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A tall-growing plant, rather straggling in habit, branching freely, the stems usually four-winged, but sometimes with three, five, or more, constricted at intervals, as in Phyllocactus, the wings spiny along the edges; spines 1 in. long.
Joints broadly oblong, margins wavy; they resemble leaves, or the thin, leaf-like joints of a Phyllocactus, with the addition of long, whitish spines on both sides. Flowers 1½ in. in diameter, lemon-yellow, very freely produced on the younger joints during May and June. Fruit as large as a walnut, spiny, yellow when ripe. This species is a native of Brazil, whence it was introduced in 1816.
In a window with a south aspect, and which lights a room where fires are kept, at least during cold weather, specimens of Phyllocactus, Cereus flagelliformis, Epiphyllum, and, in fact, of almost every kind of Cactus, are sometimes to be met with even in England; whilst in Germany they are as popular among the poorer classes as the Fuchsia, the Pelargonium, and the Musk are with us.
It would be useless to attempt such a cross as Epiphyllum with Cereus giganteus, because of their widely different natures; but such crosses as Epiphyllum with Phyllocactus, and Cereus flagelliformis with C. speciosissimus, have been brought about.
Hitherto we have been dealing with those genera which have thick fleshy stems; but there still remain the genera Rhipsalis, Epiphyllum, and Phyllocactus, which are not capable of bearing the long period of drought advised for the former.
Thrips attack Phyllocactus, Rhipsalis, and Epiphyllum, especially when the plants are grown in less shade, or in a higher temperature, than is good for them. Fumigation with tobacco, dipping in a strong solution of tobacco, or sponging with a mixture of soap and water, are either of them effectual when applied to plants infested with thrips.
An easily-grown plant, sturdy, rather straggling, but very free-flowering. In old specimens the branches become semi-pendulous. It grows best when kept in a warm house. Syn. R. grandiflora. Mag. 6089. Stems long, graceful, branching freely, round and twig-like, or with broad wings, as in Phyllocactus. Winged or flattened portions notched, and bearing a flower in each notch.
This species is a native of Jamaica, and was introduced in 1810. A stiff, ungraceful plant, about 2 ft. high, very similar in its branches to a Phyllocactus. This species requires the temperature of a stove. Habit straggling; branches usually in forks, ¼ in. in diameter, three-angled; angles wavy or slightly notched, grey-green.
By using the pollen from one kind for dusting on to the stigma of another, hybrids may be obtained, and it is owing to the readiness with which the plants of this family cross with each other, that so many hybrids and forms of the genera Epiphyllum and Phyllocactus have been raised.
It is probable that this plant has been in cultivation for many years, as it was figured in the work quoted above under the name of one of the first introduced kinds of Phyllocactus, from which, however, it is abundantly distinct, as will be seen by a comparison of the descriptions of the two.
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