stration: FIG. 89. RHIPSALIS FUNALIS.]

R. Houlletii (Houllet's); Bot. Mag. 6089.--Stems long, graceful,
branching freely, round and twig-like, or with broad wings, as in
Phyllocactus. Winged or flattened portions notched, and bearing a flower
in each notch. Flowers stalkless, with pointed, straw-coloured petals,
forming a shallow cup about 3/4 in. across the top. Stamens and pistil
white, with a tinge of red at the base. Flowering-season, November.
Under cultivation, this Brazilian species forms a small, straggling
shrub, about 3 ft. high, but in its native woods its stems are many feet
long, and pendulous from the branches of trees. It may be grown in a
warm house, in a pot, and its branches supported by a stake; or its
lower stems may be fastened against a piece of soft fern-stem, into
which its numerous stem-roots penetrate freely. In the winter it should
be kept almost dry. The flowers remain fresh for several days, and are
fragrant. A well-grown plant, when in flower, is an interesting and
pretty object. It is the most ornamental kind.

R. Knightii (Knight's).--Stems and joints as in R. commune. Wings of
joints usually broad, with red margins, and the hair in the notches in a
dense tuft, nearly 1 in. long, pure white, and silk-like. Flowers small,
white. This species, which thrives best under warm-house treatment, is a
native of Brazil, and is usually grown only for its curious, Cereus-like
stems. It forms a straggling plant about 1 ft. high. Syn. Lepismium
Knightii, Cereus Knightii.

R. mesembryanthemoides (Mesembryanthemum-like); Bot. Mag. 3O78.--A
small, compact plant, with woody stems, densely covered with little
fleshy, conical joints, resembling very closely the leaves of some of
the Mesembryanthemums. They are green, with a few red dots, each bearing
a very small tuft of the finest hair-like spines. The flowers are
developed in March, from the sides of the small joints; they are 1/2 in.
across, and yellowish-white. Fruit a small, white, round berry. Native
of South America, whence it was introduced in 1831. When grown in a warm
house, in a small, round, wire basket, filled with peat and sphagnum,
this little Cactus forms a pretty tuft, which in the spring produces
large numbers of white, star-like flowers.

R. myosurus (mouse-tailed); Bot. Mag. 3755.--Stems dependent, several
feet long, branching freely, jointed, with three or four angles or
wings; the angles flattened, reddish, notched in the margin, an