THE 
FLORIST’S JOURNAL. 
January 1 , 1841 . 
CEREUS TRIANGULARIS. 
At page 157 of our first volume, we noticed the blooming of 
this most splendid flower, in the conservatory of W. M. Christy, 
Esq.; and we there stated that to be the first time of its flowering 
in this country. In this we were partly wrong, and partly right. 
Wrong, in so far as that the plant had flowered before ; and right, 
in so far as that the former flowers, instead of being splendid, 
were so insignificant that even those in charge paid no attention 
to them, and the rest of the world were in ignorance of the fact. 
It flowered in the Kew Gardens, and also in those of the Horti¬ 
cultural Society ; but so insignificant was its bloom, that when the 
director of the latter gardens saw Mr. Christy’s, even before it had 
expanded, he was of opinion that it was a new species. In this, 
there is a useful lesson,-—not to us, for we cannot be expected to 
hunt out every flower which the parties themselves neglect,— 
but a lesson of a more valuable kind ; a very palpable hint to the 
cultivator, never to come to a positive and ultimate conclusion as 
to the beauty of a flower, until he has hit upon the very best way 
of flowering it. This is not so easy a matter as some may be apt 
to suppose. For the modes of treating a plant are numerous, 
almost to indefinitude, and of this number there is only one which 
is the best. This, we believe, is to a very great extent indeter¬ 
minate ; and must, in a great measure, be arrived at by trial and 
error. [On the importance and mode of conducting which “ trial 
and error,” we intend, some day, to offer a few remarks.] Nature 
is only a partial guide in this ; for the purpose of nature is not to 
VOL, II. no, i, b 
