The general belief with respect to Cactuses is that they are all wanting
in beauty, that they are remarkable only in that they are exceedingly
curious in form, and as a rule very ugly. It is true that none of them
possess any claims to gracefulness of habit or elegance of foliage, such
as are usual in popular plants, and, when not in flower, very few of the
Cactuses would answer to our present ideas of beauty with respect to the
plants we cultivate. Nevertheless, the stems of many of them (see
Frontispiece, Fig. 1) are peculiarly attractive on account of their
strange, even fantastic, forms, their spiny clothing, the absence of
leaves, except in very few cases, and their singular manner of growth.
To the few who care for Cactuses there is a great deal of beauty, even
in these characters, although perhaps the eye has to be educated up to
it.

If the stems are more curious than beautiful, the flowers of the
majority of the species of Cactuses are unsurpassed, as regards size and
form, and brilliancy and variety in colour, by any other family of
plants, not even excluding Orchids. In size some of the flowers equal
those of the Queen of Water Lilies (Victoria regia), whilst the colours
vary from the purest white to brilliant crimson and deep yellow. Some of
them are also deliciously fragrant. Those kinds which expand their huge
blossoms only at night are particularly interesting; and in the early
days of Cactus culture the flowering of one of these was a great event
in English gardens.

Of the many collections of Cactuses formed many years ago in England,
that at Kew is the only one that still exists. This collection has
always been rich in the number of species it contained; at the present
time the number of kinds cultivated there is about 500. Mr. Peacock, of