rs are developed on the
top of the stem, and are about 4 in. in diameter, with a thick tube; the
petals are spreading, bright yellow in colour, and arranged in a
regular, bell-like whorl. Inside this bell is a circle of purple
filaments or stamens, forming a pretty contrast with the clear yellow of
the petals. This is a recent introduction, which flowered in the Kew
collection for the first time in June, 1886. It is one of the most
beautiful of the large-flowered kinds, and, as it thrives in a warm
greenhouse and is very free-flowering, it may be expected to become a
favourite with Cactus growers. Owing to the lack of information
respecting the conditions under which many of the Cactuses are found
wild, and to the fact that little in the way of experimental culture has
been done by growers of this family, cultivators are sometimes in the
dark as regards the lowest temperature in which the rarer kinds can be
safely grown. Many of the species of the present genus, for instance,
were grown in stoves years ago but are now known to thrive in a cool
greenhouse where frost alone is excluded.

E. multiflorus (many-flowered); Bot. Mag. 4181.--A well-named Cactus,
as its small stem (seldom more than 5 in. high, and the same in width)
often bears a large cap-like cluster of beautiful white flowers, except
for a slight tinge of brown on the tips of the petals. Each flower is
composed of a green, scaly tube, and several rows of reflexed petals,
which form a shallow cup 21/2 in. across. The stamens are tipped with
orange-coloured anthers, and the stigma is rayed and snow-white. The
stem is ridged with rows of fleshy mammae or tubercles, which are
curiously humped, and each bears a cluster of spreading, brown spines,
1 in. long. The number of flowers this little plant annually produces
seems more than could be possible without proving fatal to its health;
but we have seen it blossom year after year, and in no way has its
health appeared impaired. It may be grown on a shelf in a warm
greenhouse, or in the window of a heated dwelling-room. Introduced,
probably from Mexico, in 1845. This, like all the small,
globular-stemmed kinds, may be grafted on the stem of a Cereus of
suitable thickness. Some cultivators believe that grafting causes the
plants to flower more freely, but we have not observed any difference in
this respect between grafted and ungrafted plants.

E. myriostigma. (many-dotted); Fig. 40.--In the form of the stem of
this