c8o C A C T U S. 
Species. I. F.ehinomeloca£ti, of. a vonifdifh form, i. 
Cactus maminillaris, or final ler melon thiftle, or tuik’s 
cap: roundifh, covered with ovate-bearded tubercles. 
This differs from the fecond in being fmailer, and in being 
.covered with tubercles, between which the flowers and 
fruit come out, round the middle of the plant. The flow- 
.ers appear in July and Augufl. The fruit is of a tine leaf¬ 
let colour; and, continuing frelh upon the plants through 
the winter, they are very beautiful at that feafon. Lin¬ 
naeus obferves, that it is fortified ali over with bearded 
•jttipiltl.se like tlie mefembryanthemum ; that it is milky 
-like the euphorbia ; and that it has the fructification of 
cadtus. Ray mentions that it was cultivated at Fulham, 
in the garden of hilltop Compton, “ the ever-to-be-cdc- 
brated patron of botany and polite arts.” It was alfo in 
•the royal garden of HamptonfCourt, in 1690. The Child- 
ing variety is but little larger than the other, growing 
nearly in the fame form ; but produces a great number of 
young plants from the Tides, by which it is increafed. It 
produces tufts of a foft white down upon the tubercles or 
knobs, and -alfo between them, fo that the whole plant 
appears as if it were covered with fine cotton. The llow- 
,ers are larger, but have not been fucceeded by fruit in 
England ; inllead of it, young plants have been thru ft out 
the following Tea fon from the lame places where the ilovv- 
,ers had appeared. 
2. Cabins melocaftus, or great melon-thifile, or Turk’s 
xap : roundilh, fourteen or fifteen angled. The great me¬ 
lon- thiftle appears like a large flefhy green melon, with 
.deep ribs, let ail over with Itrong (harp thorns. When 
it is cut through the middle, the infide is found to be a 
loft green fletliy fubftance, very full of moillure. 1 lie 
flowers and fruit are produced in circles round the upper 
part of the cap. Some of thele which have been brought 
to England have been more than a yard in circumference, 
and two feet and a half high, including the cap : but in 
the Wed Indies there are plants near twice as large. Lin¬ 
naeus obferves, that this plant refembles a hedge-hog in 
its form and fpines; and on the top has a dilcoid, con¬ 
vex, villofe, body, from which the flowers proceed. Mr. 
Miller received varieties with white fpines and with fpiral 
ribs from Antigua ; and never perceived the lead dil'po- 
fuion -in them to produce fruit, or even caps. Another 
variety was brought into England by Dr. Wm. Houdoun, 
who procured the plants from Mexico. This has two or¬ 
ders of thorns, in one of which they are llraight, and fet 
.on at the joints in cinders, fpreading out from the centre, 
.each way like a liar; and in the middle of each cinder is 
produced .one broad fiat thorn near two inches in length, 
which Itands eredl, is recurved at the point, and ot a 
brownifh red colour. Thefe thorns are by the inhabitants 
of Mexico let in gold or filver, for tooth-picks. 
Miller, having made four fpecies of this great tnelon- 
thidle, thinks that if the iflands in the Wed Indies were 
examined -many more forts would be found. Thefe 
Era nee plants commonly grow upon the deep ddes of 
rocks in the hotted parts of America, where they feem to 
be thruft out of the apertures, having little or no earth 
fo fupport them ; their roots (hooting down into the fif- 
fures of the rock to a confiderable depth, fo that it is 
troublefome to get the plants up. As they delight in 
inch rocky places, they (eldom live long when tranfplant- 
.ed into a better foil. In times of great drought the cat¬ 
tle repair to the barren rocks where thefe plants grow, 
rip them up with their horns, tear off the outdde (kin, and 
greedily devour all the flelhy mold part. The fruit is 
frequently eaten by the inhabitants of the Wed Indies. 
It is about three quarters of an inch in length, of a taper 
form, drawing to a point at the bottom, but blunt at the 
top; the fade is an agreeable acid, Gerarde complains 
that the great melon-thidle would not grow with him, by 
j-eafon of the coldnefs of the climate. Ray had the plants 
in pots, fix years old. Fairchild, of Hoxton, railed many 
young plants from the feed. Bradley cultivated it in 1727. 
He, ip his Philosophical Account of the Works of Nature, 
publidied in 1721, and Miller, in the Florid’s DrSEohary, 
1724, mentions that one was then to be feen in the dove 
at Hampton-court. It is 'frequently brought from the 
Wed Indies, but fcldom continues long in our climate. 
II. Cereufes, erect, lupporting themlelves. 3. Cadtus 
pi.tajaya: erect, triangular. This is upright, eight or ten 
leet high ; when it grows higher, it wants fupport, but 
does not put out any roots from the dein. The flower is 
whitilh, very handfome, but has hardly any lm<dl ; it is 
half a foot in diameter, and blovvs in the night. The fruit 
is of the form and lize of a lieu’s egg, of a diining fcarlet 
colour on the outfide ; the pulp is white, flefliv, fweet, 
eatable, full of fmall black, (tuning feeds. Native of Car- 
thagena, and the ille of Mango. 
4. Cadtus heptagonus, cr leven-angied upright torch- 
thiftle : erect, oblong, leven-angied. Linnaeus fays, that 
his plant of cadtus heptagonus was exadtly ovate, with' 
(even angles deeply cut, and that it continued the fame 
for many years, though it grew well; others lay, that 
they have feen it a foot and a half and two feet high. 
The cereus heptagonus of Miller does not feem to be the 
fame with the cactus heptagonus of Linnaeus. It rather 
agrees with his repandus. This has not flowered in 
England. 
5. Cadtus tetragonus, or four-angled upright torcli- 
lliidle: erect, quadrangular, long; angles comprelfed, far 
alunder. It is very fubject to put out many flioots from 
the (ides, which flops its upright growth, fo that the plants 
rarely rife more than four-or five feet high. It was culti¬ 
vated by Mr. Miller in 1731, and flowers in July. 
6. Cactus liexangonus, or lix-angled upright torch- 
thiltle : eredt, lix-angled, long ; angles'Aidant. The an¬ 
gles of the hexangular torch-thiltle are armed with (harp 
fpines, coming out in .clutters at certain diflances, and 
fpreading from a centre every way ; tire outer fubftance 
of the plant is foft, herbaceous, and full of juice, but in 
the middle there is a Itrong fibrous circle running the 
whole length, which feeures the Items from being broken 
by'winds. They will rife to the height of thirty or forty 
feet, if their tops are not injured, and they have room to 
grow ; but whenever the (terns are cut, or injured, they 
put out flioots from the angles, immediately under the 
wounded part, and frequently one or two lower down : 
thefe, if they are not cut off’, form diltindt Items, and grow 
upright; but they are feldorn fo large as the principal 
Item, efpecially if more than one be left on a plant. The 
flowers come out from the angles on the fide of the ftem; 
they have a thick, ilefliy, fcaly, round, channelled, hairy, 
peduncle, fupporting a fwelling germ, upon the top of 
which (its the fcaly, prickly, calyx, clofely furrounding, 
the corolla, till a little time before it expands. The flow¬ 
er is then as large as that of a hollyhock ; the inner petals 
are white, and crenated at their extremity. The calyx is 
green, with To me purple flripes. It is not fucceeded by 
fruit in this country, nor do the plants often produce flow¬ 
ers ; but, when they do, there are generally feveral. The 
nfual time of flowering is in July. This lias been the 
common fort in the Englilh (loves. It grows naturally in 
Surinam, whence it was brought to Holland, where it 
produced flowers in the year 1681 ; and from the Dutch 
gardens molt parts of Europe have been fupplied with 
this plant. In 1690 it was introduced here by Mr. Ben- 
tick. Mr. Bradley fays, “ this beautiful plant was (h it 
railed in England by Mr. Adam Holt, at the bilhop of 
London’s (Compton) palace at Fulham; and that it flow¬ 
ered at Sir Richard Child’s at Wanftead.” 
7. Cactus pentagonus, or five-angled upright torch- 
thiltle: eredt, long, jointed; with about five angles. It 
was introduced about 1769. 
8. Cactus repandus, or (lender upright torch-thiflle : 
eredl, long, eight-angled; angles comprelfed, waved; 
fpines longer than the wool. Miller puts Sloane’s fyrto- 
nym, which Linnaeus attributes to this fpecies, to his gra, 
cilis, No. 8, which he deferibes as having the fmalleft 
ftem of any of the upright forts; generally nine obtufe 
angles 
