The plants correctly designated by this name constitute the family Cactaceae. Scarcely any group in the whole plant kingdom is more remarkable for its strange and varied forms, the beauty of its flowers, and wonderful adaptation to desert life. It is not, however, confined to desert regions; for in the moist forests of the tropics of the New World it is represented by a number of interesting forms often epiphytal or scrambling in their habit of growth, with beautiful flowers and sometimes with delicious edible fruit