Derivation. From dis, twice, and ous, otos, an ear. The calyx of the female flower ends in two segments, which fancy may compare to ears, although they more resemble horns: and this second idea is doubtless that referred to in Tournefort's generic name Ceratöldes, from keras, a horn, gen. keratos, and eidos, likeness. 1. D. CERATÖI'DES W. The two-horned-calyxed Diotis. Identification. Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 368. Engravings. Jacq. Ic. Rar., 1. t. 189.; Gmel. Sib., 3. p. 17. No. 10. t. 2. f. 1.; Act. Petrop., 16. t. 17. ; and our fig. 1160. Description, &c. A shrub, a native of Siberia and Tartary. Introduced in 1780, and producing its obscure apetalous flowers in March and April. It grows 2 ft. or more high, much more across, and abounds in slender spreading branches. Its leaves are lanceolate, narrow, and alternate. The whole plant is hoary. The male flowers are very abundant, and disposed mostly in approximate axillary groups about the terminal part of the branches. The female flowers are less numerous, and mostly upon a lower part of the branch, axillary, and generally two in an axil. Both male and female flowers are sessile, or nearly so. The female flowers are not obvious. The male flowers are not showy; though their number, grouped character, and the yellow anthers prominent from them, render the flowering of the shrub obvious. They have a slight scent of a honey-like sweetness. The stocky part of this plant is persistently ligneous. D. Ceratöìdes thrives in a light soil, and is easily propagated by layers, or by cuttings inserted in the soil and kept covered with a hand-glass. Plants in the Cambridge Botanic Garden, in August, 1836, growing, some in calcareous soil, and one or more in heath mould, were about 2 ft. high, and with widely spreading recumbent branches. This shrub, therefore, appears particularly well adapted for rockwork; and, if gardens were laid out with a view to the geographical or topographical distribution of plants, the D. Ceratöìdes, with the different species of Nitrària, Callígonum, &c., would form suitable species for the rockwork of Siberia. 1160 D. landta Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept., 2. p. 602., Nutt. Gen. N. Amer., 2. p.207., resembles D. Ceratöldes, but is easily distinguished, at first sight, by the long, woolly, white tomentum which pervades all its parts. The stem is zigzag. The groups of flowers are so crowded as to produce the resemblance of spikes. App. I. Half-hardy Species of Chenopodiacea. Anábasis tamariscifolia L., Cav. Ic., 3. 293., is a curious little salsola-like plant, a native of Spain, where it grows 2 ft. high. It was introduced in 1752; but, being of little interest, except to the botanist, it is rarely to be met with even in botanic gardens, A. aphylla L., Salsòla articulata Forst., is another plant of the same genus, a native of Asia Minor. Kochia prostrata Schr., Jacq. Au., 3. 294.; Salsòla prostrata L.; is a native of the south of Europe, growing to the height of 5 ft., with the general habit of a salsola. It is almost sufficiently hardy to stand in the open air without protection. A plant in the Cambridge Botanic Garden, in a partly open border, is a freely growing shrub, about 5 ft: high, with its lower branches prostrate, and its upper ones drooping. It is clothed with abundance of narrow, pointed, pubescent leaves, which are a little canescent. Bosea Yervamòra L.,Walt. Hort., 24. t. 10., Encyc. of Plants, f. 3453., is a native of the Canaries, where it grows to the height of 8 ft. or 10 ft. A plant in the Horticultural Society's Garden has stood out since 1834, against a wall. It is generally killed to the ground during winter, but grows up again vigorously during summer, and usually reaches from 5 ft. to 6 ft. high. Camphorisma monspeliaca Schk. Hand., 1. t. 26., is a low heath-like shrub, a native of the south of Europe, common in various places in France; for instance, at Avignon, on the ruins of the old castle. It is of a decumbent babit, with red bark to its young shoots, and with hairy narrow-pointed leaves, in groups along the branches. It is a most desirable plant for conservative rockwork; and if trained against a wall, we have no doubt it would cover several square yards of wall in a very short time. Other Genera belonging to Chenopodiaceae contain species which may be reckoned half-hardy; but as they may be readily found by turning to the enumeration in our Hortus Britannicus, we do not give them here. CHAP. XCII. of the harDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS OF THE ORDER POLYGONA CEÆ. DISTINCTIVE Characteristics. Leaves alternate. A filmy cylindrical sheath, called an ochrea (which signifies a boot), arises from the base of every leaf, except in three genera, and surrounds the stem or branch for more or less of the interval between that leaf and the next above it. Generally speaking, this is sufficient to distinguish the Polygonàceæ from all other plants. Additionally, they have an erect ovule, with a superior radicle, and, in most, farinaceous albumen. (Lindley Nat. Syst. of Bot.) The hardy ligneous species are included in the three genera, Tragopyrum Bieb., Atrapháxis L., and Callígonum L.; which have the following characters. TRAGOPY RUM Bieb. Calyx inferior, with 5 sepals, that are imbricate in æstivation, permanent; the 2 exterior smaller, the 3 interior investing the fruit, which is an achenium that is 3-cornered in a transverse section of it. Stamens 8. Styles 3. Undershrubs, with the habit of Atrapháxis, but decumbent or trailing; and the leaves of one of the species, at least (T. buxifolium Bieb.), are deciduous. In the stamens and pistil they resemble Polygonum, and in the calyx Rùmex. (Bieb. Fl. Taur-Cauc., iii. p. 284. ; Lindley Nat. Syst. of Bot.; and observation.) Pedicels jointed in T. lanceolàtum Bieb. and T. polygamum Spr. (Vent.) ATRAPHA'XIS L. Calyx inferior, of 4 leaves, in an outer smaller pair and an interior pair, the latter resembling petals; or 4-parted, with the lobes equal. Stamens 6. Stigmas 2, in one species; style bifid, in the other. Fruit compressed, in one species; roundish, in the other. Seed 1. Species 2. Small shrubs, with leaves more or less ovate. (Willd. Sp. Pl., 2. p. 248, 249., and obs.) CALLI GONUM L. Calyx inferior, persistent, turbinate in the lower part, ending upwards in a 5-parted spreading border; the 2 outer lobes rather the smaller. Stamens about 16; the filaments slightly united at the base, and then diverging. Anthers peltate. Germen 4-sided, acuminate. Styles 4 or 3, united at the base for a little way, slender, spreading. Stigmas capitate. Fruit an achenium that has 4 sides and 4 wings; and the wings are either membranous, longitudinally 2-parted, toothed, and curled, or rough with branched bristles. C. Pallàs, the best-known species, is an erect shrub 3 ft. or 4 ft. high, with rush-like shoots, without obvious leaves, with the flowers in groups, and their calyxes partly white. (L'Héritier in Lin. Soc. Trans., i. p. 177.; and Rees's Cyclop.) GENUS I. TRAGOPY'RUM Bieb. THE GOAT WHEAT. Lin. Syst. Octándria Trigynia. Identification. Bieb. Flor. Taurico-Caucas., 3. p. 284. Synonyme. Polygonum Lin. Hort. Ups., 95., Willd. Sp., 2. p. 440., Bot. Mag., t. 1055., Bot. Reg. t. 255. Derivation. Tragos, a goat, and puros, wheat. The 3-cornered fruits of such of the Polygonacea as have them are comparable, with some allowance, to wheat; and goats may feed upon those of the Tragopyrum, or upon the shrubs themselves; or it may be that the name has been invented as one readily distinctive from the name Fagopyrum, now the name of a genus that includes the different kinds of buck-wheat. 1. T. LANCEOLATUM Bieb. The lanceolate-leaved Goat Wheat. Identification. Bieb. Fl. Taurico-Caucas. Synonymes. Polygonum frutescens Willd. Sp. Pl., 2. p. 440., Willd. Baumz., p. 286., Bot. Reg., t. 254; strauchartiger Knöterig, Ger. Engravings. Gmel. Sb., 3. t. 12. f. 2.; Bot, Reg., t. 254.; and our fig. 1161. Spec. Char., &c. Stem spreading widely. Leaves lanceolate, tapered to both ends, flat. Ochrea lanceolate, shorter than the internode. The 2 exterior sepals reflexed, the 3 interior ones obcordate. Flowers octandrous, trigynous. A native of Siberia and Dahuria. (Willd.) A shrub, a native of Siberia, growing from 1 ft. to more than 2 ft. high, branchy, even to the base. Introduced in 1770, but rare in collections. Branches twiggy. Leaf with a frosty hue, spathulate-lanceolate, nearly 1 in. long, several times longer than broad; its edge obscurely indented. The petiole short. The ochrea ends in 2 acuminate points. The flowers are borne on terminal twigs, are pediceled, erect, axillary, 1—3 in an axil, often 3, and are so disposed as to constitute leafy racemes. The calyxes are whitish, variegated with rose colour, and persistent; and of the 5 sepals to each flower, the 3 that invest the ovary after the flowering become more entirely rosy. The pedicels, erect while bearing the flower, after the flowering become deflexed, and render the fruit pendulous. (Bot. Reg.) There is a plant in the Horticultural Society's Garden, in an unfavourable situation, being much shaded by trees, which is upward of 1 ft. in height; and there is one in the arboretum of Messrs. Loddiges, which forms a hemispherical bush 24 ft. high; which, during great part of July and August, 1836, was covered with its beautiful white flowers, tinged with pink; and formed a truly admirable object. It thrives best in peat soil, and is worthy of a prominent place in the most select collections. 1161 2. T. BUXIFO`LIUM Bieb. The Box-leaved Goat Wheat. Identification. Bieb. FL, Taurico-Caucas. Synonymes. Polygonum crispulum var. a Sims Bot. Mag., t. 1065.; P. caucásicum Hoffmannsegg. Engravings. Bot. Mag., t. 1065.; and our fig. 1162. Spec. Char., &c. Leaf obovate, obtuse, tipped with a short mucro; the lateral margins undulated and reflexed, glabrous. Ochreas with 2 awns. (Sims in Bot. Mag, t. 1065.) A shrub, a native of Siberia. Introduced in 1800, and flowering in July. Its decumbent branches will extend 2 ft. and upwards on every side of the root; their bark is ash-coloured. The leaves are of a light green colour, rather rounded in outline, about 1 in. in diameter, and deciduous. The flowers are produced in long racemes, are nodding, and white. The fruit is enclosed by the 3 inner sepals, which become, as the fruit ripens, of a rosy colour. This, and the preceding species, are extremely interesting and beautiful little shrubs, and it is much to be regretted that they are so very seldom seen in collections. Though they require heath soil, and some little time to be firmly established, yet when once they are so, from their compact neat habit of growth, very little care will be necessary afterwards. They never can require much pruning, are quite hardy; and, provided the soil be not allowed to get too dry in the heat of summer, they are always certain of flowering freely. We hope in due time to see our provincial horticultural societies encouraging the growth of plants of this kind, by offering premiums for well grown specimens; and for those who collect the greatest number of sorts. 3. T. POLY GAMUM Spг. The polygamous-sexed Goat Wheat. Identification. Spreng. Syst. Veg., 2. p. 251. Synonymes. Polygonum polygamum Vent. Cels, t. 65.; P. parvifolium Nutt. Gen., 1. p. 256. Spec. Char., &c. Leaves spathulate-linear. Ochreas lanceolate, shorter than the internodes. Flowers in branched racemes, whose rachises are thread-shaped. Styles distinct. A native of dry sandy wastes in Carolina. Introduced in 1810, and flowers in July and August. (Spreng.) T. polygamum Spr. differs from T. lanceolatum Bicb., especially in the following points: stem very much branched; leaf spathulate; sexes polygamous; sepals expanded during the flowering; and ochreas entire at the top. The polygamous condition of the sexes consists in the flowers of the same plant being some bisexual, some female. (Vent.) It is a shrub less than 1 ft. high. Its stem is upright, of the thickness of a raven's quill, cylindrical, and bears in its upper part numerous slender ramified branches, that are disposed so as to form a bushy head. The stem, branches, and branchlets are of a brown colour, and all bear ochreas of this colour, and that are striated, membranous at the tip, truncate on one side, and end lanceolat ely on the other. The leaves are spathulate, reflexed, glabrous, less than half an inch long, a fourth of their length broad, and of a delicate green colour. The flowers are small, of a greenish white colour, disposed in racemes that are axillary and terminal; and they together give the appearance of a globose panicle. The rachis of the raceme bears ochreas. The pedicels have each a joint. (Vent. Cels.) We have not seen the plant. In fig. 1163. a is a stamen, b the pistil, and c the bisexual flower. T. pungens Bieb., T. glaucum Spr., T. grandiflorum Bieb., are described by botanists, but not yet introduced. GENUS III. b ATRAPHA'XIS L. THE ATRAPHAXIS. Lin. Syst. Hexándria Digýnia. Identification. Schreb. Lin. Gen., No. 612.; Willd. Sp. Pl., 2. p. 248. Derivation. According to some from a privative, and trepho, to nourish; in allusion to the fruit, which, though in form like that of the buck wheat, is unfit for food; according to others, para to athroos auxein, from its coming up quickly from seed, viz. on the eighth day. 1. A. SPINO SA L. The spine-branched Atraphaxis. Identification. Lin. Hort. Cliff., 138.; Mill. Dict., No. 1.; L'Hérit. Stirp. Nov., 1. p. 27. t. 14.; Willd. Sp. Pl., 2. p. 248.; Wats. Dend. Brít., t. 119. Synonyme. A'triplex orientalis, frùtex aculeatus, flore púlchro, Tourn. Cor., 83. Engravings. L'Hérit. Stirp. Nov., 1. t. 14.; Buxb. Cent., 1. t. 30.; Dill. Elth., t. 40. f. 47.; Wats. Dend. Brit., t. 119.; and our fig. 1164. 1164 Spec. Char., &c. Some of its branches resemble spines, and this character distinguishes it from the other species, A. undulata, and is implied in the epithet spinosa. In the following description, most of its characters are noted:- A shrub, of about 2 ft. high, upright, with most of the branches directed upwards, but with some horizontal, and some a little deflexed. The horizontal and deflexed ones are the shorter, and, when leafless, have the appearance of spines. Watson has attributed (Dend. Brit.) this to their tips being dead: and the case seems to be so. The bark of the year is whitish; that of older parts is brown. The foliage is glaucous. The flowers are white. The leaves are about half an inch long, many less. The disk ovate-acute; the petiole short. The flowers are borne a few together about the tips of shoots of the year; each is situate upon a slender pedicel, that has a joint about or below the middle, and arises from the axil of a bractea. The calyx is of 4 leaves that are imbricate in æstivation. The 2 exterior are smaller, opposite, and become reflexed. The 2 interior are opposite, petal-like, horizontal during the flowering, afterwards approximate to the Ovary, which is flat, and has one of the approximate sepals against each of its flat sides. Stigmas 2, capitate. Stamens connate at the base, into a short disk that surrounds the base of the ovary. (Observation, and Willd. Sp. Pl., and Wats. Dend. Brit.) Indigenous near the Caspian Sea, and in the Levant, and flowering in August. It was introduced in 1732, but is rare in collections. There is a fine plant in the arboretum of Messrs. Loddiges, upwards of 2 ft. high, which was profusely covered with white flowers, tinged with pink, in August, 1836. It frequently ripens seeds there; but no plants have hitherto been raised from them. There is also a plant in the Chelsea Botanic Garden. It thrives best in sandy peat, and is propagated by layers. So elegant and rare a plant deserves a place in every choice collection. 2. A. UNDULATA L. The waved-leaved Atraphaxis. Identification. Lin. Hort. Cliff, 137.; Willd. Sp. Pl., 2. p. 249.. Engraving. Dill. Elth., t. 32. f. 36. Spec. Char., &c. It is less rigid than the A. spinosa, and has not a spiny character. Its leaves are ovate, waved at the edges, and of a greener hue. The calyx is 4-parted, and has the lobes equal, ovate, and concave. Stamens lanceolate. Style bifid. Fruit roundish. (Observation, and Willd. Sp. Pl.) A native of the Cape of Good Hope, whence it was introduced in 1752, but is rare in collections. In British green-houses, it flowers in June and July; and, when planted out in the open garden, it will produce shoots from subterraneous stolones. We have not seen the plant. GENUS IV. CALLI'GONUM L. THE CALLIGONUM. Lin. Syst. Dodecandria Tetragynia. Identification. Lin. Gen., 680.; L'Héritier in Lin. Soc. Trans., 1. p. 177.; Willd. Sp. Pl., 2. p. 926. Synonymes. Pallàsia L., Pterococcus Pall. Derivation. Kalios, beauty, gonu, a knee; in description of the neat and jointed character of the branches. 1. C. PALLA'SIA L'Herit. Pallas's Calligonum. Identification. L'Herit. Stirp., 2. p. 37., and in Lin. Soc. Trans., 1. p. 177.; Ait. Hort. Kew., 2. p. 242.; Willd. Sp. Pl., 2. p. 927. Synonymes. Pterococcus aphyllus Pall. Voy., 2. p. 738. t. 8.; Callígonum polygonöldes Pall. Itin., 3. p. 536.; Pallàsia cáspica Lin. fil. Suppl., 252, Savigny in Encycl.; Pallàsia Pterococcus Pall. FL Ross., 2. p. 70. t. 77, 78.; Caspischer Hackenknopf, Ger. Engravings. Lam. Ill., 410.; Pall. Itin., 2. t. 81. ; Pall. Fl. Ross., 2. t. 77, 78.; and our figs. 1165, 1166. Spec. Char., &c. Fruit winged: wings membranous, curled, and toothed. (L'Hérit. in Lin. Soc. Trans.) A shrub, 3 ft. or 4 ft. high. Introduced in 1780, but rare in collections. In its native state, on the banks of the Caspian Sea, its root is thick, woody, 1 in. in diameter, striking deep into the sand, with a tuberose head. Stems numerous, about the thickness of a finger, erect, branched, spreading, dichotomous, brittle, with a grey striated bark. Branches alternate, round, zigzag, pointed, a little knotty; without 1165 1166 leaves; putting out every spring, at each joint, from 6 to 10 close-set, herbaceous, rush-like shoots, sometimes simple, sometimes branched, of a fine green and nearly glaucous colour; a few of which survive the winter, and harden into branches; the rest perish and leave a knotty scar. Stipule membranous, obscurely trifid, shriveling, surrounding the joint, as in the polygonums. Leaves alternate, sessile, solitary, at each joint of the herbaceous shoots; round, awl-shaped, fleshy, resembling the shoots; half an inch long. Pallas says there are no leaves; but L'Héritier affirms they were actually present in plants cultivated by himself, which were bearing flowers and fruit. Flowers numerous, in clusters, 3-5 in a cluster, lateral, or axillary within the stipules, on the young or woody branches, as well as on the herbaceous shoots; white, with a greenish tinge in the middle. Stamens 16, the length of the calyx, and withering with it as the fruit increases, without falling off. Filaments bristle-shaped, thickest at the base, downy. Anthers nearly globular, 2-celled. Ovary conical, 4-sided, rarely 3-sided, the bifid angles prolonged so as to form the wings of the fruit. Wings somewhat oval, of a crimson colour, striated, and split on the edges, spreading on each side so as to conceal the nut. Pallas describes this plant as a singular shrub, growing plentifully in the Desert of Naryn, and in the sandy tracts between the rivers Rhymnus and Wolga, lying towards the Caspian Sea, where it frequently covers whole hills; the branches attaining the height of a man, and the roots often descending upwards of 6 ft. into the sand. It abounds on gravelly hills near the Wolga, at Astracan, and near the mouths of the Cama, in the deserts of Tartary. The thick part of the root being cut across in the winter season, a gum exudes, having the appearance of tragacanth. Infused in water, it swells, and is changed into a sweetish mucilage, which does not soon grow dry; and, if exposed to heat, ferments in a few days, and acquires a vinous flavour. The wandering tribes form tobacco-pipes and spoons from the knots found upon the trunk. The smoke of the wood is said to be good for sore eyes. The fruit is succulent, acid, and excellent for quenching thirst. The flowers are produced in May, and the fruit ripens in July. The nuts germinate freely when sown deeply in sand, and the two seed-leaves break forth, and suddenly spring up, in one night, 1 in. in length, and thread-like and decumbent; but they become speedily erect. |