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Cereus (From cereus pliant)

(from cereus, pliant; in reference to the shoots of some species). Torch Thistle. ORD. Cacteoe, Fleshy grotesque greenhouse shrubs, with a woody axis, and medulliferous inside; angles vertical, bearing fascicles of spines, regularly furrowed. Flowers large, rising from the fascicles of spines, or indentures on the angles; sepals very numerous, imbricated, adnate to the base of the ovary, united into an elongated tube; outer sepals the shortest, forming the calyx; middle ones longer and coloured, innermost ones petaloid; stamens very numerous, united with the tube; style filiform, multifid at the apex. Berry areolate, tubercular or scaly, either from the remains of the sepals, or from their cicatrices when they have fallen off. For culture, see Cactus.

Of this large genus, the following species are the best, and most easily obtained. Numerous others are offered for sale, principally by continental growers.

C. coccineus (scarlet).* fl. scarlet, large, numerous. September. Plant with long joints, rooting, deep green, triangular; ribs compressed, repand; prickles rising from yellow tomentum, radiating ones few, pilose, white, and four rather recurved, stiff, fulvous central ones in each fascicle. Brazil, 1828.

C. crenulatus (crenulate). Plant simple, erect, greyish-green; with eight blunt tubercular ribs, and narrow recesses; areolae, while young, convex and velvety; prickles fourteen in each fascicle, white, setaceous, stiff, outer ten radiating, central four diverging, and longer than the others. Stem 6in. high, and 2in. in diameter. Mexico, 1822.

C. fimbriatus (fringed).* fl. rose-coloured, campanulate, with few petals, which are fringed; tube short; stamens very numerous. fr. globose, red, size of an orange, beset with prickly tubercles. Plant tall, erect, bluntly eight-angled; prickles setaceous, white. h. 18ft. to 25ft. St. Domingo, 1826. C. flagelliformis (whip-formed).* fl. red or pink, very handsome; style rather shorter than the petals. March. Stems prostrate, creeping, with about ten angles; tubercles crowded, bearing bristles. Peru, 1690. (B. M. 17.) C. fulgidus (glittering).* fl. orange-scarlet, having the inner petals blood-red, and glossy with a metallic lustre, 6in. to 7in. across. Tropical America, 1870. A very handsome tall-growing plant, with three to four-angled stems, spiny at the nodes. (B. M. 5856.) C. grandiflorus (large-flowered).* fl. very large. June to August. Stems rooting, diffuse, climbing, five to six-angled; bristles 5in. to 8in. each, fascicled, hardly longer than the down from which they proceed. West Indian Islands, 1700. The flowers continue about six hours in full blossom. They begin to open between seven and eight o'clock in the evening, and are fully blown by eleven. By three or four o'clock in the morning, they fade; but, during their short existence, there is hardly any flower of greater beauty, or that makes a more magnificent appearance. The calyx of the flower, when open, is nearly 1ft. in diameter; the inside, being of a splendid yellow colour, appears like the rays of a bright star; the outside is of a dark brown. The petals, being of a pure white, contribute to the lustre; the vast number of recurved stamens in the center of the flower make a fine appearance. Add to all this the strong, sweet fragrance, and there is scarcely any plant which so much deserves a place in the stove, as this, especially as it may be trained against the wall, where it will not take up any room. (B. M. 3381.) C. hexagonus (six-angled). fl. solitary, 6in. long; the sepals along the tube greenish and irregularly imbricated; limb a little expanded, reddish outside and white inside; stamens greenish, Plant simple, erect, large, usually with six strong ribs; fascicles of spines middle-sized; prickles short, brown. h. about 40ft., usually without any branches. South America, 1690. C. lividus (livid). fl. white, with a yellow-green tinge towards the outside, 10in. in diameter. June. Plant erect, very sparingly branched; stems five to six-angled, constricted or jointed at intervals, with thick, flat, straight, round-edged ribs, 1in. or more in depth. Brazil, 1868. C. Macdonaldiae (Macdonald's).* fl. opening during the night, when fully expanded 12in. to 14in. diameter; sepals bright red and orange, radiating, and very numerous; petals delicate white. July. Stems cylindrical, creeping, branched, slender. Honduras. This is a magnificent species. (B. M. 4707.) C. nycticalus (night - flowering). fl. white, opening at night, scentless, similar in form to, but larger than, those of C. grandiflorus. Plant with sub-erect, long, jointed, climbing branches, some cylindrical with four to five series of spines, others with from four to six ribs. Spines small, very rigid, each cluster containing about four, mixed with white, often deciduous setae. Mexico. Suitable for planting against the wall of a warm greenhouse. C. pentagonus (five-angled).* fl. white, large. July. Plant erect, jointed, slender, pale green, five-angled; ribs repand; prickles naked at the base, nearly equal, slender, straw-coloured, with five to six radiating ones in each fascicle, and one central one. Stems varying, with three, four, or five angles. h. 3ft. South America, 1769.

C. pleiogonus (many-stamened). fl. purplish-red. Plant light olive-green, erect, cylindrical, with about thirteen very small ribs; the areolae are slightly swollen at the summit, then form small tubercles more and more distinct until, at the base, the ribs almost completely disappear. Spines about thirteen, the exterior ones radiating pretty regularly; the upper ones the shorter, and the interior ones more or less erect. Native country unknown. h. 6in.

C. quadrangularis (four-angled).* fl. white, opening at night, beautiful and sweet-scented. Plant creeping, three to four-angled; angles hardly channeled; spines five to seven in each fascicle, hardly stellate. West Indies, 1809. C. repandus (repand). fl., tube green, unarmed; inner calycine or corolline lobes white; outer lobes of calyx narrow and much acuminated, almost exceeding the inner ones in length. May. Plant long, erect, with eight to nine blunt angles; angles rather undulated; spines longer than the wool from which they issue. h. 10ft. to 20ft. Caribbee Islands, 1728. (B. R. 336.) C. serpentinus (serpentine).* fl. large, very handsome; lobes bluntish, outer ones greenish, middle ones purplish, inner ones white; floral tubes very bristly at the base. Plant creeping, flexuous, and somewhat climbing, with eleven to twelve very blunt angles; bristles in fascicles, much longer than the wool from which they issue, but which at length falls off. h. 3ft. to 4ft. South America, 1817. (B. M. 3566.) C. speciosissimus (most showy).* fl. large, of a beautiful scarlet colour, sometimes violaceous inside; petals spreading; stamens white. July, August. Plant erect, three to four-angled; angles toothed; prickles subulate, straight, rising from white tomentum. h. 3ft. to 6ft. Mexico, 1816. (B. M. 3822.) C. triangularis (three-angled). fl. greenish on the outside, and white inside, larger than that of most other species. July. Plant creeping, trigonal; prickles short, four in a fascicle, somewhat decussate. h. 1ft. to 2ft. Mexico, 1690. (B. M. 1884.)