the gardening world. 
January 17, 1903. 
44 
The Melon Thistle 
or Turk’s Cap (Melocactus communis). 
The name Melocactus was applied by Theophrastus to some 
spiny plant which could not have been that which we have 
now under view, as that botanist lived long before the Ameri¬ 
can continents were known to Europeans'. The various species 
known are natives of Brazil, Mexico 1 , New Granada, and the 
West Indies. The common Turk’s Cap under notice is a native 
of the West Indies, from whence it was introduced in 1788, 
but as far as we can see has never been very common in this 
country. Even at the present day it is comparatively a rare 
plant in cultivation; and possibly no finer plant, exists in the 
country than that to be seen in the succulent house at Ke’w. 
The main feature® of the whole plant may be summed up in 
a few words. The body of the plant is globular, fleshy, very 
Melocactus communis. 
deeply ribbed longitudinally, and furnished with clusters of 
small -spines all along the ridges. On the top of this is a much 
narrower stem or growth, cylindrical in outline, covered with 
a dense mass of woolly-looking hairs and beset with slender 
spines. On the top of this singular structure the flowers are 
produced. All of the specie® of Turk’s Cap have this general 
character and structure, and the different,specie-s bear a con¬ 
siderable general resemblance to one another. 
The common Turk’s Cap (Melocactus communis) has from 
twelve to twenty ridges, which vary from lin. to 14 in. in depth. 
The flowers are rosy red, tubular, and about lin. long. The 
plant itself, however, is more interesting than the flowers, and 
for that alone it will be cultivated by those who succeed in 
getting possession of a specimen. 
Considerable difficulty attaches to the cultivation of this 
class of plants, which in a state of nature grow in dry, sandy, 
and rooky situations. At Kew it is planted out on a dry 
and stony rockery in the succulent house, where the tempera¬ 
ture is kept somewhat similar to that of a dry stove, more water 
being given, of course, during the summer than in winter. In 
making up a compost for it, the object in view is to make it 
porous and open, so that all superfluous moisture will readily 
drain away. Sandy loam, with a good percentage of broken 
bricks of a soft and porous character, is the nature of the com¬ 
post usually made up for plants of this class. Our illustration 
shows the plant at Kew as it grows amongst stones, in 
company with various other plants, belonging to the same 
natural order, while other -subjects may be seen in the near 
neighbourhood requiring similar treatment, but belonging to 
other orders. 
A large number of species of Melon Thistle have been de¬ 
scribed and recorded in botanical works. A few have been 
introduced at. different, periods to this country, but the difficulty 
attached to their cultivation is almost certain to result in the 
loss of the plants introduced after a few years. They woidd 
require a house to themselves, or, at least, one with a dry 
atmosphere similar to that of the succulent house at Kew. 
The Strawberry Tree. 
Arbutus.—Despite the great number of names applied to 
Arbutuses in gardens, there are in reality only three species 
that are hardy in Britain. A. Laredo, the Strawberry Tree, and 
its several varieties are useful in flowering towards the end 
of the year; the variety rubra (the A. Croomii of gardens) is 
noteworthy for the bright-reddish flowers; other varieties are 
integerrima, microphylla and quercifolia. Arbutus Andrachne, 
from the Levant, is one of the rarest shrubs in gardens, 
although plants so-called are frequently met with. Perhaps it 
is not quite hardy, but what one usually sees under the name 
is A. hybrida—a hybrid between this, species and A. Unedo. 
Numerous named forms belong to the A. hybrida—indeed, 
some of the most useful of the Arbutus—such as A. Rollisoni, 
A. magnifies, A. photinisefolia, etc., etc. The third species 
is the Californian A. Menziesii (or A. procera), a beautiful 
shrub producing racemes of dull-white flowers in May. The 
Arbutuses are frequently veiy beautiful, because of the soft 
red colour and smoothness of their bark. W. J. Bean. 
Our Friend the Bounce. 
I am certain that we all know him. Although it is very satis¬ 
factory to know that the gardening profession is less cursed 
with him than some other callings, still, he is to be found ; and 
although he may often he simply laughed ait, still he is very 
trying at times. I do not know that I have given him the 
name that suit® him best,. It were perhaps better to class 
him with his near relatives, the angler and horsey-man, in that 
large family known a® liars. I have in my mind a certain 
member of the craft who had seen some really wonderful things 
in his time. Curious that all these wonders were seen at some 
period in the fast ! Well, this genius -saw at Dundee Show 
some years ago a plant of Mine. Desgranges Chrysanthemum, 
in a pot that carried 800 large blooms, and each bloom had a 
stage to itself. How is that for a record? 
This is only a sample of the “ tall ” stories he was in the 
habit of telling. The Grapes, Peaches, and Tomatos he had 
grown were most wonderful. Unfortunately, his former em¬ 
ployers had invariably refused to allow him to shoKv, so the 
public lost many a glorious sight. Another of these li— (I 
mean bouncers) had grown Chrysanthemums 26 inches in 
diameter—individual blooms, mark you ! not plants. It is 
well this genius did not exhibit, or else the show-rooms would 
have to be enlarged considerably; C. Blair; 
Preston, Linlithgow. 
