Rhipsalis
(from rhips, a Willow-branch; referring to the flexibility of the branches). Including Lepismium and Pfeiffera. ORD. Cactae. A genus of greenhouse, succulent shrubs, with sub-radicant, elongated, terete, or leafy-dilated and crenate stems. Thirty species have been described, natives of tropical America, one being found in South Africa, and one in Mauritius and Ceylon. Flowers lateral, rarely terminal; calyx tube not produced above the ovary, with three to many very short, scale-like lobes; petals six to ten, spreading, oblong; stamens numerous. Berry sub-globose, smooth. Leaves scale-like. The species best known in gardens are described below. They should be grown in a compost of sandy loam, leaf mould, and brick rubbish. Propagation may be effected by cuttings, inserted in rough gravel or brick rubbish, after having been dried at the base for a few days.
R. brachiata (forked). A synonym of R. Saglionis.
R. Cassytha (Cassytha).* fl. abundant on the sides of the branchlets, often crowded; calyx teeth five or six; petals five or six, greenish-white; stamens twelve to fourteen. September. fr., berry waxy-white, like that of the Mistletoe. Stems slender, terete, firm, branched, in dense whorls, the branches again branched; joints rare, except at the branching. h. 1ft. Tropics, &c., 1758. (B. M. 3080.)
R. communis (common). fl. rose, white: crenae furnished with an ovate acute scale and numerous white hairs. Summer to December. Plant articulated, erect, sub-radicant, pale green, triangular; ribs much compressed, repandly crenated. Brazil, 1836. (B. M. 3763, under name of Lepismium commune.) R. crispata (curled). fl. white, minute, scarcely odorous; petals six, ovate, reflexed; stamens numerous. December. fr., berry white, globose. Plant sub-erect, articulated; branches orbicular or oblong, sub-petiolate, yellowish-green, almost membranous, deeply crenate, the margins slightly curled. h. 1ft. Native place unknown.
R. fasciculata (cluster-branched). fl. similar to those of R. Cassytha, but smaller; petals five, dirty-yellow. fr., berry white, crowned with the remains of the corolla. Plant creeping, branched; branches fascicled, green, terete, very sparsely setose; young ones spirally sub-angular; areolae slightly clustered. Brazil. (B. M. 3079.)
R. funalis (cord-like). fl. white, very copious, ten lines in diameter, inodorous; petals seven or eight; stamens very numerous; February to April. Trunk 2ft. to 3ft. high, at length woody; branches long, terete, obtuse; areolae scattered, almost naked. Central America. See Fig. 365 SYN. R. grandiflora (B.M. 2740).
R. grandiflora (large-flowered). A synonym of R. funalis.
R. Houlletii (Houllet's).* fl. straw-colour, copiously produced in the axils of the marginal teeth. Branches pendulous; the articulations 3in. to 6in. long, elliptic-lanceolate, coarsely toothed, and of a glabrous-green, with a faint tinge of brownish-purple along the margins. Brazil, 1874. (B. M. 6089.)
R. mesembryanthemoides (mesembryanthemum-like). fl. white, 1/2in. across at the lateral joints; petals five, much-spreading. Spring. fr., berry white. Plant glomerately branched; branches 8in. to 10in. long, sub-erect, terete, bearing rooting joints; lateral joints clustered, terete, attenuated at both ends; fascicles of spines pale white, dying off blackish. Tropical America, 1817. (B. M. 3078.) R. pachyptera (thick-winged). fl. numerous upon the joints, solitary in each crenature; calyx leaflets three, brownish; petals five, pale yellowish-green. November. Plant 1ft. to 2ft. high, proliferously jointed and branched; joints 4in. to 6in. long, oblong, remarkably compressed, 1in. to 3in. broad, the margins slightly thickened, crenate-lobed, glabrous; lateral thickened nerves leading off from the distinct midrib, curving upwards to the crenatures. Brazil. (B. M. 2820, under name of Cactus alatus.)
R. paradoxa (paradoxical). fl. yellow, white; crenae remote, furnished with white hairs, and propped by leafy bracts. August to November. Plant diffusely sub-erect, sub-articulated; joints elongated, slender, three or four-sided; margins acute, crenulated, purple. Brazil, 1837. (B. M. 3755, under name of Lepismium Myosurus.)
R. penduliflora (pendulous-flowered). This is closely allied to R. Saglionis; it differs in its pendulous habit, fastigiate and quite terete branches, and pendulous flowers with more obtuse petals. Tropical America, 1877.
R. pentaptera (five-winged). fl. white, 1/2in. across, very copious in the crenatures of the branches and on the upper part of the trunk; petals six or seven, biseriate. February and March. Plant sub-erect, 1 1/2ft. high, long-jointed, full green; main stem five or six-angled, with slender, slightly twisted, five-angled branches; areolae remote. Brazil.
R. rhombea (diamond-branched). fl. greenish-white, solitary, small. Stem terete or variously compressed, and, as well as the branches, sub-erect, articulated, diffuse; joints 1in. to 3in. long, with filiform wings, ovate-or lanceolate-rhomboid, highly glabrous, and shining, incised-crenate at the margins. Brazil. (Ref. B. 152.) R. Saglionis (Saglio's). fl. greenish-yellow, rather large, terminal upon divaricate articulations, on the lower part of the stem. h. 8in. to 10in. Plant erect or nearly so; main stem cylindrical, bearing the few scattered flowering branches below, and above many horizontal branches, which are again divided, always opposite, brachiate, and with more numerous and shorter joints as they come nearer the ultimate divisions. Buenos Ayres. SYN. R. brachiata (B. M. 4039).
R. salicornoides (Glasswort-like).* fl. yellow, terminal, solitary or in pairs; corolla superior; petals numerous, thin, concave, never opening wide. Spring. Plant trailing (young specimens erect), proliferous; branches very numerous, spreading, jointed; joints club-shaped, rounded, tubercled, smooth, scarred, glaucous; older stems grey. Brazil. (B. M. 2461; G. C. n. s., v. 731.)
R. sarmentacea (twiggy-stemmed). fl. white. Stem slender, creeping, rooting, slightly branched, obtuse-angled; areolae clustered, minute, prickly, slightly tomentose; prickles eight to twelve, very slender, bristly, unequal, snow-white Bonaria, 1858. (B. M. 5136.)
R. Swartziana (Swartz's). fl. whitish, minute. June. fr., berry nearly black. Stem 1ft. to 2ft. high, simply branched, winged above; summit resembling the branches. Branches 6in. to 12in. long, alternate, flat, oblong or oblong-linear, remotely crenate, tapering at the stipitate, jointed base. Jamaica, 1810.