Ruckerianum_, light purple with violet center;
_Magnificum_, white, slightly pinkish at the edge; and _violaceum
superbum_, white with rich purple edge, are some of the other good
varieties of these beautiful plants. _Phyllocactus_ is perhaps the next
best flowering sort. The flowers are larger, more gorgeous, but borne
only for a very short time. _P. Ackermanni_ is one of the best of these.
It has very large flowers, lily-shaped, bright red shading to light red
with the inner petals, and the long gracefully curved stamens add to its
beauty. It blossoms in May or early June, but the season is usually
limited to two or three weeks. The night blooming _Phyllocactus_, with
white flowers, is commonly confused with the Night-Blooming cereus.
Cereus may be distinguished by its angular stems as compared to the
broad flat stems of _Phyllocactus_. _C. grandiflorus_ and _C.
Macdonaldiae_, the famous Night-blooming cereuses, have white flowers
which remain open only one night. They are, however, though so
transient, a marvelous sight. Prone to strange tasks indeed is the hand
of Nature which has fashioned these grotesque, clumsy, lifeless looking
plants to accumulate nourishment and moisture for months from the
niggardly desert sands, and to mature for a few hours' existence only
these marvelously fashioned flowers which collapse with the first rays
of the heat-giving sunshine. _C. flagelliformis_, and _C.
speciosissimus_, two very gorgeous flowered day blooming sorts, remain
longer, but they are not so hardy as most of the other cacti. _Opuntia_,
the Indian fig, is another flowering sort, though not so valuable. They
are grotesque in shape and the flowers, which are various shades of red
or yellow and two inches or so across, according to variety, look as
though they had been stuck onto the plant.

Of the other cacti commonly grown most are of dwarf form and a single
window will accommodate quite a number of them.

_Echinocactus_, the Hedge-hog cactus, is one of the best known of these.
_E. myriostigma_, the Bishop's Cap, is a quite familiar variety.

_Echinopsis_, the Sea-urchin cactus, is another queer dwarf type. The
flowers seem much too large for the plants, being sometimes half a foot
long. They are lily-shaped and rose pink or white, according to variety.

_Pilocereus senilis_, the Old Man cactus, is another sort which always
attracts attention in any collection. The stem is covered with fine
white hairy spines, three t