected, when the moss and ties can be removed. 
The same system is adopted with taller standard specimens, say from 2 to 
3 feet high ; but when an extra large head is desired, two or three scions 
are inserted at the side of the stock in addition to that at the top, simply 
by making a downward sloping incision, in which the end of the scion is 
placed as in the first-mentioned mode. For pyramid specimens the 
practice is similar, except that scions must be inserted at intervals of 9 to 
12 inches from the base to the summit of the stock, regulating them so 
that the specimen will have a uniform appearance. As to the time when 
grafting should be performed it matters little, as with care a satisfactory 
union can be effected at any season ; the spring is, however, the most 
preferable, and it is a good plan to keep the stocks rather dry for a few 
•days before the operation is commenced. 
Specimen Plants. —When grown to a large size Epiphyllums make 
magnificent specimens either as standards or pyramids, and their value 
cannot be too highly estimated. Probably the finest examples of the 
kind in the country are those at Orwell Park, near Ipswich, the residence 
of George Tomline, Esq., where these plants have for some years been 
admirably grown by Mr. J. Wallis. During the winter months—namely, 
from November until February, these produce a never-failing display of 
brilliant flowers, and have awakened the admiration and surprise of 
many horticulturists. Writing in reference to his mode of culture, Mr. 
Wallis has favoured me with the following remarks, which possess especial 
value as the result of such successful practice :— 
“The Epiphyllums here are grown for flowering in the conservatory, and 
are usually gay from the first week in November till February. During 
the remainder of the year they occupy a three-quarter span-roof house in 
which an intermediate temperature is maintained. All our Epiphyllums 
are grafted on the Pereskia aculeata. We graft a few at intervals of two 
or three years, so if any of the older plants become sickly or shabby they 
are thrown away and the younger ones grown on. Some of the stocks 
are worked to form pyramids and some to make standards. The height 
of the pyramids is 6 feet, and to form these six or eight scions are inserted. 
The heads of the standards are on stems ranging in height from 4 feet 
6 inches down to 18 inches. To form these heads only one scion is put 
on the stock. Some of our oldest pyramids are 4 to 5 feet through at the 
base, and the heads of standards quite as much. When in bloom some 
of the heads of the taller standards droop almost to the pots. Much 
larger dimensions could easily be obtained, but we have to keep our plants 
of a manageable size on account of moving them to and from the conser¬ 
vatory. The pyramids occupy No. 2 and No. 4-sized pots, the standards 
8’s and 12’s. Each plant is secured to a strong iron stake, with three 
prongs fitting the inside of the pot, so as to stand firm and erect, and the 
Epiphyllum is kept well supported to the stakes by ties of stout wire. 
After the plants are well established they are easily managed, and go 
many years without repotting ; but of course we top-dress annually, 
previously removing as much of the old soil as will come away easily. 
We grow these plants with plenty of ventilation on all favourable occa¬ 
sions, and they are never shaded. During active growth water is given 
freely, occasionally liquid manure, they are also syringed daily. After 
the season’s growth is completed water is given more sparingly and 
syringing is dispensed with.” 
Another excellent mode of growing Epiphyllums is in baskets, which 
have a most imposing appearance when well filled and the plants are in 
flower. Some care is needed in preparing these, but the task is not a 
difficult one, and the result amply repays for the labour bestowed upon 
it. The plants employed should be either raised from cuttings or be 
grafted upon Pereskia stocks 3 or 4 inches long, but the former are 
preferable, as the others are very liable to be injured. The baskets 
should be of semi-globular form, constructed of ordinary stout wire, 
strong and plain in design. In preparing the baskets for the plants a 
thick layer of moss must be placed next to the wire, then the Epiphyllums 
may be turned out of their pots and inverted, the stems being drawn 
through the moss and the meshes of the wires. This must be eontinued 
until the basket is sufficiently clothed, employing a little light soil to render 
the plants firm ; then above these to fill the upper part larger specimens 
may be planted to impart a general finish. When covered with flowers 
these baskets will be superb ornaments for any house, as is proved by the 
beautiful examples at Chatsworth, where they constitute a feature of 
great interest during the winter. The cultural requirements of such 
specimens are the same as for others, but a slight additional attention is 
neeessary to insure the whole of the soil being thoroughly moistened. 
To keep the baskets uniform any excessively long shoots can be taken off 
at a convenient joint, and this will induce a branching habit, which will 
furnish the surface with growths quickly. It will be evident that the 
baskets must be suspended sufficiently high to permit the whole under 
surface being readily seen. 
Far from the least effective system of utilising Epiphyllums is the 
following, which is nowhere practised so successfully as at Old Sneyd 
Park, Bristol, the residence of F. Tagart, Esq. This consists in growing 
the Pereskias to a height of 12 feet or more, training the stems up the 
back wall or up the roof of the house, and grafting them at intervals of 
a foot with Epiphyllums. These in time form good heads, and have a 
very handsome appearance, clothing the roof with their richly tinted 
flowers. The gardener, Mr. E. Miller, has the back wall of the stove 
covered with a wire netting, packed with moss, and planted with Ferns, 
Begonias, &c. ; behind this the stems of Pereskia are taken from the 
border at the base, where they are planted, up to the roof, and they are 
then trained over the path. This portion of the stems, which are about a 
yard apart, were grafted thickly with Epiphyllums of different varieties 
about twelve years ago, and have formed dense pendulous heads 2 to 3 feet 
in diameter, which during the concluding months of the year form quite 
a canopy of flowers. This method might be advantageously employed 
much more extensively, and the roofs of many houses could by such 
means be rendered far more pleasing than they usually are, particularly 
at the season when Epiphyllums flower. 
SPECIES AND VAEIEXIE3. 
As a genus Epiphyllum is distinguished by the following characters. 
The narrow numerous petals and sepals of similar colour are in two of the 
three species known—viz., E. truncatum and E. Altensteini, arranged in a 
two-lipped manner—that is, on one side of the flower the petals are straight, 
and on the other they are bent back. In E. Bussellianum, however, the 
petals grow equally as in other Cacteae, but are nearly straight with the 
flower tube, which is formed by the combination of the inner petals at the 
base. The stems are slender, succulent, leafless, and jointed, the branches 
somewhat flattened, from 2 to 3 inches long and 1 to 2 broad, bearing the 
flowers at their points and not on the margin as in Phyllocactus. They are 
natives of Brazil, where they are chiefly found as epiphytes growing upon 
the branches of trees, their slender stems attaining the length of 3 or 4 feet. 
E. TUUKCATUM, PJeiffer. —This is the principal species, and has been 
cultivated in English gardens for about sixty years, having been introduced 
from Brazil early in the present century, though it is said to have been 
known in continental gardens many years before. It is especially abundant 
on the Organ Mountains, where also its relative E. Bussellianum is found, 
but the former does not grow at so great an elevation as the latter, E. trun¬ 
catum being rarely found above 4000 feet. The original form had dark 
crimson flowers with a white throat, but several varieties were subsequently 
imported, amongst the earliest being one of a uniform rich crimson hue, 
which was figured in the “ Botanical Magazine ” in 1825, and later still— i.e., 
about 1840, the variety violaceum, with a distinct tinge of violet, was intro¬ 
duced by Messrs. Eollisson & Sons of Tooting. The principal variations now 
in cultivation are seedlings raised from E. truncatum or from crosses between 
that species and E. Bussellianum, which have greatly increased the value of 
the plants in a horticultural point of view, as the colours have been improved 
and multiplied considerably. One of the most successful raisers of Epi¬ 
phyllums in recent years was Mr. W. Buckley of Tooting, who succeeded 
in obtaining some very distinct and beautiful hybrids between the species 
already named. These have not been surpassed, and the list as given by the 
raiser in the “ Florist and Pomologist ” (page 14, January, 1868) is well worth 
reproduction here :— 
“ The varieties of E. Bussellianum were E. B. rubrum,*, flower double 
the size of E. Bussellianum, and of a bright rosy red ; E. E. cupreum,* not 
so large as the last, of a coppery tinge, slightly suffused with purple ; E. E. 
superbum,* in which the purple of E. Bussellianum and the reddish tinge of 
E. truncatum are beautifully blended. Added to these, a very pretty hybrid 
of the Bussellianum section was raised by Mr. Snow, gardener to the Earl 
De Grey, called E. B. Snowii. The following are the best and most showy 
varieties of the E. truncatum section :—E. truncatum majus,* larger than 
the species, and of a deep rose colour; albo-lateritium,* petals silky white, 
margined with brick red ; amabile, white and purple ; aurantiacum, reddish 
orange; bicolor, white and rose-edged ; coccineum,* deep scarlet; cruentum,* 
dark, purplish red ; magnificum, large, bright rose and white ; purpureum,* 
deep purple, nearly self-coloured; roseum,* bright rose; rubro-tinctum, 
white and purplish red; Euckerianum, purplish red, tinged with violet; 
splendens,* deep rose ; spectabile, white with purplish margin ; spectabile 
carminatum, white with reddish margin ; salmoneum, salmony red ; tricolor, 
deep reddish purple and white ; violaceum, silvery white, with light purple 
margin ; violaceum grandiflorum, like the last, but larger ; violaceum super¬ 
bum, deep purple and white. Those marked with an asterisk are hybrids, 
raised at the Tooting nursery.” 
E. Bussellianum, Booker. —By some writers this has been, and still is, 
regarded as a variety of E. truncatum, but it is clearly distinguished by 
several well-marked characters. The flowers are 3 to 4 inches long with 
straight narrow petals, not reflexed as in E. truncatum. The branches are 
much more slender and not so distinctly truncated or cut at the ends of the 
joints. The time of flowering, too, is quite different, being in May or June ; 
and according to Mr. Gardner, who discovered the plant on the Organ 
Mountains, it is found up to an elevation of 6000 feet, or nearly 2000 higher 
than E. truncatum. The flowers are of a rosy crimson colour, very clear and 
pretty, and they are produced with great freedom. Mr. Gardner’s account 
of the discovery of this plant is interesting. “Through dense masses of 
large Bamboos with stems often more than half a foot thick and 60 to 70 feet 
high we had to cut our way up the Organ Mountains till we came, after a 
toilsome day’s journey, to a small waterfall where we encamped for the 
night. On the trunks of the large trees growing near this spot ! saw abun¬ 
dance of Epiphyllum truncatum beautifully in flower ; and higher up the 
Mountain the next morning I found a lovely new species belonging to the 
same group as E. truncatum and much resembling it in many points, equally 
large, but with a more graceful mode of growth and lighter-coloured blossoms, 
the stamens, too, being uniformly pink.” The plants found were sent to the 
Duke of Bedford’s celebrated collection at Woburn about 1839, and in honour 
of the Duke the species received the name it now bears. The time of year 
at which this Epiphyllum flowers has enabled hybridisers to extend the 
flowering period of these plants fully two months—a most important advan 
tage, and if it were for this alone E. Bussellianum has been a valuable 
introduction. 
E. Altensteini. —Though not wanting in attractions this is rarely seen 
in gardens, and is usually regarded as a variety of E. truncatum. It differs, 
however, in its more slender branches being much larger, and the flowers are 
of a rosy colour. The flowering period is the same as the better-known 
species, and, like that, it is a native of Brazil.— Lewis Castle. 
