Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

PHYLLOCACTUS (fig. 3)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V04, Page 926 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

PHYLLOCACTUS (fig. 3) , the See also:Leaf See also:Cactus See also:family, consists of about a dozen See also:species, found in Central and tropical See also:South See also:America. Fin. 3.-See also:Branch of Phyllocactus much reduced; the See also:flowers are 6 in. or more in See also:diameter. They differ from all the forms already noticed in being shrubby and epiphytal in See also:habit, and in having the branches compressed and dilated so as to resemble thick fleshy leaves, with a strong median See also:axis and rounded woody See also:base. The margins of these leaf-like branches are more or less crenately notched, the notches representing buds, as do the spine-clusters in the spiny genera; and from these crenatures the large showy flowers are produced. As See also:garden See also:plants the Phyllocacti are amongst the most ornamental of the whole family, being of easy culture, See also:free blooming and remarkably showy, the See also:colour of the flowers ranging from See also:rich See also:crimson, through See also:rose-See also:pink to creamy See also:white. Cuttings strike readily in See also:spring before growth has commenced; they should be potted in 3-in. or 4-in. pots, well drained, in loamy See also:soil made very porous by the admixture of finely broken crocks and See also:sand, and placed in a temperature of 60°; when these pots are filled with roots they are to be shifted into larger ones, but overpotting must be avoided. During the summer they need considerable See also:heat, all the See also:light possible and plenty of See also:air; in See also:winter a temperature of 45° or 50° will be sufficient, and they must be kept tolerably dry at the See also:root. By the spring they may have larger pots if required and should be kept in a hot and fairly moistened See also:atmosphere; and by the end of See also:June, when they have made new growth, they may be turned out under a south See also:wall in the full See also:sun, See also:water being given only as required. In autumn they are to be returned to a cool See also:house and wintered in a dry See also:stove. The turning of them outdoors to ripen their growth is the surest way to obtain flowers, but they do not take on a free blooming habit until they have attained some See also:age.

They are often called See also:

Epiphyllum, which name is, however, properly restricted to the See also:group next to be mentioned.

End of Article: PHYLLOCACTUS (fig. 3)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
PHYLLITE (Gr. 40)XAov, a leaf, probably because the... 		[next]
PHYLLOXERA (Gr. 4suXXov, leaf, and Erlpbs, dry)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries