--This species has many characters
in common with E. hexaedrophorus and E. gibbosus, the stem being no
larger than a small orange, with plump globose tubercles, bearing
star-shaped clusters of short brown spines. The flowers are 11/2 in. long
and wide, and are composed of a green fleshy tube, with a few whitish
scales, which gradually enlarge till, with the white, rose-tipped
petals, they form a spreading cup, the large cluster of pale yellow
stamens occupying the whole of the centre. This pretty little Cactus was
raised from seeds by Messrs. Lee, of the Hammersmith Nursery, in 1840.
It is a native of the Argentine Provinces, and flowers in May. The
treatment recommended for E. gibbosus will be found suitable for this.
It is happiest when grafted on to another kind. For the amateur whose
plants are grown in a room window or small plant-case, these tiny
Hedgehog Cactuses are much more suitable than larger kinds, as they keep
in health under ordinary treatment, and flower annually; whereas, the
larger kinds, unless grown in properly-constructed houses, rarely
blossom.

E. longihamatus (long-hooked); Fig. 39.--We heartily wish all species
of Cactaceous plants were as readily distinguished and as easily defined
in words as in the present remarkably fine and handsome one--remarkable
in the very prominent ridges, the large and regularly-arranged spines,
the central one very long, flattened, and usually hooked at the end, and
handsome in the size and colouring of its flowers, both in the bud and
when fully expanded. The stem is globose, 8 in. or more high; it has
about thirteen prominent rounded ridges with waved tumid edges, from
which, about 11/2 in. apart, spring clusters of spines, about a dozen in
each cluster, dark red when young, becoming brown with age. In length,
these spines vary from 1 in. to 6 in., the latter being the length of the
central, hooked one, which is broad and flattened at the base. The
flowers are 4 in. broad and long, the tube short, green, and bearing
reddish scales, which gradually pass into bright yellow petals blotched
with red on the outside, the inner ones spreading and forming a shallow
cup, in the centre of which are the short yellow stamens and large
pistil. Plants of this species have been grown with stems 20 in. high;
but it takes a great number of years for the development of such
specimens. The flowers are produced on the apex of the stem in July.
This species was introduced from Mexico a