* 



Addisonia 27 



(Plate 238) 



ANODA HASTATA 

 Halberd-leaved Anoda 



Native of Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies 

 Family Malvaceae Mallow Family 



Anoda hastata Cav. Diss. 1: 38. 1785. 



The genus Anoda contains about fifteen species of annual or 

 occasionally perennial herbaceous plants, ranging in their distribu- 

 tion from the western United States through Mexico, Central 

 America, and the West Indies to South America. They are usually 

 weedy in habit, grow naturally in waste or barren places, and are 

 of little value horticulturally. 



Plants of Anoda hastata have been grown in the New York 

 Botanical Garden since 1912, originating from seeds brought by Dr. 

 Britton from Oriente, Cuba. At first only specimen plants were 

 grown. In cultivation it made a robust growth, bore larger flowers 

 than in the wild, and gave some promise of being of use in gardens. 

 Seeds were collected and sown in 1917 and since that time it has 

 been one of the garden annuals regularly planted in the flower beds 

 near Conservatory Range 1, a specimen from which has furnished 

 the subject of our illustration. 



From seeds sown in a greenhouse or hotbed in early spring strong 

 plants can be had for early summer bloom; open ground sowing is 

 also effective, and after the first season countless plants from self- 

 sown seeds will spring up. These can be thinned out or transplanted 

 to a proper distance. The general garden effect of the species is a 

 group of freely branched, weedy plants up to four feet high, bearing 

 many purplish-blue flowers. A few plants are sufficient to cover a 

 large space. 



The halberd-leaved anoda is a tall herb with leaves of variable 

 shape, but generally hastate in outline, with petioles an inch long. 

 They are entire or shallowly toothed at the margin, hirsute on the 

 surface, and often have brownish marks near the mid-rib. The 

 purplish-blue flowers, about an inch in diameter, are solitary in the 

 axils of the leaves, borne on slender, hairy peduncles three to four 

 inches long. The calyx is deeply five-lobed, the lobes spreading, 

 and covered, as is also the apex of the peduncle, with bristly yellow 

 hairs. The corolla consists of five obovate petals attached at the 

 base of the stamen-column. The numerous stamens are united by 

 their filaments into a tubular column. The carpels are numerous, 



