Cactus Culture For Amateurs | Page 4

most of us are familiar, and, by observing the structure of its
flowers, obtain some idea of the botanical characters of the whole
order.
Phyllocactus has thin woody stems and branches composed of
numerous long leaf-like joints, growing out of one another, and
resembling thick leaves joined by their ends. Along the sides of these
joints there are numerous notches, springing from which are the large
handsome flowers. On looking carefully, we perceive that the long
stalk-like expansion is not a stalk, because it is above the seed vessel,
which is, of course, a portion of the flower itself. It is a hollow tube,
and contains the long style or connection between the seed vessel and
the stigma, a (Fig. 2). This tube, then, must be the calyx, and the small
scattered scale-like bodies, b (Fig. 2), which clothe the outside, are

really calyx lobes.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--FLOWER OF PHYLLOCACTUS, CUT
LENGTHWISE.
a, Calyx Tube. b, Calyx Lobes. c, Ditto, assuming the form of Petals. d,
Stamens. e, Style. f, Ovary or Seed Vessel.]
Nearer the top of the flower, these calyx lobes are better developed,
until, surrounding the corolla, we find them assuming the form and
appearance of petals, c (Fig. 2). The corolla is composed of a large
number of long strap-shaped pointed petals, very thin and delicate,
often beautifully coloured, and generally spreading outwards.
Springing from the bases of these petals, we find the stamens, d (Fig. 2),
a great number of them, forming a bunch of threads unequal in length,
and bearing on their tips the hay-seed-like anthers, which are attached
to the threads by one of their points. The style is a long cylindrical
body, e (Fig. 2), which stretches from the ovary to the top of the flower,
where it splits into a head of spreading linear rays, ½ in. in length.
When the flower withers, the seed vessel, f (Fig. 2), remains on the
plant and expands into a large succulent fruit, inside which is a mass of
pulpy matter, inclosing the numerous, small, black, bony seeds.
It must not be supposed that all the genera into which Cactuses are
divided are characterised by large flowers such as would render their
study as easy as the genus taken as an illustration. In some, such for
instance as the Rhipsalis, the flowers are small, and therefore less easy
to dissect than those of Phyllocactus.
The stems of Cactuses show a very wide range of variation in size, in
form, and in structure. In size, we have the colossal Cereus giganteus,
whose straight stems when old are as firm as iron, and rise with many
ascending arms or rear their tall leafless trunks like ships' masts to a
height of 60 ft. or 70 ft. From this we descend through a multitude of
various shapes and sizes to the tiny tufted Mamillarias, no larger than a
lady's thimble, or the creeping Rhipsalis, which lies along the hard
ground on which it grows, and looks like hairy caterpillars. In form, the
variety is very remarkable. We have the Mistletoe Cactus, with the
appearance of a bunch of Mistletoe, berries and all; the Thimble Cactus;
the Dumpling Cactus; the Melon Cactus; the Turk's cap Cactus; the
Rat's-tail Cactus; the Hedgehog Cactus; all having a resemblance to the
things whose names they bear. Then there is the Indian Fig, with

branches like battledores, joined by their ends; the Epiphyllum and
Phyllocactus, with flattened leaf-like stems; the columnar spiny Cereus,
with deeply channelled stems and the appearance of immense
candelabra. Totally devoid of leaves, and often skeleton-like in
appearance, these plants have a strange look about them, which is
suggestive of some fossilised forms of vegetation belonging to the past
ages of the mastodon, the elk, and the dodo, rather than to the living
things of to-day.
By far the greater part of the species of Cactuses belong to the group
with tall or elongated stems. "It is worthy of remark that as the stems
advance in age the angles fill up, or the articulations disappear, in
consequence of the slow growth of the woody axis and the gradual
development of the cellular substance; so that, at the end of a number
of years, all the branches of Cactuses, however angular or compressed
they originally may have been, become trunks that are either perfectly
cylindrical, or which have scarcely any visible angles."
A second large group is that of which the Melon and Hedgehog
Cactuses are good representatives, which have sphere-shaped stems,
covered with stout spines. We have hitherto spoken of the Cactuses as
being without leaves, but this is only true of them when in an old or
fully-developed state. On many of the stems we find upon their surface,
or angles, small tubercles, which, when young, bear tiny scale-like