Cape of Good Hope it is used for fences--and a capital
one it makes.

P. a. rubescens (reddish).--This variety has narrower, longer leaves,
which are glaucous-green above and tinged with red below; the spines on
the old stems are shorter and more numerous in each cushion. This
requires the same treatment as the type.

P. Bleo (native name); Fig. 87.--A stout, branching shrub, having an
erect stem, 3 in. or more in diameter, with green bark and very large
cushions of spines; cushion a round, hard mass of short, woolly hair,
from which the spines--about fifty in each cushion--radiate in all
directions; longest spines 2 in. or more in length; one or two new ones
are developed annually, and these are bright red when young, almost
black when ripe; young branches 1/4 in. to 1/2 in. in diameter. Leaves 1/2 in.
apart, 3 in. to 6 in. long by 1 in. to 2 in. wide, oblong, pointed, with
short petioles, and a small tuft of short, brown hair, with three or
more reddish spines, in the axil of each. Flowers on the ends of the
young, ripened branches, clustered in the upper leaf-axils, each flower
2 in. across, and composed of a regular circle of rosy-red petals, with a
cluster of whitish stamens in the centre. They remain on the plant
several weeks. Native of New Grenada. Probably P. grandiflora is the
same as this, or a slightly different form of it. A large specimen may
be obtained in a year or two by planting it in a well-drained bed of
loam, in a warm, sunny house. It blossoms almost all summer if allowed
to make strong growth. Pretty little flowering plants may be had by
taking ripened growths from an old plant, and treating them as cuttings
till rooted. In the following spring they are almost certain to produce
flowers. Plants 1 ft. high, bearing a cluster of flowers, are thus
annually obtained at Kew. Fig. 87 represents a short, stunted branch,
probably from a specimen grown in a pot. When planted out, the leaves
and spine-cushions are farther apart.

[Illustration: FIG. 87. PERESKIA BLEO.]

P. zinniaeflora (Zinnia-flowered); Fig. 88.--Stem erect, woody,
branching freely, the branches bearing oval, acuminate, fleshy,
wavy-edged, green leaves, with short petioles, and a pair of spines in
the axil of each. Spine-cushions on old stems crowded with stout, brown
spines. Flowers rosy-red, terminal on the ripened young shoots, and
composed of a whorl of broad, overlapping petals, with a cluster of
stamens in the centre, the whole m