SPECIES.
[P. aculeata] (prickly); West Indian or Barbados Gooseberry.—Stem woody, more or less erect, branching freely, and forming a dense bush about 6 ft. high. Young branches leafy; old ones brown, leafless, clothed with large cushions of long, stout, brown spines, sometimes 2 in. in length. Leaves alternate, with very short petioles, at the base of which is a pair of short spines, and a small tuft of wool in the axil; blade 3 in. long by 2 in. broad, soft, fleshy, shining green. Flowers semi-transparent, white, in terminal panicles; sepals and petals ¾ in. long by ¼ in. wide; stamens in a large, spreading cluster, white, with yellow anthers. Ovary covered with small cushions of short bristles, with sometimes a solitary spine in the centre of each cushion. Fruit 1 in. long, egg-shaped, red, edible. There is a large plant of this in the Succulent House at Kew which flowers almost annually, but it has never ripened fruits. In the West Indies it is a very common shrub, whilst at the 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 ¼ in. to ½ in. in diameter. Leaves ½ 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.
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 measuring nearly 2 in. across. This species is a native of Mexico; it grows and flowers freely if kept in a warm house.
FIG. 88.—PERESKIA ZINNIAEFLORA