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CEREUS. 
colour, and keep open three or four days. 
This plant is a native of Peru. 
“ The Six-angled Upright Cereus, or 
Torch-thistle, was the first which became 
common in English hot-houses. This plant, 
if not cut down, will grow forty feet high ; 
but wherever the stems are cut, they put out 
others from the angles immediately below the 
wounded part. The flowers are white, and 
as large as those of the hollyhock. It does 
not often flower ; when it does, it is generally 
in July. It is a native of Surinam, and is fed 
upon by the cochineal insect, for whose sake 
it is extensively propagated by the Indians.” 
