The night-flowering cereus (Cereus grandiflorus) has gained a fame, which entitles it to prominent notice, and plants might well be included in every garden, for its flowering is a source of interest to the least observant persons. In the character of producing its blooms at night, it is not alone, as several of the slender-growing species have a similar habit, but none equal this in beauty and fragrance. [Two species commonly called night-blooming cereus are more correctly C. nyclicalus and C. MacDonaldiac. ]

" That flower, supreme In loveliness and pure

As the pale Cynthia's beams, through which unveiled It blooms, as if unwilling to endure The gaze by which such beauties are assailed".

The flowers are really magnificent, and a plant with a dozen or two expanded at the same time has a superb appearance, particularly in the early evening when the flowers first expand, and the powerful fragrance they emit is very agreeable, having been aptly compared to vanilla. The stem is nearly cylindrical, with a few faintly marked ridges, bearing small clusters of spines, and rarely exceeds one inch in diameter, but attains a length of many feet, freely branching. The flowers vary in size from six to twelve inches in diameter, the usual size being eight or sine inches. The sepals are narrow, acute and spreading, about one-quarter of an inch broad, four to 6ve inches long, and thirty to forty in number, forming a beautiful fringe round the broader pure white petals, which are more in the form of a cup, the stamens being exceedingly numerous, with very long filaments. - Lewis Castle.